Writing Tips : Writing Forward. Zen and the art of not writing. Guest post by Beth Morey Does this situation sound familiar?
You wake at an indefinably early hour to sneak in some quality time with your manuscript. You brew the coffee, clear the inbox and gag that pesky inner editor. You apply the seat of your pajama pants to the seat of your desk chair. You insert 99% of the perspiration, as recommended, fingers poised over the keyboard – yet the pages only fill with drivel, or worse, remain lifeless and empty. After 30, 60, or more dedicated minutes which feel less like writing and more like the medieval art of dentistry, you save your progress with a sigh and trudge to the bathroom for a shower.
An inconvenient truth You’re halfway through your daily lather when it hits – the plot twist which, you realise, your entire novel is hinging on, or the exquisite article lead that you just spent the last hour trying to suss out. Breathless and shivering, you feel victorious. It’s good to plan, but… Life away from the act of writing happens. Letting it happen. How to Put an End to Procrastination Today. 4: Write A Book With Me. I ran out of time.
I had other projects that I needed to hit deadlines on (you’ll see them listed and linked in the sidebar on your left). So right now, TALYSMANA is in that “percolating” stage before I move to the revision. Meanwhile, Write A Book With Me is alive again, and available for both folks who are HTTS community members, and those who are not. WABWM Boot Camps WABWM Blog My two-month old computer suffered a catastrophic screen failure about two weeks ago. The current version of TalysMana was in the other computer’s backups, which I cannot mix with the laptop backups. Hoping things will be less eventful from here on out, and I’ll be able to get more on the story soon. Doing an interlude with the villain. But he is what he is. How about you and your words? Only got 240 words today, but I’m back at the story again, and I finished the chapter “Laying Bait.” I’ll post it tomorrow. How about you? I was rolling along beautifully. Hell of a week. The “Write A Book With Me” Rules.
Here is the tiny list of “official” rules for playing “Write A Book With Me.”
You can work on any project you have going at any stage of completion.You shoot for a minimum of 250 words a day, five days a week.You do NOT flog yourself to catch up on missed words for days you did not write. You NEVER owe more than 250 words in a day, no matter if you missed a full week or a full month of writing.You acknowledge that all this has to be is fun—it isn’t work, a competition, or a form of self-flagellation—and if knocking out your words at this pace stops being fun, you walk away with no guilt.Your aim is to finish your book.
What you do with it after that is up to you. NOTE: You can join in at any time, and you can start anywhere in any project you have going or want to begin. I’ll work on whatever book (or course) I’m writing at the time. BEGINNER: You can do the minimum words for as many days a week as I work (generally five). You can do this. Keeping In Touch Where To Post Your Progress. Consistent, Small Word Counts Will Get Your Novel Finished. Courtesy of Bombardier By Jennifer Blanchard This post was inspired by fiction author Holly Lisle.
Holly has been a full-time fiction writer for 17 years now and she’s been able to do this because she actually sits down and gets her writing done. A couple days ago, she invited the readers of her blog to join her in writing a novel. Currently, she’s penning her most recent novel, DTD (this is the abbreviation she uses. Since writing 300,000 words using a consistent, but small word count will take her a while, she has invited her readers who are interested in writing a novel to join her in one of three ways: Beginners: Write your minimum of 250 words, five days a week.Intermediate: Pace Holly. Strike Back Against Procrastination With A Mental Mongoose.
By Andrew Toynbee Procrastination comes in many forms.
At its heart, fear coils like a striking snake: It can be the Fear of the Beginning.It can be the Fear of that Main Task.It can be the Fear of Completion. Fear of the Beginning has struck when you stare in panic at that blank piece of paper, pen slouching limply in your writing hand. The inspiration that struck you moments ago has just evaporated. The blank screen, complete with taunting cursor, dares you to mark its pristine whiteness with text that will surely be just nonsense, right? Fear of that Main Task will affect you after the writing is underway.
But there’s so far to go, so much to do! Procrastinating Writers — Guidance for writers who struggle to get started. Small products, small living, the smallest stuff in the world. » Blog Archive » Having trouble with GTD? Try WSD.