In previous posts I have mused a little on the importance of a writing routine and self discipline. I came to the conclusion that it's important to have both. For a while now, I have had neither.
I won't bang on about this, as I don't have any solutions, suffice to say that by building some routine into my day (by starting early with a run) I am hoping this will kick start things. Soon.
This, in turn, may improve my motivation, because I have felt, for some time recently, that the lifelong passion I have had for writing has temporarily left me. The positive from this is my renewed passion for reading.
So, without further ado (what a lovely expression) I am going to refer you to a couple of pieces by others that throw light on the subject.
The first is a piece in the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture-professionals-network/culture-professionals-blog/2013/apr/26/creative-change-passion-career-advice?CMP=
The second is by my friend, photographer, writer and artist Jan Woodhouse on the importance of routine and how this relates to our sense of achievement.
"I think I’ve always undervalued routine. Nowadays I’m finding that – at the very least – it rescues me from having that ‘nothing achieved’ feeling at the end of the day. And, at best, in focusing my mind, it somehow frees me to be more creative and imaginative rather than less."
Check out the full article on her perceptive blog http://www.artatwoodhouse.co.uk/blog/index.php
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Showing posts with label routine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label routine. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Monday, 15 October 2012
Writing, routines and running
Apart from my 3 day a week salaried job I find it really
hard to get into a routine. When I was
younger, I hated routine and rebelled against it so maybe I’m paying for it
now. Because I want to be able to
establish a strict writing routine, like you should. The trouble is, life often seems so chaotic
and unordered and things happen so you constantly have to change and be
flexible about plans made. At least it provides
variety.
The two things I would like to
fix more are my writing and running. The
latter is quite erratic and gets squeezed in between everything else, as does
my writing. Even when I put aside a chunk
of time for the creative stuff I end up side-tracked by marketing and
admin. There never seem to be enough
hours in the day to fit everything in. so I am constantly chasing my tail and
feeling exhausted. If only I could get
up early, go for a run, write, eat, write again, ignore the phone and emails
and achieve a worthy 2000 words a day.
When I was in my twenties I easily wrote 1000 words EACH WAY
on my hourly commute to London but these days managing 2000 words a day as standard
would be a Herculean task. That’s not
to say it doesn’t happen sometimes, when I have deadlines to meet. Then I go crazy, glue myself to the laptop, forget
to eat, drink, or even go to the loo until my target is achieved. Not very healthy, but at least I have the
capability.
Although I struggle physically with my running, it is great
for clearing the cobwebs and playing with ideas and I usually come back from a
run with my head full of creative possibilities which I try to retain until I
can write them down. Because of this
blog, I do write almost every day, which was an ambition achieved, so that is positive.
But those writers I meet who turn down coffee and meetings because they are
working on their novel inspire respect – and envy. How do they manage to ring fence (to use
management speak) time for this? How do
they stay disciplined enough to keep focussed? My brain goes off on tangents
all the time, so I fail miserably on this score. If anyone has any suggestions about how to
successfully stick to a routine, I’d love to hear from you.
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