Working on the Road

It's morning in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. A beautiful, bright sunny day. We will visit dad in the rehab unit after breakfast.

Meanwhile, I have four freelance writing jobs to do for a magazine. One of the great things about writing is you can do it anywhere and as long as you have a phone and an Internet connection, interviews and communication go on like business as usual.

I'm doing a little research online this morning before the day kicks into gear and have scheduled a phone interview with the first client in the afternoon. I can write the article in the evening. The same schedule for Sunday. Morning research followed by an interview and writing session. Deadlines on Monday before noon. Then two more stories due on Wednesday.

For me, the best way to work on assigned material is to just dive in. They are usually not subjects I would choose on my own. Yesterday morning, before getting on the airplane I got up early and wrote a story for the newspaper. It was difficult in the sense that the material was dry and detailed. News stories are often like that. The challenge is to jump in and start writing.

Once I'm over the inertia (and sometimes resistance to the material itself) the writing process takes over and it's about finding ways to make the story interesting. That's why, and you may be wondering, I keep writing on the blog even though things have tended to be on a personal plane. It's all about becoming a great storyteller - no matter what story is being told.

Many great writers have simply said, the best way to learn to write is to write. Write, write, write.