"Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but, most of all, endurance."
—James Baldwin
What is your daily writing practice? Do you have one? Or do you too often let your writing time disappear because loading the dishwasher seems more urgent, or you're afraid the stuff you're writing isn't worthwhile?
Working on it is how you make it worthwhile. How you find out what is alive in it and what needs to be changed. What you care about vs what you were just faking.
I find it most helpful to write down one simple goal at a time, and put it somewhere I can see it (not just in my head). E.g. a post-it that says, "1,000 words/day" stuck to my computer. I tend to get distracted, so this keeps bringing me back to that one simple goal. Everything else is optional.
Here's a description of a more elaborate system from Aimee Bender. Hers includes accountability. Like having a jogging buddy, it can be great to have a writing buddy. This summer I've been pairing up my students to set daily goals and text each other a pencil emoji each day when they reach their goal. It's amazing how much it can help to know that someone out there is going to notice whether you text your pencil today or not.
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