Top TV comedy writer, Ken Levine, talks about when you should stop writing in his latest post. And, with credits on shows such as M*A*S*H, Cheers and Frasier, when Ken talks - it’s good to listen.

His words got me thinking about when to start writing, as well as stopping. For me, it’s my job. I have to show up every day, sit here and create, edit or rewrite words in order to put food on the table and keep a roof over my family’s heads. The fact that I do all that from an office that is really a spare bedroom and can stop any time I like to make a cup of tea does nothing to diminish the fact that this is a job. I don’t write, I don’t get paid. No waiting for the muse to show up for me - every time I head up to my office, I drag the muse with me, kicking and screaming if need be.

Now, I’m not moaning here. I absolutely love my job and realise that I’m very fortunate to be doing it, but I face a problem that every self-employed person struggles with on a daily basis - I have no boss. That might sound like a dream come true (and it can be) but it’s up to me to discipline myself, up to me to set targets and hit them, up to me to ensure the work is done on time and to an acceptable standard. The result - and this is true of every self-employed person I know, whether they write, design websites or sell cars - is that I work much, much harder than I ever did in my previous 9 to 5 jobs.

The same holds true whether you write full-time or not. If you want to write a novel or screenplay, you have to put the time in and create whether you feel like it or not. How many people do you know who’ve talked for years about that book they’re going to write? Yep, me too. The difference between us and them is that we’re sitting our asses down and doing it. Writers write, they don’t just talk about writing.

But, I hear you cry, I don’t have the time. I work all day and have to spend time with my family in the evening. Yep, so did I before I was able to quit my day job (although my family still force me to spend time with them). The truth is if you want it hard enough, you’ll make the time. You’ll give up watching some TV, going to the pub, or you’ll get up earlier than everyone else. You could write a measly 250 words a day in your lunch hour (just half the length of this post) and, at the end of a year, you’d have a 90,000 word novel in your hands. The question is, do you want it enough to sit down and do it? There’s a word for writers who do: published.

It’s a tough master, this writing bug.

Tommy

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