Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The Writing Hour

I’m trying an experiment.
Each day I devote one hour exclusively to writing. No playing on the internet, no email, no looking out the window, no getting up for a drink of water or to pick out a simple melody on guitar.

Nothing.

Just put my head down and write. I throw a CD in so I have some music doing. It helps me focus and gets me into a writing/correcting rhythm.

I’ve done it three times now with good results. I’m getting something done on the WIP. Substantial movement. Actual material gain.

I don’t even allow myself to get up for chocolate in that hour. If I actually stick to the hour then I’ve earned this rich reward. If not, then it pulls consolation duty.

This was prompted by a change in the household routine. I’ve recently taken over laundry and dishes. My husband has taken a job driving truck and commonly works 12 hours a day so I took over some traditional chores. Laundry had been my duty for a while way back when, but in our 17 years together he did the dishes. I did them only when he was away or when I’d done a lot of baking.

Now that I’ve got more work I felt the need to structure my time and that’s what brought on the experiment.
I still have plenty of time in the day to go back to the manuscript if I want, but if I don’t it doesn’t matter. I’ve done something.

3 comments:

Crabby McSlacker said...

Such a simple idea, but a great one!

It's amazing how much time can slip by with internet surfing, snacking, etc. I like the idea of taking a very specific amount of time and really focusing. You probably get more done in your one focused hour than I do in six of mine!

Dawn said...

James D Macdonald from AW said;

"You can't make a vase if you don't have the clay on the wheel."

You not only have the clay on the wheel - you're committing to stand there up to your armpits in mud each day. That's how to make things happen.

Samantha said...

Good for you. I so need to do this. I have a ton of article ideas and I often procrastinate writing them until the last minute!