The Weekend Writer: Getting Started Living Like a Writer

I recently took a Zoom workshop (Zoomshop? Let's make Zoomshop a thing.) with Lori Rader-Day through the Off Campus Writers' Workshop. While checking out her website, I found her suggestions on how to get started writing. 

What I like about them is that they are things anyone can do. She says nothing here about MFA programs. She says nothing about writers' retreats in remote places. She says nothing about putting your butt in a chair and writing every day or you really aren't interested in being a writer, are you?

What she does do is write about things you can do right away. Like this afternoon. 

 A lot of what she's talking about is what I think of as how writers live. We do:

• Look for low-cost resources (Say, Off Campus Writers' Workshop)
• Take individual classes and workshops (Why, OCWW again.) 
• Go to local book events (Look for bookstore and library events. A self-publishing writers' organization in my state runs enormous numbers of gatherings at vineyards, breweries, and other outside-the-box locations.)
• Follow other writers on social media
• Read and write

You don't need to do something big and elaborate to get started writing. You certainly don't have to wait to get started living like a writer.