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the first draft. By doing so, from the very beginning we limit our potential for improvement. We have to optimize the entire process, and not just one or two individual steps.

Now, armed with this understanding of the writing process, let us tackle some of the obstacles that keep you from reaching your writing potential.

*Lack of Time for Writing*

The problem of not having enough time to write can be solved in one of two ways. The first is to devote more time for writing. The second is to find ways to piggy-back your writing goals onto your other daily obligations.

If you want to devote more time to writing, you must identify what is holding you back. These hindrances usually fall into one of three categories: obligations, priorities, and lack of discipline. If your day is filled with obligations - things that you feel you must do - then the only way to carve out more time for writing is to find times when you won't be interrupted by these obligations. For many people in this situation, the best times are early in the morning (before others are awake) or late at night (after others have gone to bed).

If you identify your obligations and find that they don't account for your problem of lack of time, you might need to focus on your priorities. When you have some spare time, what to you usually do first? Do you turn on the TV to watch your can't-miss set of programs? Or do you grab a cup of coffee and sit down with the newspaper or a magazine? Maybe you go outside and putter in the garden. These activities aren't bad, but choosing to do them means you are choosing to forego opportunities to write. If you want to write more, then you may want to consider putting writing higher on your list of priorities.

If your time problem isn't caused by obligations, and you don't have any definable higher priorities that keep you from writing, then your problem may be a lack of discipline. Writing is hard work, and like other hard work, we would often like to avoid it, if possible. Unfortunately, if you want to be a writer, then avoiding hard work isn't possible. If you feel you are frittering away your precious time and find yourself looking for excuses to avoid writing (going to the bathroom, making coffee, checking your email twenty times in an hour) then the best solution is to find a nag. Find someone who is willing to hold you accountable to the goals you set for writing. Give that person permission to call you, nag you, chastise you, insult you, or do whatever else is necessary

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