Good common sense article. As a follow-up you might want to talk about timescales. I've only just agreed the artwork for my first novel and yet I've had a blog running for nearly four months. I've spent three months developing a detailed and professional-looking website which isn't even open for public viewing yet and I'm now heavily engaged in many of the other items on your list and release date is still six months off. What goes into a website would also be a good topic. I've seen some awful sites in my travels that do nothing to promote either the author or their product.

The bottom line is self-control. If writing is work (and work is not a bad word) then you will close down your e-mail, your feed reader and even your browser, decide what project you're going to tackle, set a time limit for yourself and don't get up till that time has passed. And do that on a regular (preferably daily) basis. If, on the other hand, writing is play (play is good too) then what does it matter what you do as long as you're having fun? When you have a job your boss generally lays down the law for you, what you do, where you do it and how you do it. When it comes to writing you are the boss of you and you can be a soft boss or a hard boss but at the end of the day it's your business that will go down the pan if you are too soft on your staff (which would be you too wouldn't it). There are no magic answers to your questions. It's like the answer to being overweight – stop eating too much and exercise more. It's not complicated. People make it complicated.

Good common sense article. As a follow-up you might want to talk about timescales. I've only just agreed the artwork for my first novel and yet I've had a blog running for nearly four months. I've spent three months developing a detailed and professional-looking website which isn't even open for public viewing yet and I'm now heavily engaged in many of the other items on your list and release date is still six months off.

What goes into a website would also be a good topic. I've seen some awful sites in my travels that do nothing to promote either the author or their product.

The bottom line is self-control. If writing is work (and work is not a bad word) then you will close down your e-mail, your feed reader and even your browser, decide what project you're going to tackle, set a time limit for yourself and don't get up till that time has passed. And do that on a regular (preferably daily) basis.

If, on the other hand, writing is play (play is good too) then what does it matter what you do as long as you're having fun?

When you have a job your boss generally lays down the law for you, what you do, where you do it and how you do it. When it comes to writing you are the boss of you and you can be a soft boss or a hard boss but at the end of the day it's your business that will go down the pan if you are too soft on your staff (which would be you too wouldn't it).

There are no magic answers to your questions. It's like the answer to being overweight – stop eating too much and exercise more. It's not complicated. People make it complicated.

I'm quite new to the site but I have to agree. Most posts are very old and there's little activity. As a newbie I prefer to ride the tails of existing members till I find my feet but there's not a lot of scope so far.