About three years ago, I embarked on insanity. I had three small kids (under 8), was working full time, slowly watched my hubby's work decrease and started writing my Master's thesis. My life after teaching teens all day was sitting on my couch with research all around me, processing information and juggling kids and supporting a frustrated spouse. Please note, I don't recommend this. It sucks.
But the funny thing was I could always jump into thesis writing at a moment's notice and could get a decent amount written when kids were in and out of needing my attention.
I cannot do this when writing a novel, and it used to frustrate me until I realized that it is a whole different mindset. When writing research, my synthesizing someone else's ideas and morphing them into my own. It takes intelligence, yes, but it is something our brains just seem to naturally do.
Writing creatively is harder. I'd defend it to anyone.
About two weeks ago, I told myself to quit being a writing pansy and commit. So, with the exception of Sundays (need a day to recharge) I have been writing at least 1000 words a day.
And guess what (some of you may already know). When I sit down to write, I can start sooner and better because my brain is getting in shape to write. When we have to create everything, we have to keep our brains in top shape and the only way to do this is to make them have the habit of writing.
1000 words a day is just right for me now. I'm conditioning my brain to write at night because I'm not ready to commit to getting up at 4:00 am which was the other option. I'm realizing the depth that I can write, the way I can mold characters who are more interesting because I think about them every single day. And best of all, the chapter numbers are flying by.
Maybe your habit is 100 words a day. Maybe it's 500. I challenge you to spend this week really looking into your schedule, really asking yourself how much you want to write, and really trying to figure out a goal that will push you a little but not be inaccessible because if it's too extreme, you'll fizzle out and won't be able to maintain it.
What is your goal for writing this week? What are you doing every day to keep your brain in shape?
Tasha Seegmiller
I'm a teacher, mom, wife and writer. I love owls and run on Diet Coke, cinnamon bears and words.
Right now I'm doing a re-write, so my goals are about finishing a certain number of chapters each day, and then the next day I read back to see if they still hold up before moving on. When I start something new, I just sort of run with the idea. I'm probably more time oriented than "word count" oriented. I spend about 2 or 3 hours on creative work, and then stop, since after that I seem to get diminishing returns, so to speak. But I agree that regularly showing up seems to keep the flow.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I love the idea of keeping our brain in writing shape. Right now I'm in the middle of rewrites, but I have started to lean on my Morning Pages a bit more so that I get my brain ready for writing. Next up is a new novel, be it the new one I discovered last night in a dream, or the next in the series I'm writing, I don't know. They are both so shinny and tempting :P I have noticed that the more Morning pages I do daily the more my word count increases. It's my way to turn on the creative flow.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently doing revisions. My goal is a chapter a day. When writing I shoot for anywhere between 2-4 hours a day. I definitely need to set a regular time though and whip my brain into writing shape. Thanks for the advice!
ReplyDeleteYES! Good for you Tasha! Something else you'll discover ... by writing some every day, you'll "live" in your story. You'll have less writer's block or struggle to find your place/voice/whatever in the story because YOU'LL ALREADY BE THERE. This is what daily (except for Sunday!) writing does for me! I hope it does it for you too!
ReplyDeleteIt's easier if you do a little bit every day I think. In that way you're always "in" the book. Some part of your mind is always there so it's not so hard to get back into the groove. I really want to have a draft of my WIP ready for CPs and betas by the end of this year!
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