Today marks the one-month anniversary of my marathon-writing weekend. And I realize I have not written a single new word on my manuscript since then. Not one … stinking … weed.
Did I say weed?
Gardening season hit, and I’ve ignored everything but getting the ground ready and planted. Kind of my marathon-gardening month. Then I’ll ignore it for a month, until I realize I’ve got to catch up on all the weeds.
I love gardening as much as I love writing. They are both creative endeavors, a chance to put something on paper or in the ground and watch the leaves of a story unfold. But to be successful at either takes discipline. It takes visiting pretty much every day. If I were to spend a half hour weeding just 20 square feet of space every day – that’s a four by five foot area – I’d have weeded my entire garden in a month. (Yes, I have an enormous garden.) If I write 2000 words every day, I’ll have finished a rough draft of a novel in a month.
You do the math. A novel in a month. Give myself another month to polish it, and that would be six novels a year. Even if I took two months to polish it, that would be four books a year. Pretty amazing stuff. Most days, if I sit my butt in the chair and write, I can crank out 2000 good words in about 3 or 4 hours. That’s less time than a part-time job. And I want writing to be my job.
So from here on out, I will visit my creative landscapes. I will weed a little bit every day. And I will write a little bit every day. Between the two, I will have the best year of growth ever.
Weed 'em and reap!
(First published on www.tameralynn.blogspot.com)
Did I say weed?
Gardening season hit, and I’ve ignored everything but getting the ground ready and planted. Kind of my marathon-gardening month. Then I’ll ignore it for a month, until I realize I’ve got to catch up on all the weeds.
I love gardening as much as I love writing. They are both creative endeavors, a chance to put something on paper or in the ground and watch the leaves of a story unfold. But to be successful at either takes discipline. It takes visiting pretty much every day. If I were to spend a half hour weeding just 20 square feet of space every day – that’s a four by five foot area – I’d have weeded my entire garden in a month. (Yes, I have an enormous garden.) If I write 2000 words every day, I’ll have finished a rough draft of a novel in a month.
You do the math. A novel in a month. Give myself another month to polish it, and that would be six novels a year. Even if I took two months to polish it, that would be four books a year. Pretty amazing stuff. Most days, if I sit my butt in the chair and write, I can crank out 2000 good words in about 3 or 4 hours. That’s less time than a part-time job. And I want writing to be my job.
So from here on out, I will visit my creative landscapes. I will weed a little bit every day. And I will write a little bit every day. Between the two, I will have the best year of growth ever.
Weed 'em and reap!
(First published on www.tameralynn.blogspot.com)
4 comments:
Great metaphor. And you're right, if you do a little writing every day, it sounds pretty easy. We just have to follow through. Here's to good weeding and writing!
You go, Ms. Tamara!! You're absolutely right, consistency is key. I think it applies to most things in life, not only writing and gardening. Wherever you commit your energy, you will see results (of some kind.) I look forward to seeing the result of all your creative work!
I have attempted to contact anyone in ARWA without success. I received a letter and application form from D.Woodbury to join.I showed up last night at Borders and discovered the group meet on Thursday instead of the 4th Tues. as the web site says. My ph # is 770-2503. please someone call me.I am a member of RWA and FTHRW and new to the Anchorage area. Sorru to post this here but none of the ARWA links ,addresses work.
Owldreamer, your phone number does not seem to work. It goes to GCI with an error message. Perhaps it is an out of state number with a different zip code?
We were at Borders last night - upstairs at the conference table from 6 to 8 PM. Sorry you couldn't find us. We would like to meet you.
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