Perhaps you’ve heard the expression: “Life is what happens to you while you’re making other plans.”

I’ve got another one for writers which I just came up with: “Writing is what happens while you’re living your life.”

Through the years I’ve read dozens of articles, books, posts, etc. about how to write every day regardless of the situations thrown at you. I’m more of the feast or famine type of writer. Given the time, I can easily write 2,667 words in a day, but I refuse to feel guilty if a day or few go past and I haven’t written anything on my WIP.

In life, there are the Big Seven for causing stress in your life, all of which I’ve gone through personally or with a family member or close friend. They are birth (or other things related to children), sickness, death, divorce (or relational breakup), job change, changing of housing location, and…can’t remember. Probably something about losing your mental facilities. Actually, all of the Big Seven have to do with loss of some sort. Oh. The seventh has to do with money.

As a living writer, during any given week of life you may go through one or some of these Big Seven, along with the thousands of other smaller life distractions. That’s the challenge for any writer. The trick to being a writer is to write.

Just like athletes or people wanting to lose weight, partners can help you stick to your goals. Without my critique groups and other writing groups, I wouldn’t have the discipline to pound out chapters. There’s just too much life stuff going on all the time causing disturbances in my writing time to be able to write without a commitment to others.

My sister-in-law died this week. Sad. I live in the moment with the relatives, but I still write.

Next week I’ll be a grandmother of twins. I’ll desert my dear hubby and go the five hours around the pond to be a baby-nurse and toddler-helper (and maybe cook and housekeeper) for an unspecified amount of time (probably until just short of homicide; dead fish, guests, and all). I’m thankful I’m healthy enough and unemployed enough to be able to help out — not to mention lapping up tons of Grandma Time. Will I have the energy in all my spare time to do writing? Somehow I think this might be one of those writing famine times. Then again, with writing, I can usually control my characters, or else say, “I can’t belive you just did that,” then wait a day or few for a proper, civilized response. Whether I actually write or not, I’ll be storing up plenty of life experience things to incorporate into my future writing.

But my very best advice, and challenge, to writers is: Don’t quit. Keep on writing.