Habit (Writing):In order to be successful at this business of writing, and becoming an author, there are a couple of things we need to get into the habit of doing, first is reading, without a doubt we need to read a great deal in the area we want to write in, as well as a few of those little craft books that exist in the ether to help us figure out how to do it. One reason I loved living in New York and going overseas, I haven't found many books on the art of writing here in Ireland, but I've tonnes from elsewhere. Second is the actual habit of sitting butt in chair, and writing. Simple...not so much. I am the worlds biggest procrastinator, I will find anything and everything to do instead of actually doing what I should be doing...take this morning. I spent it linking my printer (do yourself a favour, get one that uses the ink bottles, but prints on both sides automatically), as some how she'd decided that she wasn't talking to the computer anymore (that wasted about three hours), then I'd to move a shelving unit out of the office (don't ask), then the dryer needed emptying, and then the clothing needed to be folded, then the wash needed to be moved into the dryer....you get the idea. Suffice to say I just spent an hour and a half actually editing the novel, and now I'm here...doing the A to Z...*sigh*.
I'm going to add some links to posts that talk about how to build the habit of writing regularly. All I can say here is, try these...
- Set up a dedicated space (if you can, if not the kitchen table, or your arm chair with a little table will work grand).
- Work out what time of the day suits you to write (me it's morning / afternoon), and then ensure that you at least journal at that time of the day on a regular basis.
- I believe in trying to write something every day, not necessarily on my computer, or even related to what I'm working on, but things like setting up my writers notebook, or my marketing notebook, or taking notes from the latest book on the writing craft that I've purchased.
- I know that working another job (full or part - time) to pay the bills, is necessary for a lot of us writers / authors, and can prove daunting to us to find time to write, especially if you are the one who does the cooking, cleaning and child care as well. If that is the case, try to take time out of your busy schedule, 30 mins, to write something (I'm not belittling the work that is done outside of writing, and working, but if you want this to be a career, you need to find the time, and man, that's sooooo difficult for some of us, but worth it if you can).
- Try to write at the same time each day, and guard that time preciously, this is your time, don't let anyone steal it if possible. Turn off the phone, and tell people to leave you alone. You need this time for you.
- Limit your Social Media surfing during this time. Maybe schedule it for later, or take a day to do your Author stuff, then get back to the writing.
Hero and Heroines Journey:
Both of these are structures for your novel, they follow a kind of outline if you will, and give you a clue as to what should happen per each stage.
The hero's journey is the type of story most people use when writing fiction, it begins with his call to action, which starts the hero off on his journey through several stages before he ends up the master of two worlds (basically at the end of his story (see infographic above).
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| Infographic 1. |
The Heroines Journey reads a little different, as a matter of fact there seem to be several different versions, the one above is the most prominent when you do a search, and then there is...
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| Infographic 2 |
Then there is this one...
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| Infographic 3 |
and then...
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| Infographic 4 |
As you can see, the last one has the most going on with it...I'm not awfully sure which one I would choose, but all of them are useful when thinking about what you want to have your hero or heroine do. It's up to you to choose which one you want to use.
Habit Building:
Hero's Journey Explained:
Heroines Journey Explained:
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Building a writing habit can be challenging, but it makes the act of making yourself get it done so much easier down the road.
ReplyDeleteI agree - habit forming is crucial - I can get straight out of bed and start working but in practice I usually do social media on the loo first thing (which is a good and symbolic place to restrict it to) and then I start writing unless it's a work day (only semi-retired so 2.5 days at work. My partner and I lived in County Sligo for 10 years but I was only beginning to write then otherwise it might have formed part of a decision to stay on there...
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I couldn't agree more on the importance of forming writing habits to keep you on track.
ReplyDeleteButt in chair is the only tried and true way for me to get writing done :-)
ReplyDeleteFor some inspiration, here are my writing craft writing career shelves on Goodreads of books I've read -- some more helpful than others.
Ronel visiting for H: My Languishing TBR: H
Minotaur