As some know, I've started working on a new novel called Onyx. I started out gangbusters four weeks ago by writing the first 5,000 words in a single. I figured I'd be done in no time and could begin my next work before summer got going.
I've written barely 2,000 words since.
Things keep getting in the way. Work deadlines will hit, or my wife will want me to spend more time with her and my daughters, so I put my writing aside. However, this is just a raft of excuses, and everyone knows it.
I need to write something each day, even if it's just a few hundred words. Yes, that might make things painful, but it'd be more progress than doing nothing. Therefore, I'm making myself inch forward a bit at a time. I'm writing a little each day(except for Sunday...Sunday is blogging day). Further, I've got a few critique friends out there who have promised to help me with this one. I know I won't flood them with stuff - they lead busy lives as well - but having them waiting should spur me to get off my ass and put something on paper.
Writers as a whole need to remember this. Even if you can't write a great deal, write each day. It will not only help your novel(or short story, or poems, or whatever), but you'll be able to improve your craft. Stephen King once said that it took 10,000 hours of writing to master the craft, so you might as well get those hours somewhere. Break them into bite size chunks so they don't seem intimidating.
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Sure, my next novel may take till next decade to get finished, but it'll get finished... eventually.
I've written barely 2,000 words since.
Things keep getting in the way. Work deadlines will hit, or my wife will want me to spend more time with her and my daughters, so I put my writing aside. However, this is just a raft of excuses, and everyone knows it.
I need to write something each day, even if it's just a few hundred words. Yes, that might make things painful, but it'd be more progress than doing nothing. Therefore, I'm making myself inch forward a bit at a time. I'm writing a little each day(except for Sunday...Sunday is blogging day). Further, I've got a few critique friends out there who have promised to help me with this one. I know I won't flood them with stuff - they lead busy lives as well - but having them waiting should spur me to get off my ass and put something on paper.
Writers as a whole need to remember this. Even if you can't write a great deal, write each day. It will not only help your novel(or short story, or poems, or whatever), but you'll be able to improve your craft. Stephen King once said that it took 10,000 hours of writing to master the craft, so you might as well get those hours somewhere. Break them into bite size chunks so they don't seem intimidating.
(Geckos can eat anything, even shave ice, if they take small enough bites)
Unfortunately, we too often let our excuses get in the way of doing just a little bit. We rationalize it with, "Well, if I can't get into a rhythm, then I shouldn't even try." Such things are obviously bullshit, and we should acknowledge them as such. I will no longer accept that I can't do anything due to time. I'll write, even if it's just a bit.Sure, my next novel may take till next decade to get finished, but it'll get finished... eventually.
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