For a writer, a work in progress (WIP) is like a baby. It needs to be protected and nurtured, sometimes nearly viciously so. If you know a writer, even if they otherwise share your bed or are your best friend since grade school keep this in mind: you do not have the right to see what is going on. If they want to show their work to you, they will. Until then, please don't push. It's natural for you to be curious about how an inkling of an idea goes from rambling about in the brain to blinking words on a computer screen, especially if you have never done it. Rest assured, it is a process much like the gestation and eventual birth of a child.

For some writers, an idea can strike at the most inconvenient of times. Paranormal novelist, Elizabeth Miette was out on a date when the idea for a short story suddenly and jarringly came to her, nearly fully formed and refused to allow her to concentrate. Excusing herself, she took to the ladies' room with her smartphone and hastily tapped in the gist of the story. She saved it and then finished her dinner with slightly better concentration skills. The date ended, she went home and took the story from its half formed state and breathed life into it, fleshing it out to its full glory. Critics say that the story is one of her best.

Other writers find themselves with only a ghost of an idea and no real way to figure out how to get it rounded out. The experts tell you to write and write everyday but when you open your program and stare at the screen, mocking you with its blankness, how can you help but wonder if they might not be wrong. If you are ready to weep, it is time to take a break and step away. Sometimes that is exactly what you need to do to make some progress. Sometimes to be a better writer, you need to stop writing.

Once you start getting the progress, you have to consider what works best for you. Do you think best when you write notes in ink or can you dictate information to your smart phone? For her part, Ms. Miette bans her phone, a Droid, to another room because she is too busy playing silly games to get anything done. Writing things on cue cards and then pinning them on her project board is what works for her. The best thing about creative writing is that there are no real rules, you are actually allowed to be creative!