How To Break Writing Habits Even If You're Not A Writer
We all tell stories. Some of us write them down. But I feel we all write our lives for others to read. Even if you can honestly say you're not and have never been and will never be a writer, I want to contend, for the length of this post, that you do "Write".
Writing is usually thought of as putting words on paper or screen but the word "write" came from roots that meant "carve, scratch, and cut".
In a previous post titled, Really, No *Really*, What The Heck Is Writing?, I took those meanings of writing (plus, "paint") and wrote this:
"Pardon me while a let the poetic side of my personality take control for a minute:
"Authors can sometimes be said to carve a place for themselves in our culture.
"There are also many writers barely scratching out a living.
"Many wish they could cut a swath of recognition through the crowd of other writers.
"And, our favorite writers are those who paint images in our minds with their words."
When I wrote that, I was having a little fun with words but, if you substitute "people" for "writers"/"authors" in those sentences, they do make sense.
OK, I admit, that in no way makes every person a writer; but, what is the carving, scratching, and cutting that writers do and can those activities be seen in anyone's life?
It seems fairly obvious to me that those root meanings for "write" come from the time in human history before pen and ink, when writing was not something that could be easily thrown away after being read or swiftly deleted with a keystroke. Our ancestor-writers wrote for keeps; they wrote to have their words clearly remembered; they cut and scratched and carved important ideas, even if they were "only" the tallies of goods flowing through a port.
So I'm proposing you consider the actions you perform to make an impression or influence someone or make an idea count as ways you Write your life for others to Read.
And, just as the commonly-accepted writer must edit what they write before they present it for reading, the actions we take to carve, scratch, and cut important feelings and thoughts into our social fabric should be as well-conceived as we can make them before we expect others to Read us right…
So, I suppose I'd better address that habit breaking I have in the title if my little cut/scratch/carve effort pays what it promised.
I have only one method I can offer that's worked for me:
Don't try to stop yourself from doing what you want to stop yourself from doing.
Do more of what you want yourself to do.
Spending your energy on doing the new thing may seem ineffective at first (while you're still also doing what you don't want to do) but, over time, the new Do can replace the old Don't with less stress and strain on your mental hygiene.
I can't reckon the time I've wasted in my life trying valiantly to ram my head into the brick walls of my bad habits.
I'm still surprised I still have a brain that can function.
Oh!! I shouldn't fail in offering a maxim I've learned about habit-breaking:
Avoid taking advice from folks who act like they're perfect.
I still have bad habits and I'm still persistently and Gently trying to Do what I wish I would do.
I am making progress…
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Tagged: bad habits, good habits, habit, habits, writer, Writers Resources, writing, writing habits
