Guest Post: Stop Making Excuses!
Today I'm pleased to welcome a new guest author to my blog, Ruth Barringham.
Ruth is a prolific and successful author and publisher, and I'm also very pleased to count her as a friend and collaborator. Here she offers some good advice for everyone - which includes me on occasion - who claims that they don't have time to write.
Stop Making Excuses! - by Ruth Barringham
The biggest complaint of most would-be freelance writers and authors is that they don't have time to write.
Wrong!
Everyone has time to write. We all have the same 24 hours in every day. The difference between us all is how we spend our time.
Some people do actually manage to squeeze in a couple of hours to write during their busy day. But instead of focusing on their work, they waste their time reading unimportant emails or online articles that are irrelevant to what they should be doing.
Does this sound like you?
Well, don't worry, you're not alone.
Most writers are the same. We all say we love to write and will even spend all day thinking about it. Yet when it comes to actually sitting down and beginning to write, we'll look for other things to distract us.
But to be a successful writer you need to be able to write quickly and be as productive as possible, and you won't be able to do this if you constantly allow your attention to be diverted when you should be writing.
So here's a word that is the most important to anyone who wants to be successful in anything and everything they do. Knowing this word and having a complete understanding of its meaning can change you from a reluctant writer into a hard working and profitable writer.
And that word is - FOCUS.
When you know you should be writing, focus on it. Force yourself to apply bum-to-chair. Once you're sitting comfortably, begin the task of writing immediately. Don't check your emails or surf the net. Just sit down and begin working.
It will help you stay focused if you know exactly what you have to do. So at the end of every day make a list of the writing tasks you have to do tomorrow. That way, when you sit down you just have to check your list and you'll know where to begin.
If you find you work better in the mornings, then get up early and write. If you work better in the evening, work late when the house is quiet and the rest of the family is asleep.
Just make sure you allocate a portion of every day to write. Then focus, and don't let your mind be distracted by anything else.
Once you get into a routine of writing regularly, you'll find that focusing and writing becomes extremely easy, and will be a habit you never want to break.
Ruth Barringham is a freelance writer, author and publisher. She has two websites to help writers at http://writeaholics.net and http://selfpublishworldwide.com. Her publishing company website is at http://cheritonhousepublishing.com.
Ruth is a prolific and successful author and publisher, and I'm also very pleased to count her as a friend and collaborator. Here she offers some good advice for everyone - which includes me on occasion - who claims that they don't have time to write.
Stop Making Excuses! - by Ruth Barringham
The biggest complaint of most would-be freelance writers and authors is that they don't have time to write.
Wrong!
Everyone has time to write. We all have the same 24 hours in every day. The difference between us all is how we spend our time.
Some people do actually manage to squeeze in a couple of hours to write during their busy day. But instead of focusing on their work, they waste their time reading unimportant emails or online articles that are irrelevant to what they should be doing.
Does this sound like you?
Well, don't worry, you're not alone.
Most writers are the same. We all say we love to write and will even spend all day thinking about it. Yet when it comes to actually sitting down and beginning to write, we'll look for other things to distract us.
But to be a successful writer you need to be able to write quickly and be as productive as possible, and you won't be able to do this if you constantly allow your attention to be diverted when you should be writing.
So here's a word that is the most important to anyone who wants to be successful in anything and everything they do. Knowing this word and having a complete understanding of its meaning can change you from a reluctant writer into a hard working and profitable writer.
And that word is - FOCUS.
When you know you should be writing, focus on it. Force yourself to apply bum-to-chair. Once you're sitting comfortably, begin the task of writing immediately. Don't check your emails or surf the net. Just sit down and begin working.
It will help you stay focused if you know exactly what you have to do. So at the end of every day make a list of the writing tasks you have to do tomorrow. That way, when you sit down you just have to check your list and you'll know where to begin.
If you find you work better in the mornings, then get up early and write. If you work better in the evening, work late when the house is quiet and the rest of the family is asleep.
Just make sure you allocate a portion of every day to write. Then focus, and don't let your mind be distracted by anything else.
Once you get into a routine of writing regularly, you'll find that focusing and writing becomes extremely easy, and will be a habit you never want to break.
Ruth Barringham is a freelance writer, author and publisher. She has two websites to help writers at http://writeaholics.net and http://selfpublishworldwide.com. Her publishing company website is at http://cheritonhousepublishing.com.
Labels: Inspiration, technique, writing
Nick at 9:28 AM 
4 Comments:
It's amazing that no matter how old we get, we still act like kids when it comes to doing the things we know to do. I'm confident that humans are allergic to work.
I think this post is true as far as it goes, but it leaves out two very important things:
First, 'time to write' is only one element of a 'full time map' that makes time for every important pursuit. If you do not see exactly how your 'time to write' fits into your day and week, and balances with all your other pursuits and obligations, the 'time to write' will just sit there. It will not be compelling because writing will still seem like a luxury or add on when compared to working for money to pay the bills, attending to spouse and kids, and other urgent tasks.
Second, writers will not be likely to observe their own self-imposed obligfations unless they are tied to emotionally backed goals (e.g., fame, riches, the satisfaction of literary accomplishment) AND to a system of support and accountability. If you do not have your friends, family, and associates pulling for you, asking about progress, respecting your 'time to write' and expecting results, it is very hard, especially for those without significant publication achievements, to take themselves seriously enough to respect themselves as writers and to write when the 'time for writing' comes.
And a comment for Professor Tom. Humans avoid work when it has no clear and content to their emotionally backed goals and pursuits. They are allergic to both alienated labor and self-imposed but insignificant chores.
Humans, however, are also deeply, profoundly, motivated to work. Work is the expression of the human essense. Once a person comes into reality and acknowledges him or her self as having a mission or destiny, work is a total psychological necessity. Picasso said he couldn't be satisfied unless he spent every moment of his waking hours working on his art. Amy Lowell famously said that an unexpressed poem is felt like an unbearable ache.
The inability to find one's work is the cause of living a life of quiet desperation.
Thanks for some very interesting comments, Leonard.
I agree that for some writers, persuading themselves of the validity of their own writing is essential to their writing success. This is probably one reason why I have gravitated towards writing how-to books, courses and articles - I find it easier to justify my writing time to myself if I feel that I am doing something 'useful' for other people.
Ruth's article also highlights the double-edged nature of the Internet for writers. On the one hand, it's a great tool for research, getting feedback, contacting other writers, and so on. But on the other, it can also be a terrific time-waster - and with the growth of social networking and other Web 2.0 sites, this aspect is increasing rapidly.
I think one of the biggest challenges for writers today is to make good use of the Internet while at the same time resisting being drawn by it into wasting time and energy on unproductive activities.
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