The professor who supervised me in my college days of working at the university writing center recently wrote me with feedback on Rumpled. She said that she wasn't sure how I managed to find time to do so much reading and writing. I wanted to laugh, because what I find time to do is so much less than what I want to be doing that I feel as if I'm never doing enough. Still, I have arranged my life to fit increasingly more reading and writing into it, and I decided to share my "secrets" here rather than in an email.
I know I'm incredibly lucky and that I have luxuries many, many people don't have. I have a flexible work schedule. I have a supportive spouse. I live the proverbial "two-incomes-no-kids" existence. But this is only partially luck, and partially a series of very conscious choices. I hope that by sharing mine, you might also look at your own life and the ways that you might bring more writing, reading, or whatever you are passionate about into it.
Especially am fond of #9! :-)
This is one of the best, precise and inspiring articles about writing that I have read! I'm just starting on scheduling my blog posts and other writing, so the timing for these tips is perfect for me. Thank you.
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Ha! This great.What's funny is when I hear someone ask, "is that all you do," meaning reading, writing, etc., I think about how those playing pro ball, the entertainers, and even those working the corporate jobs in that lean in fashion, you know... not because they HAVE TO, but because they love what they do, despite when the fun is downright work!
Way to go! Or rather, this is the way to go!
Love the timer. It's so strict but so needed.
I'm with you, Mardith -- I like reading even more than writing, but I find that if I don't write the words start piling up inside and making me cranky. So regularly writing keeps the pressure relieved. :) I also hear you on being able to limit yourself! I have to set a timer to limit myself to a 1/2 hour in the morning -- once it dings, I have to finish the page or paragraph, stick my bookmark in with a sigh, and set it aside to get started on some paid labor. :)
This is a fantastic post. Several items I will print for myself - or maybe the whole damn thing. Being pulled out of bed to read is like being pulled up for a croissant! - the problem is limiting the time reading! I too would prefer to do nothing but read if I could, even prefer it to writing, but regardless, the reading informs the writing constantly, consciously and unconsciously, even if I don't realize it. Audio-listening is wonderful, not only for the sheer pleasure but for the experience of the sentences. George Eliot, Henry James, are thrilling. formulaic mysteries not so much and one can hear the by-rote writing and understand for oneself how it might have gone wrong or been better. I write something about every book I read but hadn't thought to do it on GoodReads. Will check it out. Thanks for thinking about your techniques and meticulously passing them on to us.