The Paris Review ran a series of interviews with successful writers. The one thing they had in common was a fixed, immutable writing schedule. A schedule imperv

The Paris Review ran a series of interviews with successful writers. The one thing they had in common was a fixed, immutable writing schedule. A schedule impervious to deaths of family members (some will take offense to this, but writers aren't necessarily nice people--I grew up with one). I'm reminded of an alt.writers post from the annals of USENET. "...  My opinion is that if you want to be a good novelist, start by being a bad novelist, not by becoming a good magazine article writer.  Start at the top and work down -- don't start at the bottom and work up. On the other hand, I know people for whom "start small" has worked.  But it doesn't for me."