Thursday, June 25, 2015

Writers, Slacking, & Motivation

Confession: I'm a slacker.

My writing habits have tanked in the last few months. Two separate manuscripts sit on my desk right now and I haven't touched them in...weeks. (Insert sad face here) I don't know what pushed me away from my desk or why I'm ignoring projects that I love, but it's time to bring the  hammer down. I'm bringing back the basic writer rules.


  1. 1. Ass in Chair. The simplest of writer rules and the hardest one to follow. I know if I just walk into the little office on the side of my house I'll write. Getting there is where most writers fail. 
  2. Turn off the Distractions. No facebook, twitter, TV, or phone. Another super simple rule. A writer needs a cave. A place to shut out the world. Stephen King once said he wrote in the laundry room of his trailer when he first started out. If he can go into a laundry room, I can go to my cave, too. 
  3. Just write. Good or bad, as long as the writer is writing, amazing things can happen. Believe it. 
  4. Be religious about your writing time. Carve out those hours and don't let anything interfere with it. It's a job. Go to it. 
  5.  Seek other writers. Visiting their blogs, reading articles about writing, and going to writing groups keep a writer motivated. Being with your people centers a you, encourages you and can bring you back to productivity. 
So those are my writer rules. For the next eight hours I have to go to the day job, but tonight I go to my cave. 
Write on, my friends, protect your writing time and get your ass in the chair. That's my plan. 



1 comment:

Charles Gramlich said...

I've found that I'm not slacking so much from writing in the summer, but that's because I don't have to go to my other job. Amazing what some rest will do for one's creativity

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