Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Writing Daily

How great is this poster designed by Giovanni Pintori?


“Write every day!”

I can't tell you how many different sources I've heard say the same thing. Why? Because of what Phillip Pullman says:

One of the hardest things to do with a novel is to stop writing it for a while, do something else, fulfill this engagement or that commitment or whatever, and pick it up exactly where you left it and carry on as if nothing had happened. You will have changed; the story will have drifted off course, like a ship when the engines stop and there’s no anchor to keep it in place; when you get back on board, you have to warm the engines up, start the great bulk of the ship moving through the water again, work out your position, check the compass bearing, steer carefully to bring it back on track … all that energy wasted on doing something that wouldn’t have been necessary at all if you’d just kept going!

I have to admit, when I first read that, I was in the midst of writing my first novel. I still hadn't learned the art of protecting my writing time, or setting personal boundaries. I had to learn to make it clear to the lovelies in my life that:

(a) no, I was not crazy for wanting to write; I felt a fiery, passionate burning to do this; writing is work too, something I love and part of what makes me feel filled and complete,

and

(b) writing was going to be a HIGH priority, like maybe number 3 after faith and family—meaning that everything else would have to be fit in IF there was time.

Sooooo. Daily writing. I have a goal for August. The goal is:

WRITE EVERY DAY.

Will you join me? If you're not a writer, is there something you'd like to be doing daily? Maybe exercise, or keeping your sink clean, or writing in a gratitude journal, or meditating, or eating raw vegetables. Let me know what you plan to do daily this month and we'll help cheer each other along.

Don't know what to write about? Check out Laurie Halse Anderson's posts about her Write 15 Minutes A Day program. There are some excellent writing prompts and advice.

Need a push to develop the discipline for daily writing? Chris Brogan has some great tips.


“Writing is a marathon of the spirit. Don't give up.” - Stuart Cohen

Time to put one word in front of the other.

14 comments:

  1. I'll do it! I need a goal to keep my mind from stagnating. I'm probably not ready to dive into a novel type project, but I rock at haiku! :)

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    1. Oh I can't wait to see what your clever mind comes up with. Please, please share.

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  2. I'm enlisting for this kind of shenanigans!

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    1. Goody! What are you going to do? Write? Let me know, I'd love to follow along.

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    2. Yes, I actually started yesterday, so maybe I'll take a freebie pass one day in august to make it up :)

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  3. One of these days I'll join you in writing every day, but today isn't the day. ;) I will commit to something, though! I'll commit to exercising daily. I've kind of slacked in the last couple of weeks and I need to get back into it. I'll even do it while I'm on my business trip in a couple of weeks. :)

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    1. Okay! Fitting in exercise on a trip is always a challenge. Let me know how it goes.

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  4. maybe i'll blog every day. or exercise. or clean. or eat dinner at home. or work before i play. for people that have a lot to work on, it's easy to find something to do daily. :)

    will you send me the file for your kindness begins with me poster? there's an error.

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  5. I am! I'm revising Manuscript A and doing my pre-writing for Manuscript B, which I'm ungodly excited about. I've been working on Manuscript A for 26 months straight, and it'll be good to finish and let it sit for a few weeks. Meanwhile, me and Manuscript B are going to be racing around a banked track roller derby ring. In Vegas. Yes, this is how we roll!

    I miss your face! Hope you're doing well, thanks for the save in NYC. Are you going to BEA next year?

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    1. eek! such exciting things happening for you. i am undecided about BEA next year. i'm thinking more about ALA. not sure who i can coerce into going with me again. you?

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  6. I'm in. I've also been running/walking in the mornings for 30 minutes-- not long but I only go down my 3 block street and back and forth, leaving kid #1 in charge with instructions to flag me down if he needs me. So I'm publicly stating my goal to run 5 days a week and write every day so you can all hold me accountable. What's our reward? ;)

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    1. Hooray Shauna! I haven't thought about a reward besides the deep, abiding sense of satisfaction you'll get at accomplishing a goal. Ha! It's a great idea to reward ourselves. Maybe with a lunch date?

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