One of the things I love about my writing is the way I can pick up the story where I left off, even if I haven't worked on it for a few weeks. Sure, I have to read over what was there and remind myself of what I was trying to do with it. But I can also just start typing stuff and see where it takes me.
That's assuming I actually open the story file and begin. And there's my problem.
For me, the hard part of getting back to writing is actually making myself start. I don't know why, but when I sit down at the computer, I end up doing anything but writing. Working on blog posts, checking mail, organizing my desk top, finding new quotes for my notebook. I tell myself it's getting me ready to write, but it really isn't.
This not-opening-my-file-and-writing mystifies me, because I know I love writing. I even have a project ready and waiting for me to continue. So why is it so hard to start?
Here's what I'm going to try. Beginning this week, I'm going to start back to my Five Minute Free Write. If I do that first, before anything else, I know it will help me get back to putting writing first.
What do you find hard about getting back to your writing when you've been away from it? Do you have any good strategies for "breaking the ice" in a writing session?
Showing posts with label writing habits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing habits. Show all posts
Monday, August 29, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Friday Fun - Taking a Look at Writing Habits
I don't usually do blog awards, but because Girl Friday passed one along (thank you!), I've decided to share seven things related to my writing habits:
1. My best writing time is first thing in the morning, even though that's not always when I actually get to do any writing. Sometimes if I'm really intrigued in my project, I write in the evenings too.
2. I never write on Thursday nights if new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice are on.
3. Don't even think about what my desk looks like. I could never do one of those lovely interviews about my writing space unless I spent a couple of days (or weeks) tidying up.
4. My ideal readers are my notoriously hard-to-please daughters.
5. I have 20 notebooks full of snippets of my life and writing projects, ideas, and inspiration and information about writing. I'm working on my 21st.
6. My favourite day of the week for writing is Saturday, because I can usually write for a few hours without interruptions.
7. I used to write picture books, but after I had no luck getting any of them published, I decided to move on to middle grade novels (those ideal readers got older, too). Ironically, I'm now working on a picture book for a freelance project.
8. Okay, I said 7 but I thought of another one. You may have noticed that my blog doesn't have many (or any) pictures. That's because I used to have an older computer that seriously objected to loading up images. Of course, I've had a new computer for at least 6 months...but I imagine there are some readers out there who might have trouble loading up blogs that are heavy on visuals too.
Do you have any interesting writing-related habits? Do share!
1. My best writing time is first thing in the morning, even though that's not always when I actually get to do any writing. Sometimes if I'm really intrigued in my project, I write in the evenings too.
2. I never write on Thursday nights if new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice are on.
3. Don't even think about what my desk looks like. I could never do one of those lovely interviews about my writing space unless I spent a couple of days (or weeks) tidying up.
4. My ideal readers are my notoriously hard-to-please daughters.
5. I have 20 notebooks full of snippets of my life and writing projects, ideas, and inspiration and information about writing. I'm working on my 21st.
6. My favourite day of the week for writing is Saturday, because I can usually write for a few hours without interruptions.
7. I used to write picture books, but after I had no luck getting any of them published, I decided to move on to middle grade novels (those ideal readers got older, too). Ironically, I'm now working on a picture book for a freelance project.
8. Okay, I said 7 but I thought of another one. You may have noticed that my blog doesn't have many (or any) pictures. That's because I used to have an older computer that seriously objected to loading up images. Of course, I've had a new computer for at least 6 months...but I imagine there are some readers out there who might have trouble loading up blogs that are heavy on visuals too.
Do you have any interesting writing-related habits? Do share!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)