There's nothing like a clear couple of hours for writing to invite you into an involuntary Youtube wormhole. You’ve got an empty house and a clear diary, and suddenly nothing is more important than the a cappella version of God Only Knows or that door that sounds like Miles Davis
What works for me: somebody - was it you, Mark? - told me that 'not writing feels worse than writing'.
She says, currently with three clear hours and therefore thinking about doing a bit of yoga/cleaning/breakfast/pottering/ thinking about another book idea/ looking out of the window/
A really helpful post, Mark. Quite a lot of that resonated: giving yourself permission, recognising that you are a writer. And giving your writing time the same respect as the most important client meeting. Love what you are doing here. I wondered also how much benefit or distraction you find in reading the work of others? And do you find yourself reading less as your writing finds a rich vein?
It was lovely to hear you share your tips. There are so many good ones here. The ‘optimum’ and minimum period of time I need to set aside for writing is two hours. Rest for 45minutes then repeat. With this formula I get quite a bit done. But it will be different for everyone.
This was exactly what I needed to hear Mark. There are gifts to be found when you are forced to slow down (I got a boring bug too) as I’ve given myself permission to binge read/listen to the past posts I missed. You’ve helped me realise a couple of important things; procrastination is for sure the big stumbling block and secondly, I do take myself seriously. What really resonated was when you talked about writing being an emotional business. This is so true. And it can be exhausting when you scatter pieces of yourself into it. I penned a whole (very different) book some time ago (when I was doing a pretty intense writing degree); one which will never see the light of day, and a fair few articles for magazines etc since. But the book took everything I had and quite possibly more. I felt like I was carrying a monster on my back for much of it. I care. And I think the caring part really matters. At least for me. There is so much great stuff in here and I’m going to process (not procrastinate) it for a day or two. But I’m giving myself the permission to start now, despite not having the optimal conditions or heaps of time. Thank you for that.
What works for me: somebody - was it you, Mark? - told me that 'not writing feels worse than writing'.
She says, currently with three clear hours and therefore thinking about doing a bit of yoga/cleaning/breakfast/pottering/ thinking about another book idea/ looking out of the window/
A really helpful post, Mark. Quite a lot of that resonated: giving yourself permission, recognising that you are a writer. And giving your writing time the same respect as the most important client meeting. Love what you are doing here. I wondered also how much benefit or distraction you find in reading the work of others? And do you find yourself reading less as your writing finds a rich vein?
Very useful post. The idea of valuing yourself as a writer has really struck a chord.
It was lovely to hear you share your tips. There are so many good ones here. The ‘optimum’ and minimum period of time I need to set aside for writing is two hours. Rest for 45minutes then repeat. With this formula I get quite a bit done. But it will be different for everyone.
This was exactly what I needed to hear Mark. There are gifts to be found when you are forced to slow down (I got a boring bug too) as I’ve given myself permission to binge read/listen to the past posts I missed. You’ve helped me realise a couple of important things; procrastination is for sure the big stumbling block and secondly, I do take myself seriously. What really resonated was when you talked about writing being an emotional business. This is so true. And it can be exhausting when you scatter pieces of yourself into it. I penned a whole (very different) book some time ago (when I was doing a pretty intense writing degree); one which will never see the light of day, and a fair few articles for magazines etc since. But the book took everything I had and quite possibly more. I felt like I was carrying a monster on my back for much of it. I care. And I think the caring part really matters. At least for me. There is so much great stuff in here and I’m going to process (not procrastinate) it for a day or two. But I’m giving myself the permission to start now, despite not having the optimal conditions or heaps of time. Thank you for that.