As we near the end of Camp NaNo, you might have found yourself adding a little bit to your story every day or you might have been avoiding it completely. Maybe it's become a habit during July, but as the month nears the end, the incentive and inspiration is gone. So how do you make sure you continue to write every day?
You're probably wanting to say it's impossible. I can't continue to write every day. I don't have the time, I don't have the inspiration, it's just not something I can do. We're not going to tell you that you're wrong. We go through those same thoughts too. We are going to tell you what we chose to do to try to write every day.
Megan
I’ll be honest—I didn’t write every day. I couldn’t. When you essentially work three jobs, you don’t always have time. And that’s okay. Give yourself some grace and exercise that self-compassion, hard as it may be. I know it’s difficult for me.
But you know what I did do? I thought about writing every day. I made notes on receipt paper. I filled out character sheets and story maps from the writing camp at which I volunteered. I outlined. I asked myself questions. I described scenes in my head. In short: even when I couldn’t write, I embraced my passion every day.
Camp NaNo, basically, need not have happened for me. I didn’t revise. But I did put paragraph summaries in brackets. In the fall, when my schedule is more open, I’ll undoubtedly get more done. Goodness knows I have ideas after being able to do little else but brainstorm all month long!
Jessica
Some days I sit down and write a lot at a time. Some days I really fight for every word. One trick I've learned to make sure I write every day is I put myself on the hook for it.
My 2018 New Years resolution was to write every day and to ensure I've done so, I've posted a little of what I've written each day on Tumblr. I know what you're probably saying... "It's July and you're still doing your New Years resolution?" The answer is yes, I've stuck with it because it was something I knew I needed to do to improve on my craft.
The goal was that I would get words on a page, have others hold me accountable, and hopefully my writing would improve from a year of practice. Not so far out there of a goal, right? By talking about it, I get others excited about what I'm working on, which has helped me continue in moments when I'm not feeling my writing as much.
During Camp NaNo, I worked on just my story every day. I wanted to make sure I'd make progress and hit my word count goal for the piece (60,000 words, which quickly got downgraded to a goal of 55,000). At this point, I'm still a ways away, since editing what was already written took up more time than I expected. But that's okay.
Some suggestions on how to write every day...
Most people you talk to will say you can accomplish the most in a thirty minute stretch, assuming you don't fall into the rabbit hole that is Google and Wikipedia when researching. That being said, look to your daily schedule. Where can you shift some things to find thirty minutes or even as few as five?
You're probably wanting to say it's impossible. I can't continue to write every day. I don't have the time, I don't have the inspiration, it's just not something I can do. We're not going to tell you that you're wrong. We go through those same thoughts too. We are going to tell you what we chose to do to try to write every day.
Megan
I’ll be honest—I didn’t write every day. I couldn’t. When you essentially work three jobs, you don’t always have time. And that’s okay. Give yourself some grace and exercise that self-compassion, hard as it may be. I know it’s difficult for me.
But you know what I did do? I thought about writing every day. I made notes on receipt paper. I filled out character sheets and story maps from the writing camp at which I volunteered. I outlined. I asked myself questions. I described scenes in my head. In short: even when I couldn’t write, I embraced my passion every day.
Camp NaNo, basically, need not have happened for me. I didn’t revise. But I did put paragraph summaries in brackets. In the fall, when my schedule is more open, I’ll undoubtedly get more done. Goodness knows I have ideas after being able to do little else but brainstorm all month long!
Jessica
Some days I sit down and write a lot at a time. Some days I really fight for every word. One trick I've learned to make sure I write every day is I put myself on the hook for it.
My 2018 New Years resolution was to write every day and to ensure I've done so, I've posted a little of what I've written each day on Tumblr. I know what you're probably saying... "It's July and you're still doing your New Years resolution?" The answer is yes, I've stuck with it because it was something I knew I needed to do to improve on my craft.
The goal was that I would get words on a page, have others hold me accountable, and hopefully my writing would improve from a year of practice. Not so far out there of a goal, right? By talking about it, I get others excited about what I'm working on, which has helped me continue in moments when I'm not feeling my writing as much.
During Camp NaNo, I worked on just my story every day. I wanted to make sure I'd make progress and hit my word count goal for the piece (60,000 words, which quickly got downgraded to a goal of 55,000). At this point, I'm still a ways away, since editing what was already written took up more time than I expected. But that's okay.
Some suggestions on how to write every day...
Most people you talk to will say you can accomplish the most in a thirty minute stretch, assuming you don't fall into the rabbit hole that is Google and Wikipedia when researching. That being said, look to your daily schedule. Where can you shift some things to find thirty minutes or even as few as five?
- While you're eating breakfast in the mornings
- During lunch time
- Thirty minutes before school or work
- Thirty minutes when you come home from school or work, after doing your homework, of course.
- Before heading to bed
- Waiting for the bus to and from school or work
- Carpooling/on the ride to and from school/work
- Between classes
- In line on your phone
- While waiting for appointments
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