This Wednesday: Tips...to getting some writing done.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day.
This Wednesday: Tips…to getting some writing done.

One of the challenges of writing is...writing. Here are some tips for actually getting some work done:

Write every workday; don’t wait for inspiration to strike.

Write in brief chunks of time; taking frequent breaks keeps you fresh. And don’t mislead yourself with thoughts like, “If I don’t have five or six hours clear, there’s no point in starting.”

Don’t procrastinate and don’t binge on writing. These habits lead to burn-out.

If you have trouble re-entering a project, stop working in mid-thought—even mid-sentence—so it’s easy to dive back in later.

Stay patient; don’t get distracted by how much you are or aren’t getting done.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that creativity descends on you at random, or that by staying up all night you cultivate your muse. Creative thinking comes most easily when you’re writing regularly and frequently, when you’re constantly thinking about your project.

Remember that lots of good ideas and great writing come during the revision stage.

Develop a method of keeping track of thoughts, ideas, articles, or anything that catches your attention. Combing through these materials helps stimulate your creativity.

Pay attention to your physical comfort. Do you have a decent desk and chair? Are you cramped? Is the light too dim or too bright? Make a salute—if you feel relief when your hand is shading your eyes, your desk is too brightly lit.

Check your body. Lower your shoulders, make sure your tongue isn’t pressed against the top of your mouth, don’t sit in a contorted way.

Try to eliminate interruptions—by other people, email, or poking around the Internet—but don’t tell yourself that you can only work with complete peace and quiet.

Over his writing desk, Franz Kafka had one word: “Wait.” My friend Tad Low, however, keeps a different word on his desk: “Now.”

Advice from Virginia Woolf: “The way to rock oneself back into writing is this. First gentle exercise in the air. Second the reading of good literature. It is a mistake to think that literature can be produced from the raw.”

Comments

[Alex]

You know, I'm often looking for inspiration online, and this is the umpteenth time that I've been led to your site. Thanks for being an inspiration.

[Analee]

The Muses of poets are notoriously fickle and arbitrary about where and when they make their appearance, and while this is not true for professional writers at large it is true in this chaos-addicted day that, as I tell my students, there is only one reason to remain a poet of any harmony or coherancy, and that is that you cannot help yourself at all and would find a way if you had to do it with your teeth (I understand Pulitzer Prize winner Gary Snyder finally got enough money to wire his cabin for electricity a very few years ago)...

I used to recommend that a poet carry a pen or pencil and paper, and keeping a writing utensil with one is always advisable, but paper can be found everywhere unless one is in the deep country (in which case it is best to have more than one texture of paper with along, if you know what I mean): I have poetry written on table napkins, receipt backs, newspaper margins, scraps borrowed from the proprietor of whatever business establishment I happened to walk by next, reverse sides of littered bulletins blowing down the street...

[snigdha]

Hi Gretchen - nice tips. I have this habit of just scribbling in a diary whenever some ideas come to my mind in flashes ( happens too often with me in the early morning !) - just some key words or key phrases. Later, when I "comb" through , as you aptly put it, I get these ideas back in greater details and build on them.
Only a day or two back, I got to know about your site and your beautiful project on happiness. I too believe truly that the ultimate goal of every human being is to be happy - now how you interpret happiness makes all the difference ! I have already shared some of my ideas on this issue on my blog ( in fact my first ever blog article on a specific theme)http://snigdhasbouquet.blogspot.com/2008/08/my-scrap-book-happiness.html
It may interest you.
I will now be a regular visitor to your site ( of course once I come back from holidays)! Great stuff ( I loved your one minute movie - superb and truly thought-provoking; in fact, gave the message loud and clear in just one minute!!)Keep going .