Poking around on my Nook, the Barnes and Noble remake of the Kindle, I found an intriguing literary magazine--Poets & Writers. I never heard of this publication so I figured I’d pay the $2.99 monthly subscription and see where it goes. After all, it does say it’s the ‘publication for the professional writer’. How bad could it be?
There was an interesting article that parallels my last post on ‘Keeping It Fresh’. It is hard for me to sit down and actually write, but this submission by Ellen Sussman hit all the right chords with me.
First, she explains that even if you’re, say, an accountant, tell people that your profession is writing; even if you’re not published. This was odd to me. I felt like I was infringing on something that I had no right to step on--the world of the published writer. Though, the more I thought about it, there was only one thing that separates the ‘professional writer‘ and myself: they’re published, I’m not. Who cares, really?
“Take yourself seriously,” Sussman says. I guess that’s an important first step. You’re not an alcoholic until you realize you have a drinking problem.
She goes on to talk about structuring your day around your writing. Sit down for 45 minutes and commit to writing. Don’t stop. Keep pecking at the keys. Then, for 15 minutes, walk away. Don’t think about writing. Go garden. Go walk the dog. The subconscious is very powerful, she explains. You’ll get ideas that you’d never think of staring at a monitor.
Maybe I’ll go running for the 15 minutes; I really don’t want a dog.
Sussman threw out the idea that you should be disconnected from the internet when you write. How true is this?! I check my emails, or Facebook, or my next hotspot in the city--every ten minutes. I don't have A.D.D. but I do have the internet and that might be just as worse. She uses a program called
Freedom that cuts you from the net for the exact time you specify. No internet for one hour? You're cut…end of story-- well, maybe 'start of story.'
