• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Jared Dees

Author. Speaker. Teacher.

  • About
    • Now
    • Projects
    • Speaking
    • Contact
  • Books
    • Beatitales
    • Tales of the Ten Commandments
    • Take and Eat
    • Do Not Be Afraid
    • Pray without Ceasing
    • Prepare the Way
    • Advent with the Angels
    • Take Up Your Cross
    • 15-Minute Stations of the Cross for Kids
  • Articles
  • Worksheets
  • Children’s Stories
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

Don’t Wait for Ideal Circumstances to Write (A Writing Lesson from E. B. White)

By Jared Dees

I really needed to read this quote this week from E. B. White:

I’m able to work fairly well among ordinary distractions. My house has a living room that is at the core of everything that goes on: it is a passageway to the cellar, to the kitchen, to the closet where the phone lives. There’s a lot of traffic. But it’s a bright, cheerful room, and I often use it as a room to write in, despite the carnival that is going on all around me.

In consequence, the members of my household never pay the slightest attention to my being a writing man — they make all the noise and fuss they want to. If I get sick of it, I have places I can go. A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.

E. B. White, Paris Review Interview

Thanks to James Clear for sharing it as one of twelve daily routines of famous writers.

My office is in the back room of our basement. There is no door. About 90% of the toys in the house are down here. Its hard to keep the kids upstairs while I’m working during the day. I can hear the baby crying through the air ducts. The furnace is right behind the wall next to my basement. We have hardwood floors on the first floor and my daughters like to dance (a lot).

Needless to say . . .

It gets LOUD.

Coffitivity is a wonderful app that creates the sounds of a coffee shop. I use it often. Sometimes, when the kids have friends over for example, I go to an actual coffee shop.

I used to write a lot during lunch breaks in the office. Sometimes it would get loud there too.

I have been waking up at 5:00 a.m. to write before the rest of the family wakes up, but usually at least one of my daughters is downstairs in the basement playing by 6:00 a.m.

The point is, there is no excuses. Writers have to write. Writers who are fathers and husbands, have to write even with the kids sound like a carnival.

The truth is there is never a perfect time and place to write.

If you keep waiting for the perfect situation to get into a creative mood, then you will be waiting a very, very long time.

As E. B. White said, you may end up waiting the rest of your life.

July 29, 2018 Filed Under: Author Tips, My Fiction Journey, On Writing

About Jared Dees

Jared Dees is passionate about sharing practical resources to teach faith. He is best known for his website The Religion Teacher and is the author of many books including 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator, To Heal, Proclaim, and Teach, Praying the Angelus, Christ in the Classroom, and Beatitales: 80 Fables about the Beatitudes for Children.

Previous Post: « 4 lessons I learned from reading my fables to my kids
Next Post: Two Types of Social Media Content for Authors »

Primary Sidebar

Jared Dees

Author, Speaker, Teacher

📬 Tools to Teach Faith 📬

I send many weekly email newsletters every week with tools to pass on faith:

👨‍🏫 The Religion Teacher’s Sunday Planner 👨‍🏫

Lessons, activities, videos, and worksheets for religious educators.

Get teaching resources here >

📖 God’s Word Wednesday 📖

Bible stories for kids.

Get Bible stories for kids here >

🏰 Formative Fiction Friday 🏰

Short stories to help kids find confidence, character, and a relationship with Christ.

Get stories for kids here >

Jared’s Newest Books

  
    
 
 
   
 
 

Jared’s Popular Website for Religious Educators

Search the Site:

Footer

Connect with Jared Dees

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Jared Dees is passionate about sharing practical resources to teach faith. He is best known for his website The Religion Teacher and is the author of many books including 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator, To Heal, Proclaim, and Teach, Praying the Angelus, Christ in the Classroom, and Beatitales: 80 Fables about the Beatitudes for Children. See all of Jared's Books →

Stories for Children

Copyright © 2023 · Jared Dees