Art and Discipline or Why I am not an emo writer
We have all met Those Writers. You know, the ones who write as they feel inspired. The ones who profess to writers' block day after day in a desperate ploy for sympathy. (Actually, you can find Those Artists working in any media) They tell of arduous days where they sat and nary a word was written. Their very souls cried for release but their fingers could not coax the words from their hearts. Damn, just thinking about my last conversation with one makes me need gin and it's not even 7:35AM.
Writing is just like any other skill. You have to sit down and constantly practice it. It will not improve if you only write when the mood strikes. You will never get very far in that case either. No, you have to approach writing (and any art) with a steely determination and cold discipline. Don't feel like it? Doesn't matter. That story isn't going to write itself while you languish on the fainting couch, sweet pea. If you want to see progress in your story and improvement in your skill, then you carve out time every stinking day and you write.
Don't like what is dribbling on the page? Don't think about it. I don't edit anything until the first draft is done. It bogs me down. I write without much thought and purpose beyond getting the story out of my head and onto the paper. It's far easier to edit a complete work than to write and revise and second guess and doubt and waffle and end up so twisted about that you don't get any real progress accomplished.
Start small. Right now, I'm slammed with eleventy-nine different projects, plus trying to figure out this whole indie author marketing thing. So, my daily work goal is 500 words. It takes less than forty-five minutes. It may not seem like a lot, but after five business days, that's 2500 words. Not too shabby. And if I manage to go over, all the better. The whole point, however, is to write every day.
Then there is prioritizing your writing. This is where I have issues. I put my writing on the back burner because I think I'll get to it at night. It rarely happens. I will admit, I've not met my writing goals for a while now because of this problem. I put everything and everyone before my writing. That makes me end up resentful and cranky. So, in the interest of public accountability, I'm admitting this lack of discipline. I am hoping that I will make myself do my writing first thing -- it may involve getting up at 6AM before everyone is awake and the daily grind of house, family, sewing, paperwork, and anything else that lands on my plate starts. But, that's what it takes. I want to write and I want to be an author. One book published does not an author make, especially when there are stories in my brain, waiting none so patiently to be told.
And that, my dears, is what it takes to finish a piece of writing. Not terribly romantic. The inspiration happens in the storyline creation. It is not a driving force behind the actual putting words on paper. Now that I've burst your notions of being a writer, time to belly up to the paper and get your stories done. 500 words a day. You can do it too.
Writing is just like any other skill. You have to sit down and constantly practice it. It will not improve if you only write when the mood strikes. You will never get very far in that case either. No, you have to approach writing (and any art) with a steely determination and cold discipline. Don't feel like it? Doesn't matter. That story isn't going to write itself while you languish on the fainting couch, sweet pea. If you want to see progress in your story and improvement in your skill, then you carve out time every stinking day and you write.
Don't like what is dribbling on the page? Don't think about it. I don't edit anything until the first draft is done. It bogs me down. I write without much thought and purpose beyond getting the story out of my head and onto the paper. It's far easier to edit a complete work than to write and revise and second guess and doubt and waffle and end up so twisted about that you don't get any real progress accomplished.
Start small. Right now, I'm slammed with eleventy-nine different projects, plus trying to figure out this whole indie author marketing thing. So, my daily work goal is 500 words. It takes less than forty-five minutes. It may not seem like a lot, but after five business days, that's 2500 words. Not too shabby. And if I manage to go over, all the better. The whole point, however, is to write every day.
Then there is prioritizing your writing. This is where I have issues. I put my writing on the back burner because I think I'll get to it at night. It rarely happens. I will admit, I've not met my writing goals for a while now because of this problem. I put everything and everyone before my writing. That makes me end up resentful and cranky. So, in the interest of public accountability, I'm admitting this lack of discipline. I am hoping that I will make myself do my writing first thing -- it may involve getting up at 6AM before everyone is awake and the daily grind of house, family, sewing, paperwork, and anything else that lands on my plate starts. But, that's what it takes. I want to write and I want to be an author. One book published does not an author make, especially when there are stories in my brain, waiting none so patiently to be told.
And that, my dears, is what it takes to finish a piece of writing. Not terribly romantic. The inspiration happens in the storyline creation. It is not a driving force behind the actual putting words on paper. Now that I've burst your notions of being a writer, time to belly up to the paper and get your stories done. 500 words a day. You can do it too.
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