Don't Forget to Write! A Monday Morning Writing Prompt

Today I launch a new newsletter "Don't Forget to Write!  A Monday Morning Writing Prompt".  The newsletter won't go to all my current subscribers, but rather to those who choose to subscribe to the additional newsletter or any new subscribers who choose this option.  Rather than tell you all about the newsletter, I thought it easiest to simply post the first one below.  You can also see a version online here. 

The idea is simply to give you a reminder of your writing commitment each Monday morning together with a little new inspiration so that this really does become the year when you produce your best work ever. 

Here's the first edition, but to get it in your in-box next Monday, do subscribe here, remembering to tick 'Don't Forget to Write!' as well as 'The Writing Coach1' for my regular newsletter.

Don't Forget to Write!  Your Monday Morning Writing Prompt.

This Monday's Prompt

OK so it's the first working week of January and this is the year when you're going to write your book/publish twenty articles/blog twice a week (whatever it is that matters for you).  So you have all these resolutions about how you're going to do it and you're devoted to your work and you feel certain it is possible...

BUT there may be just a small nagging doubt at the back of your mind (because if there wasn't you wouldn't be human, yes?) How can you be sure that you really will stick to that writing habit?  What if you get distracted, disillusioned or worse, you just get lazy?

That's where this newsletter comes in.  It's going to be here, in your in-box, every Monday morning.  If you even think about letting your writing fall by the wayside, it's going to nag you to get back to it.  It's also going to contain a few ideas and thoughts to inspire you and prompt you to put your creative work first.

So first of all, what do you need to do to establish a writing habit?  I'm not going to suggest a one-solution-fits-all approach.  If I tell you to do something that doesn't work for you, you're going to quit, right?  Instead, I'm going to ask you to get really clear about what a realistic writing commitment is for you personally?  Here's some ideas:

• Commit to writing for at least 30 minutes every single day from now on.  It sounds a miniscule amount but that small commitment is enough to get you to the desk each day.  That's ALL you have to do.  Sometimes, however, you may stay a little longer...
• Commit to a clear writing schedule.  Mine, for example, will be to write for at least an hour a day on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and to write for three hours a day on Thursdays and Fridays.  I'm going to put that in my diary and keep it sacred.  But if I manage 9 hours before Friday, I can choose to take a day off and go gallery-hopping...
• Commit to a number of words to write each week.  Don't make it more than you can realistically manage.  Even 250 words a day (1750 a week) is a 90,000 word novel in a year...  Why not aim for 2500 good words a week?  That's 500 good words a day, over five days and equates to 130,000 words a year.
• Choose your own commitment that works for you.  What matters is that you can stick with it.

This Week's Action

It's very simple.  Choose your commitment and make it public in some way.  Tell your partner/a friend/your Facebook friends/your blogging community. 

Here's my commitment made public:  I will write for a minimum of nine hours each week, in which time I will edit 6000 words of my novel per week.  In thirteen weeks' time, by the end of April, I will have a finished third draft on my hands ready to deliver to my agent.

Your commitment might be a lot smaller than mine or it might be a lot bigger.  It doesn't matter.  What matters is that it is right for you. 

Now it's your turn.  Get clear on your commitment.  Choose a start date.  Today?  Tomorrow?  Put it in your diary as a weekly date or find a way of recording your word count and keeping it in regular view.  Choose someone to be accountable to and ask them if you can check in with them once a week. 

I discovered a great little goals-related app on the iPhone yesterday.  If you're an iPhone user, you might find this useful for a word count:  'Make it Happen'.  You can use it for goals in any area of your life and can set it up so that you keep a tally of the number of words you've done to date.

I'll be including the text of this first edition of the newsletter only on my blog this week, to encourage new subscribers (in future, this newsletter will be exclusive to subscribers only).  So, if you like, leave a comment on the blog (that's here to those reading on the blog already!) as a way of making your commitment public.  Or you can join the Writing Coach Facebook page and leave your commitment there.

One last thing:  remember, sticking to a writing schedule or a word count or a commitment of any kind might sometimes feel a little mechanical to some creative people.  It is not intended as a substitute for the creative act - it's just creating space in which the creative process can take place.  More on that next time.

That's it!  Now do the work...

Jacqui

P.S.  Once you've got that writing schedule down in steel, do take a look at 'The Completion Club'.  It's for the serious-minded...

P.S. #2  If this newsletter does it for you, please consider forwarding it to your writing friends or blogging about it.  A girl can only ask...