%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
I’d rather write than talk. Nobody interrupts! Posting monthly or less now--see below. |
My original purpose for this blog, which I started in August of 2019, was to see if I could maintain consistency, to discover what I want to write about, and to find my writing voice. In January, I started a "niche-less" blog at Wordpress.com where I've published weekly. -- Kit’s Kontemplations  . -- I'm preparing to start a Catholic blog on Wordpress.com where I'll post weekly, and another site to put the rest of my writing. I also want to spend more time reading other blogs and offering thoughtful comments, both here on WDC and elsewhere. At most, I will publish once a month at no set time in this blog starting in September of 2020. Thank you to those who have read and rated any posts on this blog. I really appreciate it. I did NOT want to write “about” me on this blog. I wanted to share my interests, discoveries and maybe a few useful insights. If anything I've written helps even one person, whether or not they respond to the post, then this blog has been successful. |
| I found quite a few articles which emphatically state that any aspiring writer must write a certain amount every day. These authors claim that it doesn’t matter what you write as long as you meet your targeted word count. I know it’s important to write regularly for reasons that make a lot of sense to me. I definitely want to write more regularly than I do now but I don’t want to write garbage just for the sake of reaching a daily word count. I don’t believe that the exercise of typing or handwriting a few pages of random sentences, by itself, is going to improve my writing nor do I expect this to increase my creativity. What my writing goals are make a difference in. how I go about developing my writing. Noodling around on the piano can be fun but it won’t improve my skill. I need lessons so that I can practice in a way that will actually improve my skills and understanding about the structure of music. What I do in my practice sessions depends on whether I want to play classical pieces or in the New Age style which is mostly improvising. The advocates of “Just write” claim that writing something, anything, every day has the following benefits: Gain discipline I completely agree with this. I’ve been walking on the treadmill every day for over 2 years now. The only days I missed were days we had a tornado followed by three days of no power. Gain practice If I’m getting coaching or taking a writing course or working on a writing project, then I’d be “practicing” in a constructive way. Otherwise, I’m wasting time and energy. Be more productive This would be true if I’m writing something that will be part of something bigger, like a section of an article. However, if I’m only writing a lot of “nothings” just to be able to say that I met my wordcount today, that’s not practice. I’d make better use of my time by reading an article on writing or editing a draft I’d written the day before. Prove to yourself that you can write without being “inspired” This is related to the point about discipline. If, by being inspired we mean “feeling like writing”, then writing whether we feel inspired or not is an important skill to gain. The skill of writing when you don’t “feel” like it is essential and writing daily will equip you to deal with “writer’s block”. Keep your creativity flowing The jury’s out on this one. I’m open to the possibility but I’m not convinced. I’ve tried the daily writing, a variation on “Morning Pages”, for a couple of months at a time. I didn’t notice any improvement in my creativity. It’s possible it was happening and I didn’t notice. I’m writing two brief (300-500 words) blog posts each week and participating in some contests. I may write two or three posts in one day then nothing for a couple of weeks. Definitely my writing could benefit from more consistency. My journaling is more sporadic. Some weeks get three entries followed by a couple of months with no entries at all. I don’t get much time alone to work alone on any projects so I want to use it the best possible way. Perhaps I could reach my writing goals by taking online courses and reading books about writing. I don’t have to choose between these and developing a regular writing habit with a weekly word-count target. I’d like to find a way to do both but that could be unrealistic. If I were to adopt a more regular writing practice, I’d need to consider a few things: What could I write about that would be useful? Would I count journaling or other longhand writing since I’d not want to bother counting those words? Where would I store the writing I do if I don’t plan to add it to my blog? Would I keep it offline or find someplace to share it? Of the benefits listed above, do any of them inspire you to commit to regular writing sessions? If so, which one lights a spark in you? |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
Yes, I know some people do that but I'm a creative writer not a journalist. Poetry sells ... but it's a money-maker for only a few. I write A LOT. Almost 180 pieces since Spring equinox. My goal is 300-400 per year. One year I went over 1,000. I need to do more editing, polishing, sharing, submitting. Writer's block? Who has time for that? I don't.