If you absolutely have to make a living and you need to do it right now, writing romance novels or anything else may not be a good career choice. You may actually need a day job while you toil away on your masterpiece in your off-hours. If you feel you’re a writer stuck in the body of an administrative assistant, you can set aside time each day to write.

Do you want to write in your spare time but find yourself putting it off? I’m as good a procrastinator as anyone. Probably better than most. I can always think of things to do to avoid writing. Dumb things, like reorganizing a drawer or polishing silver that I’m never going to use. It took me an embarrassing number of years to figure out a way around that. I made a promise to myself that I would write 1,000 words a day. It’s surprisingly easy, for me, at least. At just 1,000 words a day, I could write a novella in a month and a novel or a screenplay in a few months.

Do you kind of feel like you might want to be a writer? It’s probably never going to happen because it takes tenacity, unless you’re going to be the only person to read your writing. And you’ll need to grow a thick skin. All of us in the creative arts—writing, music, acting—face a lot of rejection. At best, it’s somewhat encouraging although a turndown. At worse, rejections can be indifferent or even nasty.

But writers today have advantages over scribes of days gone by. Think about what it was like to write romance novels before the Internet. Research now is at your fingertips, shortening the process immensely. Research? You mean you can’t just use your imagination to write a book? You can if you know what people wore in the 1500s and what they ate. And what the roads were made of, and who the important people were and what holidays they celebrated and where they bought their shoes.

Good writing takes time. But you can’t just sit there and wait for inspiration. If it can’t be your 9 to 5 job, think of it as your second job. And it helps if you feel compelled to do it.

Years ago, before I really even knew what a romance novel was, I was invited to speak about writing to a northern California chapter of the Romance Writers of America. At the time, my credits included episodic television, several humorous parenting books and children’s poetry that appeared in anthologies with Shel Silverstein and other authors much more prominent than I.

In my mind, I placed romance novels on the same level as “The Love Boat,” of which I had written several episodes. Nobody ever won an Emmy writing for “The Love Boat.” It was pure fluff. Now I wish I’d written a hundred episodes. As it was, the residuals kept coming for decades.

I remember very little about my talk to the group, but I do recall telling the gathering I never had to worry about finding a job, no matter where I lived, as I had three useful skills: I could type, I could change a tire and I could write. It was incredibly freeing to know that, in theory, at least, I would never starve. I also told them of the helpful hint another TV writer had given me: Never stop writing when you don’t know what’s coming next. Always stop in the middle of a scene. That way, the next time you pick up your book, story or script, you’ll be able to continue writing and not stare at a blank page for minutes or hours.

Now here I am reading and writing romance novels and not feeling the least bit ashamed. I honestly don’t think my standards have slipped. I believe my perspective has broadened. In other words, I’m not as stupid and narrow-minded as I used to be. I now understand one of life’s joys (not to mention cheap thrills) is to read an entertaining book with twists and turns, sharp dialogue and a happy ending. I’m proud to be a member of the Romance Writers of America.