This week Natalie Houston posed the question “What Would a Famous Writer Do?” in the ProfHacker section of The Chronicle of Higher Education. As she explains, many of us–writers and readers alike–are fascinated with the writing process. What really goes on when our favorite authors sit down and write? Are there are any moves we can steal and add to our own process? We might wonder, Do they struggle to sit still for twenty minutes some mornings just like me?

If nothing else, maturing as a writer means being honest about what we need to write and what can stand in our way. Once we articulate the mundane details of how we do what we do, it can be easier to notice patterns that lead to completing that next chapter or getting stuck, losing momentum, or just being the resident crankypants in your household.

So, for this week’s Keeping the Appointment challenge, let’s pause and think about how we keep the appointment to write and why. Read Natalie Houston’s article and then take up her suggestion to answer the interviewer’s questions as though you’re the Famous Writer:

• Where do you write?
• When do you write?
• What advice would you give yourself about writing?

Who knows? The rest of us might just steal a couple of your strategies. You are welcome to steal right back.

Happy Writing!

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About the Keeping the Appointment Challenge! Check in each week, grab the prompt and go. New prompts will be posted on Tuesday. Find a quiet place and write in response to the prompt for 15-30 minutes. Only after you have something on paper, take a look or a listen to other examples if you like. Wait a day or three and reread what you wrote. Revise for 30 minutes or so. If you want, post what you wrote. We would love to see it–and we promise to keep our own editing selves to our selves! In other words, this blog is a place to share your work, not to “fix” the work of others. We receive it with the open, generous mind of a fellow-writer and reader. Comments are welcome as are words of thanks.