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| Put first things first. We often put our writing off until after everything “important” or “immediate” gets done. Our dreams, our happiness—OUR WRITING—are BOTH important and immediate. They need and deserve to come first, not last.
Beginning has “genius, power and magic in it.” Start writing. First one word, then another, and another. Before you know it, the words will be flowing.
Be fearless in your first draft. Bury all your “shoulds” in the backyard. Send your inner critic out for ice cream. Relax. Have fun. Let ‘er rip!
Without commitment, discipline is impossible. With commitment, discipline is inevitable. So let go of trying to force yourself to be disciplined. Instead, focus on deepening your commitment to yourself, your dreams and goals, and your writing.
Writer’s Block is not “the problem.” It’s merely pointing you towards whatever’s really getting in your way: fear; lack of commitment, clarity or organization; being tired, stressed or not feeling well. With “writer’s block” don’t get frustrated, get curious. Once you discover the real problem, the solution becomes obvious. To move forward you’ll need to: brainstorm, make a choice, be specific, get a good night’s sleep.
Find a brainstorming partner, or join a mastermind group. Besides the wonderful ideas that others will come up with just for you, brainstorming with others sparks ideas in you that you wouldn’t have come up with on your own. It creates a powerful synergy.
Fear is a liar. It says, “You can’t do this,” when you can. It says, “You’re not inspired. Why bother writing,” when writing is the very thing that will open up your connection to inspiration. It says, “You’re too tired to write,” when writing is what gives you energy. It says, “You’ll never be as good as them,” when it’s your unique voice that is your greatest asset. It says, “You’re a dreamer. Get real,” when everything of value that sas ever been created, started as a dreamer’s vision. Fear is a liar. Start writing and turn the volume down on fear.
Whenever you're stuck remember—where focus goes, inspiration flows. So stop, take a deep breath, relax and focus.
Always remember to “Divide and Conquer!” Or, to be more specific, “Divide and Complete!” There isn’t any writing project, no matter how large and overwhelming, that can’t be divided into smaller, more easily completed pieces. As you complete more and more of the “pieces,” your large project will feel more doable and less overwhelming. One day, one piece, one page, one paragraph at a time.
When facing the blank page makes you go blank—treat it like a Jackson Pollock canvas. Throw words at it without worrying how they’ll land, or what picture they’ll paint. The more words and the less white you have, the easier it is to write, and the more confidence and creativity you bring to the page.
Celebrate! every page, every piece, every publication. Celebrate! every risk taken, every goal met, every milestone achieved. Celebrate! every fear faced, every excuse overcome, every time you thought you couldn’t do it, and then did. Focus less on “when?” and “not good enough,” and “so much more to do,” and focus more on acknowledging how far you’ve come, appreciating who you are and what you’ve done, and celebrating every step along the way.
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Are You Up For a 100 Day Writing Challenge?
Have you achieved all the writing goals that you set for yourself on January 1st? Are you happy with the progress you've made so far this year? Is there more you'd like to achieve before the year is through?
September 23rd is day #1 of the last 100 days of 2009. What daily writing goal are you willing to commit to starting on September 23rd (or on any day you chosse to begin) for the next 100 days?
Your goal can be:
- The number of minutes or hours per day that you're going to write
- The number of words or pages per day that you're going to produce
- The number of scenes or sections per day that you're going to complete
Consistency is the key to success when pursuing a long term goal. Don't be afraid to experiment with the amount of time, or content, that you're committing to in order to discover the amount that challenges and stretches you, without putting you into overwhelm
I've designed a 100 Day Writing Challenge Tracking Sheet that you can use for any 100 Day Writing Challenge. I printed my sheet on card stock so it will last 100 days.
Depending on what your commitment is, you can put a check mark in the day's box or the number of hours/words/pages/scenes you've done. Since my commitment is to work an hour a day on my book, Unleash Your Book Writing Genius, I'm going to put a check mark in the box for an hour, and the number of hours I wrote if I went longer.
There are three ways you can do a 100 Day Writing Challenge.
- The Positive Reinforcement Method: In this writing challenge, you only keep track of the days you write. Every day you meet your goal, put a check mark in one of the boxes. If you miss a day, it's not recorded on the sheet in any way. In other words, if you wrote seven of the first ten days then the first seven boxes would have a check mark in them, and then whenever you wrote next you'd put a check mark in day eight. So the chellenge sheet would keep track of 100 writing days, no matter how many days it took you to achieve this.
PROS: Since you're only keeping track of your successes--of the days you write--this method gives you a powerful dose of positive reinforcement. If you can't write everyday, say your commitment is to write three days a week, then this can give you a sense of accomplishment over time. You'll see how those three days add up over the weeks and months that you're working on a project.
CONS: Since you're not keeping track of how many days you missed inbetween writing days, it could have been one day, or it could have been five days. You want to be careful to stay consistent and make an effort to write everyday (or however many days you're commited to) so that you don't lose momemtum.
- The Box a Day Method: In this writing challenge, you fill in a box every day whether it's with a check mark to show that you wrote, or an X to show that you didn't write. So your 100 Day Writing Challenge will take 100 days, no matter how many of those days you actually write.
PROS: By keeping track of how many days you write, and how many you don't, you get a real sense of your writing habits. You also have a visual incentive to get you (and keep you) writing. If you see that you've missed two days in a row, you're more likely to write on that third day than if you weren't keeping track.
CONS: If you see that you've missed more days than you feel comfortable with, it could have the effect of discouraging you. If this should happen, throw the tracking sheet away!
It's important that you find a writing practice that works for you. Whenever you try something new look at it as an experiment. After playing with it for awhile, ask yourself: "Is it helping and inspiring me, getting in my way, or not having much effect at all?" Be honest about what doesn't work for you, and be willing to let it go in order to find what does work.
- The 100 Days or Bust Method: To complete this challenge, you must write for 100 days straight. This means that if you miss a day, no matter how far along in the challenge you may be, you have to start all over again at day one.
PROS: This will kick you into gear! I've done it. Once you've had to start over a couple of times you will do ANYTHING to complete your commitment for the day. If you're not feeling well, you'll do it. If you have company, you'll do it. If you get into bed and then realize you haven't written, yet, you'll get out of bed and do it. It's an amazing learning experience, and habit builder.
CONS: The larger your commitment, the less this works. There will often be days when you're about to go to sleep and realize you haven't written, yet. On those days, you may be able to push through and write for half an hour, or even an hour, but I doubt you could push through and write for three hours. And yet... this challenge might just be the incentive you need to get you to start writing earlier in the day. As always: Do whatever works for you.
The last thing to consider in a 100 Day Writing Challenge is the word that sits alone at the bottom of the challenge tracking sheet--Celebrate!
Before thinking about how you'll celebrate the completion of the challenge, think about what you'll be celebrating. Yes, you'll be celebrating:
- 100 days of writing
- a new, or stronger, habit of productivity
- the completion of the book you're working on (or at, least, completion of a substantial portion of it)
- new insights and understanding about your writing process
But what does this mean to you? How will it make you feel? How will it change how you see yourself? How will it change how others see you? How will it change your business?
Take the 2 or 3 strongest results and list them to the left of the word, Celebrate. Then, to the right of the word, list how you would like to celebrate the completion of the challenge--and make it a celebration or reward worthy of your accomplishment. Make it something you want and look forward to, something worth writing for.
WritingSpirit Book Writers Community Members
For support on your 100 Day Writing Challenge Journey, go to the Writing Goals Discussion Forum and post your challenge, how you're doing, what you're learning, what questions you have, and what support you need. If posting weekly updates would help you stay on track, please do.
WritingSpirit Visitors
Besides the interview and community call schedule, which you can find out more about on the home page, The WritingSpirit Book Writers Community will support you with creativity, productivity and mindset tools, such as the Book Writing Compass, the Peace Process (a deep and profound practice of making peace with the aspects of the writing process or book business that you have resistance to), The Law of Attraction in Action for Book Writers, and more...
Download my free ebook The Top 10 Tips to Unleash Your Book Writing Genius, and my interview with author Joyce Schwarz on How to Create a Vision Board for Your Book (at the top right hand side of our site), check out our upcoming interviews, and content, then join the The WritingSpirit Book Writers Community at the top left hand corner of our site, so that you can experience for youself how the power of community and commitment can help you write your book from inspiration to income.
Our Launch Special pricing is still in effect. For those who join at the 6 month level, you'll get an additional 6 months membership for free. That $8 a month for 3 monthly calls, new website content, creativity, productivity and writing tools, and the support of a creative community of your fellow book writers.
Download the 100 Day Writing Challenge Tracking Sheet.
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| Here's what they're saying about Julie Isaac and WritingSpirit.com...
"You’ve done a superb job with this. All very clear, very easy to follow, very well organized. I would say it definitely delivers on its promise."
Hal Zina Bennett
Author of over 30 books, including:
Write From the Heart
Writing Spiritual Books
"Julie, I am looking forward to writing in a way that I haven't in many years. I completed a long short story, got published, did a bunch of readings, am applying to an artist colony, in other words, something has broken open."
Cheri S.
Chicago, IL
"I never considered concepts like courage, curiosity, intention as journaling tools. I can begin to see how they are just as important as a working pen and sheet of paper."
Judy C.
Madison, WI
"Somehow 'starting', putting those first words on paper, is daunting. These exercises give me focus and purpose."
Barbara B.
Charleston, SC
Julie’s writing and creativity tips have saved me from the clutches of self-pity and procrastination. I now have no excuse but to do what I love, and stay focused. They have pushed me further in my goals. With each tip, I find myself smiling and printing them out to be pasted around my monitor.
Shawn Laplante
writer/filmmaker
"It got me motivated to write again which has been great."
St. Louis, MO
"A lot of excellent advice presented in a nuturing way."
Carol F.
San Francisco
"Thank you for your inspiration.
Peggy L.
Washington, DC |
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