Q: Carry a notebook with you wherever you go and capture the ideas that pop into your head at the time they appear. Few people can afford to be novelists-in-residence without some income source earned by fair means or foul. Unless you're Alain de Botton, who writes living off an inheritance (although now his writing makes the money too), you'd best make the time wherever it's free. Use your time on the bus to and from work, during lunch, after dinner, on the weekends, during vacation blocks. Asking for time off work to write a bestseller should be done with care. Judge the nature of your workplace first––the more conservative the establishment, the less likely this will be something considered worth their loss of your time. Bestsellers do not need to be the best written; some may well be, but it can also take many years before the public catches up with such genius unless you also manage to win a literary prize. If you want to be great now, just start typing or writing, get it down and then fiddle with it later. Procrastination and perfection are the enemies of the bestseller. A plan, an outline, whatever you will. You can mind map it if you prefer. There are lots of rules for doing this. You can even read those too if you like. Or you can just get stuck into it and write, write, write. Not everyone does this the color-by-numbers way, so find your own path.  Fiction: Set out the characters, their traits and quirks, their motivations. This should be fun; fill them out as they grow in your mind. If they're based on your neighbor or ex-lover, make sure they're unrecognizable unless you enjoy being sued. And write out the situations you want to develop in your book, the plot so to speak, the series of events, be they fortunate or not so fortunate. And how will this all end? A cliffhanger, a surprise, a happy ending or a kaboom and everyone dies? Non-fiction: Consider the need for sections, methods, parts––how will you break things down? Chapters can be nested inside sections, etc. Say you're writing about people's love of apple pies. Section one could cover what the apple pie is, with stories of people waxing nostalgic about apple pies from years gone by. Section two is where to source the best apples for pie making. Section three is a stack of apple pie recipes. Section four is troubleshooting failed apple pies. Section five is photos of your favorite apple pies off Instagram. And so forth... Some topics, like cats and beer, people will never get enough of and all you need to do is have a modern, current angle. Other things that are way too cliched, like celebrities and pop music, and you'll need funky new ways of bringing such over-written topics to people's attention that they don't already know. Is the writing taking you where you want it to? Is it good, interesting, fathomable, fascinating, gripping, useful, entertaining, sparkling, witty, trendy, or whatever combination of such things you're trying to make it? Don't be afraid of splitting elements off for other projects. Sometimes you are mid-stream writing about one thing and another insists on birthing itself. Write it down, label it and put it aside for your next project. Avoid trying to add too much to the one piece you're writing now. After all, should you manage the bestseller, you'll need to produce more after and these side ideas are perfect germs of new bestsellers for later. Miss it various times. Set more deadlines. Miss those too. After all, life has a habit of getting in the way. Eventually, set the uncrossable deadline and mean it. This time, finish the book. Enough already! There is a point at which you must choose between being an author-in-waiting and a published-author-hoping-for-a-bestseller. Decide and get on with the writing to completion.  Be realistic. A book on the lost herd of rice carving gnus of outer Mongolia will likely take longer than a fiction piece about vampires destroying the local tea party. Especially if you need to budget the money and travel to outer Mongolia to verify the research. Deep research can take years; you can nudge your imagination quite a bit faster. Holes can be filled in later. That is what friendly reviewers and your not-so-friendly editors are for, pre-publication. Listen to them; they can see the trees you keep missing for being deep in the proverbial forest.
A: Take notes all the time. Find the time to write. Be focused on the purpose of this book. Write a synopsis of your book. Review progress frequently. Set a deadline.

Q: You may be uncomfortable perpetuating the Santa story or feel discomfort about lying to your child, and those are legitimate concerns shared by many. On the other hand, you may want your child to believe in something whimsical and magical, like Santa. How to deal with the Santa Claus story is a personal decision that can only be made by your family. Remember, though, that even if you do not share the Santa story in your own family, your child might still come to you with tricky questions about Santa. Perhaps they heard something at school or they have thought about the Santa story and it doesn't completely make sense. Acknowledge the question and praise them for their critical thinking. This is actually a positive developmental step. Determining their reason for asking will help you figure out the best way to proceed.  You might give this question some thought before it ever comes up, so that you are not caught completely off guard. This will help you respond more thoughtfully and slowly, rather than be reactionary. Ask your child very plainly, "Why do you ask?" or "Where is this question coming from?". Just because the child is asking questions doesn't necessarily mean that they are emotionally ready to believe the truth. They may just be curiously probing. Asking what your child believes will give you an idea of where they are emotionally and cognitively. If your child indicates that they still believe in Santa, despite any outside doubts, it's likely not time to tell them the truth yet. Respond to your child's question with a simple, "Well, what do you believe?" This allows them to reflect on what they think and whether or not they believe in Santa Claus. When your child answers your question about what they believe, they will tell you that they don't think Santa is real, or that they do but that they have questions.  This answer should guide how you proceed and you can either tell them the truth about Santa or let them continue to believe. They may also say that they do believe the story of Santa Claus, but are confused about something specific in the Santa story, such as how he gets around the world in one night, or fits all of the presents in one bag.  Just reiterate whatever you've already told them and answer questions as best as you can.
A:
Consider your own feelings. Find out what inspired the question. Ask what the child believes. Follow your child's lead.