"Eighty percent of success is showing up." -Woody Allen
I've been home sick for a week. It has not been fun. Aside from catching up on Lost (oh so good) and a lot of naps, there hasn't been much for me to do. It has been suggested that I use this time to write, as many great writers and artists happened to be invalids who had nothing else to do.
I haven't had much energy to write, to tell you the truth, but I did look over my old stuff. Six years worth of poems, stories and articles - some which would eventually be published, some not - really give you some perspective.
The truth is, something as monolithic as writing can be intimidating. When I say I want to write, what does that even mean? I've had so many projects running through my head in the last six years that I don't have a clear answer. Do I work on my novel, a memoir, one of my blogs, or a small piece to pitch for publication? Which do I choose to focus on, and when? Why?
One of my friends at work challenged himself to draw/paint a picture a day for every day of the year. And he's actually doing it. It's May and he hasn't broken yet. Some days he puts in less effort than others, but he still "shows up for work."
I can't remember if it was Natalie Goldberg or Anne Lamott who said this - probably both - but when you want to be good at anything, be it writing or Olympic swimming, you have to show up. You have to do it every day. Even when you don't feel like it.
I'm looking around for simple yet effective prompts that will get me writing for at least 15 minutes a day. Here are some of the sites I found:
I haven't had much energy to write, to tell you the truth, but I did look over my old stuff. Six years worth of poems, stories and articles - some which would eventually be published, some not - really give you some perspective.
The truth is, something as monolithic as writing can be intimidating. When I say I want to write, what does that even mean? I've had so many projects running through my head in the last six years that I don't have a clear answer. Do I work on my novel, a memoir, one of my blogs, or a small piece to pitch for publication? Which do I choose to focus on, and when? Why?
One of my friends at work challenged himself to draw/paint a picture a day for every day of the year. And he's actually doing it. It's May and he hasn't broken yet. Some days he puts in less effort than others, but he still "shows up for work."
I can't remember if it was Natalie Goldberg or Anne Lamott who said this - probably both - but when you want to be good at anything, be it writing or Olympic swimming, you have to show up. You have to do it every day. Even when you don't feel like it.
I'm looking around for simple yet effective prompts that will get me writing for at least 15 minutes a day. Here are some of the sites I found:
- WritingFix's Random Daily Journal Prompts
- Creative Writing Prompts
- Sunday Scribblings (these one-word prompts are great for poetry)
- Creative Writing Ink (photo prompts!)
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