Focus

It’s easy for others to say we have to discipline ourselves in order to write, we do, but it is a lot easier to say we have to than actually manage it.

Some seasoned writers set a specific time to write every day even if it as short as just 30-minutes. There are writers who purposely eliminate all distractions such as the internet, phones, family and household (with closed doors). There are even some writers who self-impose word limits and make payments to someone/something if they fail to make it that day. Whatever works for a writer is the right way – we just have to write.

If you are setting specific writing time a simple trick that will help you pay attention to your writing is to use a timer instead of watching the clock, or checking your phone every few minutes to see how much time you have left. You can purchase an inexpensive kitchen timer at your local grocery store if you don’t already have one. Your priority during this time is to put words to paper. There are those who might differ, but don’t worry about punctuation, grammar and spelling as you write, there will be plenty of time to edit later, and you don’t want to stop the natural flow of words – besides, the more you write (and eventually edit) the more you will self-edit as you write without even realizing it.

Personally I have difficulty ignoring a ringing phone even when I am working – I worry about missing important calls from family members that work out on the road or elderly relatives and such. If you have more than one phone line, or even a house phone and a cell phone, be selective in who has your numbers. Let one phone line, the one “everybody’ has, go straight to voicemail when you’re working. Many phone providers and cell phones allow you to set special ring tones for family – use them and ignore the regular ringing. Worrying about missed calls can be as distracting as the interruptions, so let other callers leave messages (if it is important to them) and answer those you need to. However, don’t be afraid to let someone who calls just to chat know that you are in the middle of work and offer to cal them back a little later.

Create a special habit or atmosphere when you write. Several years ago an actress portrayed a writer in a daily soap opera, whenever she sat to write she wore a feather boa. By assigning a habit that belongs to the writer in you, it will automatically mean writing-time. The same can happen in a special place or by having a special song in the background. Oh and forget the need to have total silence so you can concentrate – if that works for you, good, but it doesn’t work for everyone; some people need noise to force them to focus. Do it however you feel most comfortable.

While this may not seem to be very “writer-ly” advice, don’t forget to eat, sleep, stretch and take small breaks. The creativity and concentration it takes to write hundreds, even thousands, of words can be exhausting. Take care of yourself so that you have the energy to do your best. Hopefully you have the support of family and friends in your pursuit of your writing dream, but even if you don’t, do not let that stop or discourage you. Get involved with other writers (online or face to face); most writers are very supportive of their fellow wordsmiths. Oh and nourishment includes words – you need to read in order to write.

Writing Exercise: Set your timer and free-write for 30-minutes. Try to limit yourself to one main theme; don’t worry about punctuation or spelling. Just write during the 30-minutes, do not edit. (You can write longer than the 30-minutes if you would like, 30-minutes is your minimum for the free write session). Put the finished piece away for a full day and IF YOU LIKED WHAT YOU WROTE, go back to it tomorrow and begin editing.

Writing Prompt: Choose any trending topic (from current events, Twitter, etc) – Make a list of individual and relevant words for that specific topic. When you’ve exhausted listing relevant words “play” word association with as many as you can.

Challenge Assignment: From my experience newspaper articles are notorious for typos, misspellings, punctuation gaffs and more. Take a recent copy of a newspaper and a RED pen. Go through the first few pages and edit. Reword headlines to be both catchy and accurate for the story. Next take any story in its entirety and tighten the wording – pretend that you had to make it fit a smaller space so you need to cut out words and still tell the story.