on discipline and writing
Growing up, I was an only child and only grandchild. Things just appeared in front of me, and suddenly I would be at ballet class or in front of the TV. I learned to take things as they came, but I never learned how to develop a sense of time or discipline.
Now that I’m an adult, and approaching my 30th birthday this year, I struggle with trying to develop habits, both at home and at work. And as I try to develop as a writer, I know that the one thing standing between where I am right now and a published novel is lack of discipline.
I don’t write every day. Sometimes weeks will go by, and I’ll agonize over my lack of wordcount. But all it would take to make things better is for me to sit down and write.
At first I wondered if it was a problem with organization.
So, I took all my notes, sorted through them, and put them in a nice big binder. It’s currently sitting on my desk, full of ideas and half-written stories. And it's great that it's all together, but it didn't exactly do anything for my discipline problem.
Next, I tried getting a writing tablet, which works fine in terms of reading my handwriting, but I forget to bring it with me or use it. Ultimitaly it isn't going to write the story for me.
I tried signing up for fests with deadlines, thinking it would motivate me to write. The fact that in high school and university I turned in assignments late, didn’t even occur to me. I thought that things would magically work out, because I was an adult now. I managed to turn in every story, but the stress has been too much to bear.
So, instead I thought I would never sign up for anything again, and I would take as little or as much time as I needed. Unfortunately, that hasn’t worked either. Without the threat of a deadline, I haven’t been productive either. I've been busy dreaming about finishing some stories, but haven't actually done much about them.
It seems that what I’m lacking isn’t organization, but process. I have no habit or ritual to get me into writing, and so I don’t.
I’ve found a few interesting websites online that describe the writing process, and most seem to agree that writing every day is important. Some writers write before they go to work. Others right before bed-time. Some write for a certain amount of hours a day, others believe in a daily wordcount.
I’m going to try to write 150 words a day. It doesn’t seem like much to me, but admittedly, it’s more than I’m currently writing. Another thing I’m going to try, is colouring in a bar graph every time I make my daily quota. As a visual person, it’s not enough for me to think ‘well, that’s 150 words right there - good job!’. I need to actually see it in front of me. In bright colours. It also gives me an excuse to use my crayons, which somehow make things better.
Here are a few websites that talk about discipline for writers. The techniques can also be applied to any hobbies/projects/goals.
http://www.sff.net/people/dan.perez/writing/discipline.htm
This website talks about bar graphs and charts. Not everyone is going to find doing this helpful. But for visual learners, seeing your progress is just as important as making progress.
http://www.writersbbs.com/html/FishEggs/3.98/1.html
“How to Maintain a Writing Discipline and Organized Work Method”
Another interesting read about discipline and organization.
Stephen King’s “On Writing”
This was a wonderful gift from a very supportive friend of mine. It contains writing tips and a fascinating autobiography, and also talks about King’s daily writing schedule, the importance of taking weekends off, and developing the habit of writing often and a lot.
http://junediamanti.livejournal.com/184483.html
This journal entry talks about WIP’s. The first bit of advice is “don’t do it”. But if you ignore that, and go ahead anyway (or already started a WIP before smartening up)*, then there is additional advice. Things that I need to repeat to myself like ‘only one person left you a negative review - there are dozens of positive reviews - focus on those’
So, I’m going to keep trying to develop as a writer. Last year my focus was on story development. I’ve since learned though that quantity can be just as important.
Any thoughts? Or other resources you've come across that talk about this? I'd appreciate the insight.
------------------------------------
* Drow
Now that I’m an adult, and approaching my 30th birthday this year, I struggle with trying to develop habits, both at home and at work. And as I try to develop as a writer, I know that the one thing standing between where I am right now and a published novel is lack of discipline.
I don’t write every day. Sometimes weeks will go by, and I’ll agonize over my lack of wordcount. But all it would take to make things better is for me to sit down and write.
At first I wondered if it was a problem with organization.
So, I took all my notes, sorted through them, and put them in a nice big binder. It’s currently sitting on my desk, full of ideas and half-written stories. And it's great that it's all together, but it didn't exactly do anything for my discipline problem.
Next, I tried getting a writing tablet, which works fine in terms of reading my handwriting, but I forget to bring it with me or use it. Ultimitaly it isn't going to write the story for me.
I tried signing up for fests with deadlines, thinking it would motivate me to write. The fact that in high school and university I turned in assignments late, didn’t even occur to me. I thought that things would magically work out, because I was an adult now. I managed to turn in every story, but the stress has been too much to bear.
So, instead I thought I would never sign up for anything again, and I would take as little or as much time as I needed. Unfortunately, that hasn’t worked either. Without the threat of a deadline, I haven’t been productive either. I've been busy dreaming about finishing some stories, but haven't actually done much about them.
It seems that what I’m lacking isn’t organization, but process. I have no habit or ritual to get me into writing, and so I don’t.
I’ve found a few interesting websites online that describe the writing process, and most seem to agree that writing every day is important. Some writers write before they go to work. Others right before bed-time. Some write for a certain amount of hours a day, others believe in a daily wordcount.
I’m going to try to write 150 words a day. It doesn’t seem like much to me, but admittedly, it’s more than I’m currently writing. Another thing I’m going to try, is colouring in a bar graph every time I make my daily quota. As a visual person, it’s not enough for me to think ‘well, that’s 150 words right there - good job!’. I need to actually see it in front of me. In bright colours. It also gives me an excuse to use my crayons, which somehow make things better.
Here are a few websites that talk about discipline for writers. The techniques can also be applied to any hobbies/projects/goals.
http://www.sff.net/people/dan.perez/writing/discipline.htm
This website talks about bar graphs and charts. Not everyone is going to find doing this helpful. But for visual learners, seeing your progress is just as important as making progress.
http://www.writersbbs.com/html/FishEggs/3.98/1.html
“How to Maintain a Writing Discipline and Organized Work Method”
Another interesting read about discipline and organization.
Stephen King’s “On Writing”
This was a wonderful gift from a very supportive friend of mine. It contains writing tips and a fascinating autobiography, and also talks about King’s daily writing schedule, the importance of taking weekends off, and developing the habit of writing often and a lot.
http://junediamanti.livejournal.com/184483.html
This journal entry talks about WIP’s. The first bit of advice is “don’t do it”. But if you ignore that, and go ahead anyway (or already started a WIP before smartening up)*, then there is additional advice. Things that I need to repeat to myself like ‘only one person left you a negative review - there are dozens of positive reviews - focus on those’
So, I’m going to keep trying to develop as a writer. Last year my focus was on story development. I’ve since learned though that quantity can be just as important.
Any thoughts? Or other resources you've come across that talk about this? I'd appreciate the insight.
------------------------------------
* Drow