by Rebecca Hendershot
The thing I’ve heard or read repeatedly over the years is that if you want to make a steady source of income from writing, it’s just like any job. If you ever want to finish something, you have to stick with it. Regardless of whether you’re doing it as a job or for pleasure - or both!
I recall a writer using an author character in the book to say she always had one piece in the editing stage, one being written and one in planning stages. That way, she could shift if she got stuck on one or another. I like this idea, personally.
Cycling your work is great (for me) for breaking out of a mental rut, but you still have to sit down and write. I got my biggest inspiration from a website. Let us say a professional author writes eight hours a day, five days a week.. My inspiration came from a website that talks about how to balance life, work, or children, and house cleaning. It’s called FlyLady. Weird, right? However, it works on the idea of building a series of lifelong habits one step at a time. The first of the steps was to shine your sink every night and nothing more. It built up from there.
How did I translate this to writing? Normally, I’d make the mistake of writing for eight to ten hours as the so-called muse struck. Inspiration is great. If you have the energy, go for it. My mistake was doing that and then being stuck for the next three days.
How did I translate this to writing? Normally, I’d make the mistake of writing for eight to ten hours as the so-called muse struck. Inspiration is great. If you have the energy, go for it. My mistake was doing that and then being stuck for the next three days.
I started off by writing for half an hour at a time. Or I would script out the story, outline, type out random ideas in free thought. After doing this for at least a few days, I upped the time to an hour.
I set an alarm. When the time was up, I’d get up and do something physical. Generally, it’s housework. Or just walking around the house or in the yard. I used anything that got me away from the piece I was working on. I have two gardens and occasionally I’ll putter in the vegetable one or the flower one, depending on my mood. My husband greatly appreciates it when I remember to weed the flower garden.
I set an alarm. When the time was up, I’d get up and do something physical. Generally, it’s housework. Or just walking around the house or in the yard. I used anything that got me away from the piece I was working on. I have two gardens and occasionally I’ll putter in the vegetable one or the flower one, depending on my mood. My husband greatly appreciates it when I remember to weed the flower garden.
Sometimes, when physical effort isn’t a good option due to pain or exhaustion, I go for mental effort. I like languages, so I take time to study and learn new ones as well as refresh old ones. Or I write a blog entry for the person so kind as to add my thoughts to the ones she shares with the world at large.
So what lessons have I taken away from this experience? Build your time up slowly, don’t neglect your physical health, and don’t try to do too much at once. Even if I am just itching to finish what I was working on. Once that alarm goes off, it is time to take a break. The best part about that, is if I write a brief sentence summarizing what I wanted to do, I already have inspiration for the next bout of writing!
So what lessons have I taken away from this experience? Build your time up slowly, don’t neglect your physical health, and don’t try to do too much at once. Even if I am just itching to finish what I was working on. Once that alarm goes off, it is time to take a break. The best part about that, is if I write a brief sentence summarizing what I wanted to do, I already have inspiration for the next bout of writing!
Anything that helps you remember to write, or gets you in front of that computer, is a useful tool. Word sprints, writing groups, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) are all useful tools. Maybe my help doesn’t work for you, and that’s okay.
I think those of us who want to write have to find our own ways to settle into it, but I feel like a schedule is a source of stability for someone who does not have a particular routine already built in. Humans are creatures of habit and it does us good to build positive ones.
I think those of us who want to write have to find our own ways to settle into it, but I feel like a schedule is a source of stability for someone who does not have a particular routine already built in. Humans are creatures of habit and it does us good to build positive ones.
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