My first novel took 12 years to complete because life got in my way.

Donald McKay

Categorized in : First Years Way Life

I've been a writer for 42 years and, yes, it is a full time job for me. Not a hobby, but serious work.

job me work time

I do not write by any set time schedule. I realize there are many writers who follow a daily regime where they arise at 6:00 a.m., do some sort of exercise, eat breakfast and then sit down and produce words for a three to four hour period.

words daily time breakfast

I write when the urge hits me, getting the words down as fast as I can type and then I step back from what I just wrote and start a dialectical process where I begin challenging my own writing.

words step down me

Write in a disciplined manner, but write in a way that is natural to the individual's thought processes.

write thought individual way

To come up with the ending to a story and then work backwards is like tying your shoe with one hand only.

ending your story work