Here's the beginning to a fun blog post that I read this morning.
This morning, I flip-clicked through my blog roll and landed on Craig Lancaster’s always-interesting blog. [Craig Lancaster is the author of a novel soon to be released by Riverbend Publishing.] In the entry, “How Do You Do It,” Lancaster answers a question–”How do you do it?”–posed by a facebook friend who wanted to know how Lancaster gets started on a story.
read entire post here: www.backwordbooks.com
If you don't have time to read the whole post, here's an excerpt that was my favorite part. It dovetails perfectly with what I believe about life in general, which is this: There's rarely only ONE right way to do ANYTHING!
Hang around writers or dabble in the writing world long enough and you’ll hear it all.
1. When to write. (First thing in the
morning. An hour after you wake up. At the same time every day. At a
different time every day. When you’re all alone in the house/apartment.
When you can hear welcome noises through the door. After dinner. Just
before going to sleep. At midnight when your mind is clear of the day’s
stresses. At three in the morning when no one in the world except
third-shift workers are crazy enough to be awake on purpose.)
2. How often to write. (Once a day. Once every two days. Once a week. Every other Thursday.)
3. How much to write. (One thousand words. Two hundred words. Three single-spaced pages. A sentence.)
4. How often and how much to write. (A thousand
words a day. One sentence every day. Two pages every two days, even if
one of those days you write nothing…as long as you end up with two
pages every other day.)
5. How often, how much, and when to write. (Two pages every second Thursday at seven-thirty in the morning!)
And not to be forgotten are the personal essentials:
1. Where your writing space should be. (In the middle of things. Off somewhere private. Half and half.)
2. What your writing space should be. (Small
and cozy to keep your ideas close. Large, open, and airy to let your
mind roam free. Neat and organized, as should you be! Cluttered and
comfortable—creativity knows no rules!)
3. Final touch-ups. (Books around you. A nice pen.
Soft music. No music. Open window. Closed window, shades down.
Pickle-juice on your forehead and a post-it in your mouth.)
Here’s my advice:
1. When to write: when you want to.
2. How often to write: as often as you want to.
3. How much to write: until you feel like stopping.
4. How often and how much to write: see #2 and #3.
5. How much, how often, and when to write: see #1 - #4.
6. Where and what your writing space should be: wherever
and whatever appeals to you. (I’ll write in one spot at no certain time
of day for months, and then I’ll simply have to be in a new room if I’m
to feel inspired at all.)
No one knows you the way you do, and you are probably very aware of
what makes you comfortable, when you do or don’t feel inspired, and
what you like to have around you. What works for one writer will not
work for others.
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