What Are You Willing to Give Up for Writing?

I finished the draft of my 25th book yesterday. I've been writing since I was a teenager, and writing professionally since 2004. While writing professionally, I've held a full-time job and helped raise a family. The one thing that's helped me produce 25 books is consistency.

In order to be consistent and prolific, this requires giving things up. People often tell me they'd write if they had time. I usually smile and listen to them, thinking to myself that they probably do have time. If you want to write, you can carve out some small of time amount during your day. The question is, what are you willing to give up?

If you'd like to write, but can't find time, I've listed some suggestions below. Some of them involve giving things up, while others are just general ideas.

Cut back or eliminate binge watching shows

Eliminate/cut back on a hobby in order to write more

Used timed writing sessions to focus. Set a timer and go. No stopping. No checking social media. You'll be surprised how many words you can get using this method.

Put away your smart phone for an hour and write.

Get up earlier

Stay up later

Give up that happy hour (probably not occurring as much with the pandemic)

Write on your lunch break

Write in waiting rooms

If you use public transportation, write on the bus/subway/train.

Use writing sprints (15 to 30 min) during the day. Waiting for that load of laundry to finish? Hammer out some words. It all adds up after a while. 

Treat writing like it's a job. Don't be afraid to say, "I'm sorry, but I'm writing right now, can it wait?" 

Make appointments to write during the day (20 min before work, 30 min before bed, etc) and put them on a calendar/planner/planning app. Look at your schedule and find pockets of time when you could be writing.

I like to refer to one of Brian Keene's sayings: "Ass in chair, fingers on keyboard." Carve out that time. Set your ass in the chair. And get writing. 

Thank you, as always, for reading.

You can follow me on social media here:

Twitter: @Aizzo

Facebook: Anthony Izzo (author)

Instagram: AIzzo73

Enter The Night Gets a New Cover

 I've been playing around with book covers, refreshing some of my older ones. I've been wanting to try my hand at creating some art for one of my books, so I settled on Enter The Night. I did the gas mask with Micron pen and ink/brush. I used an old toothbrush to splatter some red ink, and dirtied the rest up with photo editing. 

If you read the novel, you'll see how the gas mask ties in. You can get Enter The Night on all e-book platforms. I'll be uploading the new cover soon. 

Click here to purchase Enter The Night.

They came to the mountain to hunt ghosts. They ended up as prey. The Iron Mountain Asylum once housed the criminally insane. The worst of the worst. Four men escaped the asylum and were never caught. The legends grew. Some said they lived on the mountain, killing anyone who crossed their path.The contestants on a reality show called Enter the Night are about to find out if the legends are real. Six people. Non-stop filming. A week exploring the abandoned asylum and a military base near the mountain. The contestants will discover that there are things far more frightening on the mountain than ghosts.

Enter The Night has a lot of bloody, slasher horror. What are some of your favorite slasher/psycho killer novels?