Writing Rules I Live By

“I have advice for people who want to write. I don’t care whether they’re 5 or 500. There are three things that are important: First, if you want to write, you need to keep an honest, unpublishable journal that nobody reads, nobody but you. Where you just put down what you think about life, what you think about things, what you think is fair and what you think is unfair. And second, you need to read. You can’t be a writer if you’re not a reader. It’s the great writers who teach us how to write. The third thing is to write. Just write a little bit every day. Even if it’s for only half an hour — write, write, write.” – Madeleine L’Engle

This is my daily life on paper written by somebody else. Madeleine L’Engle wrote several books including, “A Wrinkle in Time.” I journal, read, and write. Sometimes I don’t give myself time to read, but I know I feel better as a writer after I read. It’s like reading unlocks the part of my brain that closes when I’m focused on the responsibilities of life.

Do you live by these rules as a writer?