Ah, guilt. Anyone familiar with social media occasionally comes down with a crushing case of it, and I'm no exception. You may or may not have noticed I haven't been around blogs, Facebook, or Twitter much this summer, and my children have definitely noticed I'm spending more time than usual in my office.
I'm striving to meet a personal deadline.
No, I don't have a contract with a set date on when my manuscript needs to be finished. I don't have a boss. I don't even have another obligation coming up to spur my current progress. But I do have a set of writing rules I live by. The most important?
Act like a published writer.
Published writers are given deadlines from their editors. They have to organize their projects to fit into this time frame. Three years ago, I decided I would do the same. When I start a new project, I decide on a finish date and plan accordingly. My finish date for this project is the end of next week.
Trust me, there have been many, many times this summer in between shuttling my son to baseball tournaments and my daughter to tumbling sessions that I've yawned, rubbed my bleary eyes and thought I'll skip revising this afternoon. It's summer--we need to go to the beach.
If I didn't have a personal deadline shouting at me, I would have slacked off this month and set my project back until fall. Instead, we skipped the beach, headed to the pool for quick jaunts, and I squeezed in revising during hours I normally wouldn't. Do I regret it? No. Once I finish this book, we'll have almost three weeks to relax and enjoy the rest of summer.
It's important for me to know I can meet my deadlines. I don't want to stress about this when I do get a contract. When we get used to finishing our projects in the time we allotted, our confidence grows. By acting like published writers, we're assured we'll be able to handle the responsibilities a book contract brings.
Do you set personal deadlines? Do you think they're important? Why or why not?
I would love it if you would stop by MVRWA's blog today to read my post, "NFL and Publishing: Shaking It Up."
Have an amazing weekend!
Showing posts with label writing habits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing habits. Show all posts
Friday, July 29, 2011
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Writing Habits Sustain You
I'm reading an excellent book by Twyla Tharp. It's called "The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life." I'd only read two pages when I suddenly grabbed a pen and jotted down quote after quote. This book speaks to me. I get it. And it's based around a truth I find incredibly comforting. Creativity depends on hard work.
For those of you unfamiliar with Ms. Tharp, she's one of America's greatest choreographers and dancers. This woman knows, lives, and breathes creativity, and I feel blessed she chose to share her thoughts on the creative process.
One of my favorite quotes: "It's vital to establish some rituals--automatic but decisive patterns of behavior--at the beginning of the creative process, when you are most at peril of turning back, chickening out, giving up, or going the wrong way."
She asserts that artists must stay in shape with regular workouts. Writers must write regularly. Dancers must dance regularly. Painters must paint regularly. But she takes it a step further and says that we must also make it easier by ritualizing the process. It might be one small thing you do, such as getting a cup of coffee before you sit at your computer, but it alerts the brain that it's go-time.
A day or two off can make you rusty and can easily turn into a week or a month. She admits you're not always going to be in the mood to create. That's why training ourselves to automatically start is vital to the creative process. We can't rely on willpower alone.
"Find a working environment where the prospect of wrestling with your muse doesn't scare you, doesn't shut you down... To get the creative habit, you need a working environment that's habit-forming."
What do you think? Are you surprised to learn that our most celebrated and talented artists wrestle with their muses too? That only by their dedication and devotion to their art do they leap ahead?
Join me on Friday to share our aspirations for 2010.
For those of you unfamiliar with Ms. Tharp, she's one of America's greatest choreographers and dancers. This woman knows, lives, and breathes creativity, and I feel blessed she chose to share her thoughts on the creative process.
One of my favorite quotes: "It's vital to establish some rituals--automatic but decisive patterns of behavior--at the beginning of the creative process, when you are most at peril of turning back, chickening out, giving up, or going the wrong way."
She asserts that artists must stay in shape with regular workouts. Writers must write regularly. Dancers must dance regularly. Painters must paint regularly. But she takes it a step further and says that we must also make it easier by ritualizing the process. It might be one small thing you do, such as getting a cup of coffee before you sit at your computer, but it alerts the brain that it's go-time.
A day or two off can make you rusty and can easily turn into a week or a month. She admits you're not always going to be in the mood to create. That's why training ourselves to automatically start is vital to the creative process. We can't rely on willpower alone.
"Find a working environment where the prospect of wrestling with your muse doesn't scare you, doesn't shut you down... To get the creative habit, you need a working environment that's habit-forming."
What do you think? Are you surprised to learn that our most celebrated and talented artists wrestle with their muses too? That only by their dedication and devotion to their art do they leap ahead?
Join me on Friday to share our aspirations for 2010.
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Right Writing Habits?
I hear a collective sigh of relief that last weeks' financial posts are out of the way. Phew! I know, I know, discussing finances is dry stuff. That's why this week, I've saved the best for last. We've been talking about what we're doing right in January. Next stop: writing.
What writing habits are working for you? Which one could you absolutely not live without?
It's a hard question for me to answer because so many things contribute to my writing progress. Here's my short list of habits that work for me.
- Goals. I set annual and daily goals. I review them every week. Yes, I could improve on this by sticking to weekly goals too, but why beat myself up for not being perfect?
- Write every weekday. I don't always meet my word count, but I write something every day. It keeps me sharp, continues my progress, and solidifies my concept of myself as a writer.
- Protect my writing time. This automatically protects my downtime. My family does not appreciate it when I've wasted my writing time and try to sneak productivity at night. Frankly, it makes me feel bad. It's not necessary, so I don't do it. I'm fully able to meet my goals during the time I've set aside, but procrastination is not an option.
What's the one thing you do that keeps you writing?
Welcome to all the new followers!
And sorry, everyone, but spammers found my blog, so I had to enable word verification again.
Join me on Wednesday when we'll discuss how habits are vital to writers.
What writing habits are working for you? Which one could you absolutely not live without?
It's a hard question for me to answer because so many things contribute to my writing progress. Here's my short list of habits that work for me.
- Goals. I set annual and daily goals. I review them every week. Yes, I could improve on this by sticking to weekly goals too, but why beat myself up for not being perfect?
- Write every weekday. I don't always meet my word count, but I write something every day. It keeps me sharp, continues my progress, and solidifies my concept of myself as a writer.
- Protect my writing time. This automatically protects my downtime. My family does not appreciate it when I've wasted my writing time and try to sneak productivity at night. Frankly, it makes me feel bad. It's not necessary, so I don't do it. I'm fully able to meet my goals during the time I've set aside, but procrastination is not an option.
What's the one thing you do that keeps you writing?
Welcome to all the new followers!
And sorry, everyone, but spammers found my blog, so I had to enable word verification again.
Join me on Wednesday when we'll discuss how habits are vital to writers.
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