Just read a post about
how to write 1000 high quality words in an hour by someone named Danny Iny. I guess he's a name -- calls himself the Freddy Krueger of Blogging. (Is that a good thing? The visual is disturbing to say the least!). Anyway, here's Danny's advice in a nutshell. Sit down to write and be organized about it. Know what you are going to write about, have an outline, have a hook and then write.
Good advice and a varient -- focused for blogging -- on what I teach my students to do. Know your genre, know where you are going, and write. Add in details, add in description, add in the things that good writers do (craft). Revise. Edit. Publish.
I love it when my teaching matches real world expectations. It makes me proud of what I do with kids. I particularly love it when my teaching could be applied to myself. So, what do you need to do to be a successful writer? Write.
That's what everyone says. Just bloody well write. Everyday, even if you are just writing crap!
I've been warming up my writing skills again by writing poetry which is, I think, a good start but not sufficient.
So, here's my plan.
- write and post daily poems
- write blog posts 3 times a week
- take more photographs (blog fodder and creative juices)
- work on novel for 1 hour a day minimum
What was that old Nike slogan? Just do it!
And why is that mentally tied to the Nancy Reagan slogan -- Just say no! I think I'll apply that part of it to just saying no to distractions and excuses.
Write. Every. Damn. Day. Just do it.
Just say no to Facebook and Pinterest and playing games and wasting time browsing the interwebs. Just say no to quitting before you start. Just say no to not trying. Just say no to failure.
Being a writer has been my dream for as long as I can remember. I have always seen myself as a writer.
I just don't do it. . . consistently, thoughtfully, with dedication. I just haven't done it.
Writers write because they have to and I've been shoving that part of myself aside.
Enough is enough.
Today, I write.