Day 304 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author/publisher,
Dane F. Baylis

ON ROUTINES AND CONTENT.

OR

ONE'S FOR THE DOING, THE OTHER'S WHAT GETS DONE.

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Let's face it, much of what becomes your writing output is strictly a matter of habit. The simplest habit to see the sense of, and one of the most difficult to apply, is the credo, "Write something everyday." The best way to approach this is with a little more discipline and blatant selfishness. The phrase should be, "Write something everyday and as close to the same time of day as humanly possible." Everything else that wants to occur at that time - errands, visits, phone calls, what-damned-ever, needs to be weighed against the one truth of, "I am a writer and this is the time during my day when I expect to do that. Without interruption or distraction. This is my work and a promise to myself that I intend to keep."

 

Having the best intention of just writing something, at some point, during a given day is not enough. It is too easy to sit down at just the wrong time, or to make an excuse why something else has to have your attention. Is writing as important to you as you thought it was? Then setting up a routine in which you can have the time, solitude, and concentration to accomplish that one thing is the best way to achieve your goal.

 

By making it a scheduled activity, you can let as much of the world as you think you have influence over know that, as much as their concerns and desires are important to them, if they want your participation, they have to offer you fair compensation for attending to them OUTSIDE of your writing time. That hour, or two, or a morning's luxury at the keys, is when you WORK at your craft and it is best done uninterrupted. By coming to this kind of agreement, you set aside a period in which to get into the "habit" of writing. Will it all be genius from that point forward? Probably not; but at least when the muse comes knocking, your ass will be where she can find it, glued to the chair in front of your keyboard, tablet, pad, or other medium of choice.

 

Should you expect that, as you become more habituated, your usable output will increase? Yes, and no. You may find that, as you spend more time getting things down, you become more invested in getting them down in the best form possible. In other words, time spent glued to your writing chair becomes time in which you work harder at the 'craft' of writing. Also, just because the quantity is increasing, doesn't mean the quality is. As with driving a car, the longer you do it, the better you should get at it. But, it's usually when you reach that comfortable point, when you figure you've learned all you need to know, the pile up can happen. At least you will have set aside the time to work on straightening out the wreckage and getting it back on track.

 

We learn as much, if not more, from the accidents we survive!

 

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Meanwhile...live, love, write.

 

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Tomorrow,

 

Dane F. Baylis

Author/Publisher.