4. Lifestyle. The definition of lifestyle is the way in which a person or group lives. But what does that mean for writers?

There is the fantasy writer’s life of Paris cafes, perhaps. Or bucolic cottages in the English countryside. With freedom to do as one wants, and no master except one’s own soul.

But given how different writers — indeed all people — are, how can there be a ‘writer’s lifestyle’? For myself, as noted yesterday, I have written (or not) whilst working, moving, volunteering, care-giving and less-than-stellar health. Thankfully, not all at the same time. I can’t imagine there’s a lifestyle big enough to accommodate that all at once!

Ultimately, for me, the question is ‘does your lifestyle support your dreams?’ If my dream is to write, I must create time and space in which to write, and with it my own version of a writer’s lifestyle.