Author : Petya Lehmann
Anthony Trollope, the Victorian novelist, was a highly self organized person. He worked for 33 years as a post-office clerk and had only a small part of his spare time at his disposal for writing. Trollope was lucky: he did not have to wait for the Muse. He rose at 5:30 every morning and wrote for 2.5 hours, producing an average of 250 words every quarter hour. Once in his life he carried his self-organisation to extremes: Soon after marrying in 1844, he began to speculate about the health of his wife and, allegedly, wrote to another Irish lady of his acquaintance: "Should anything happen to her, will you supply her place - as soon as a proper period of decent mourning is over?" Eventually, his wife outlived him.Does a so-called amateur author take himself generally seriously as an author? Only the one does, who perceives his writing as a duty towards himself. To write something now and again, to let the novel lay ten years unfinished in the drawer, signifies the nonexistence of genuine regard for the own writing, but the writing is considered as a leisure employment. To be a writer, is a vocation!A great privilege and at the same time a great curse for the writer is the fact that he must take the time for his work from himself and from others. It is a privilege, because he can close the door behind himself for a couple of hours; he may avoid thus the everyday worries and troubles. It is a curse though, because it is a sacrifice too. On the face of it, the writer is an egoist and an eccentric. He switches off the phone, for a couple of hours he is like out of the world, he is deaf to the pleadings of his neighbours. How much self-respect and self-belief must a writer possess to be able to maintain such a life rhythm for years?! He simply has to, because it could not be accomplished in another way.The work done for the day, one has the feeling of having used well his time, not having lived a day to no avail. The money is not earned yet with the just written words, but the inner balance is restored. One is alive again to others, with a better feeling. Budget your time, set a schedule! Every person has his working hours, a writer has them too. Create free spaces for creative exchange of ideas with others, deliberately. Set certain hours for these important meetings or phone calls of exchange. You will be better prepared for them and you will be easy in your mind, because you will know, this one hour is scheduled for it and well invested in it. If you must call up publishing companies, offices or authorities, it is important to consider, to prepare, to take a minute and make a few notes before the call. This is not really creative, but it provides self-assurance and peace of mind.If you believe in your vocation, the others will come to believe in it as well!Petya Lehmann is Master of Literary Studies and co-founder of Auroralit, the first International Literature Portal Online. New writers acquire there publishing contracts for their books by the means of readers' ratings. More information at http://www.auroralit.com
Keyword : Self-organisation,inner balance,writing,writers,vocation,belief,self-respect
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