I met the delightful Eileen Spinelli a while back  when I attended the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua, New York. Ms. Spinelli, a poet and an award-winning author of more than thirty books for children, shares a few tips to inspire and challenge us as writers. Visit her website for excellent writing tips and a poem of the month.  In her own words:

“In terms of ‘writing time’—it’s not a matter of finding it. It’s a matter of making it.
Ask yourself:
Can I get up a half hour earlier each day?
Can I give up an hour of TV?
Can I write on my lunch break?
Can I write in the cracks of my day—ten minutes while waiting for a prescription . . . fifteen minutes while the supper soup simmers . . . twenty minutes while the baby is napping?”

Forget waiting until life settles down. Life never settles down. If you really want to write . . . feel called to write . . . somehow, some way you will do it.” —Eileen Spinelli