Three Reasons That I Blog

While most authors who are looking to write for publication would be well-served to have a web presence of some kind, if nothing else so prospective editors/publishers can easily contact them, not all writers want or need to have a blog. However, I have found that blogging has been a very useful part of my writing life. Here are three reasons why:

1. It provides an opportunity for communication with other writers and readers. This was the initial benefit to me when I was just getting into writing again last summer. My timing, in a way, was perfect. Rachel Harrie's Platform-Building Writing Campaign was just about to kick off when I started blogging; the events and challenges relating to that helped keep me motivated while I was getting used to being back in the writing world. The challenges, in particular, provided some early positive feedback on my writing. I also met some of my first critiquers through that Campaign. Since that time, though I've mostly declined blog tours/hops/etc., I've been able to continue to use my primary writing blog as a place to talk about my own writing journey and writing in general. The discussions which sometimes come from these posts are valuable and enjoyable.
2. It provides an option for my daily writing chain. This, in theory, could be considered a con rather than a pro. Ultimately, writing blog posts isn't going to earn me money directly and it seems likely that it would earn my very little indirectly. So when I write 500 words towards a blog post and that allows me to check off my daily writing chain box someone could argue that it's set me back a day where I could have been writing 500 words of fiction. Since I'm still accomplishing significant fiction productivity, I'm not terribly concerned about that, but it's definitely worth keeping in mind.
3. It provides motivation to think more deeply about some of my own writing practices and techniques. Some of my favorite blog posts are ones which have arisen out of my brainstorming around how to resolve certain issues in my own writing routine. It's also interesting to be able to look back over time and see how my thinking and my blog writing has changed.

Not every writer needs a blog. If the thought of having one makes you cringe for one reason or another, don't feel like you're skipping something important. If the idea of blogging isn't uncomfortable but you don't have one yet, perhaps it's worth giving it a try and seeing if you find it a helpful part of your writing life.

Three Tips For Productive Writing Sessions

Before getting to today's post, I wanted to share that my science fiction short story "An Unsuitable Job for a Human" is live today on Nature's website.

One of the most important things for someone trying to develop a daily writing routine is time management. I've written a fair amount about this topic in the past, and there's a whole chapter about it in "Write Every Day." Something that you can do to help with your time management is to ensure that when you sit down for a writing session that you are ready to be as productive as possible in the time you can allot.

Here are three tips to help you get the most out of every writing session:

1. Know What You Plan to Write - For me, at least, if I just sit down and think to myself "Hey, it's writing time. Guess I'm going to write now." but I don't have some idea of what I'm going to write, it can get easy to spin my wheels. Having some idea of what you want to work on during your writing session should enable you to get off to a fast start. If you are working on an extended work in progress, this might not be too hard. On the other hand, if you're not in the middle of any projects, you might want to use some non-writing time to consider your next project. This sort of brainstorming/daydreaming activity is great for when you have a few minutes of idle time. Maybe you're waiting in a long line at the grocery store -- rather than perusing the tabloid covers or impluse-buying a candy bar, start rolling ideas around in your head for upcoming writing sessions.
2. Have a Goal for the Session - Many days my goal is easy to define: 500 words or more. If I was working on revisions during a session, my goal probably would be to revise an entire short story or a major portion of a longer work. Some days when I've had more time allocated for writing (like when I was going to NaNoWriMo write-ins last November) I would simply say that my goal was to get as far into the story as I could in the next time I'd set aside to work.
3. Minimize Distractions - This is both a matter of choosing an appropriate time during which to work (Maybe after the kids go to bed is easier than before.) and making sure that you aren't self-distracting. If I'm trying to do real heads-down intense writing, I close any browser windows that might entice me to go look at something different while I'm working. For me, it's also hard to focus on writing if there's a television show or movie on. So if I'm working while my wife or one of our older children is watching something I'll usually put in my headphones and turn on some music to help me keep my focus. (Film scores are a favorite, though I can also write to some vocal music as well.) Ultimately, this one is very much a personal thing as different people are distracted by different things. But if you want to get the absolute most out of your writing time, leaving yourself open to distractions can be a problem.

What tips do you have for getting the most out of your writing sessions?

Three Ways To Keep Yourself Motivated To Write Every Day

Writing every day is not always easy. Now that I've been doing it for so long, there are many days when it isn't hard to allocate the time and energy for writing. But there are days when it's quite hard.

Here are three things I think about when trying to keep myself motivated.

1. Keep the Chain Alive - If you've read "Write Every Day" or some of my other posts about daily writing, you're already familiar with the idea of having a calendar with a visible "chain" made up of Xs where you've marked off days when you've reached your writing goal. To keep it alive, you have to meet your goal every day. On my absolute hardest writing days, this has been one of my major motivators and the visible feedback has done a lot to help keep other people in my household aware of my progress and encouraging me to keep at it.
2. Remember Why You Write - This will be somewhat different from person to person. For me, a major reason that I write is because I enjoy developing stories and being able to share them with other people. To get stories published in places where a large number of people read them requires writing great stories and to write great stories requires a mixture of talent and hard work. I've chosen to make sticking to a daily routine part of my "hard work." Thinking for a few minutes about the bigger picture writing goals I hope to achieve and remembering that writing today is part of those goals has helped focus my mind.
3. Give Yourself Permission To Write Something Different - If you're not facing a deadline of some kind, some days writing something totally different can be a great way to keep yourself moving forward. You could take a break from your novel to write several blog posts up in advance or maybe try writing a few poems. Or maybe it's a good day to hop out to Duotrope and look at themed anthology/magazine issue submission calls and see if something catches your eye. Mixing things up a bit without breaking my daily writing routine has made quite a few days easier than they would have been if I'd forced myself to work on one specific thing.

Writing When You Don't Feel Like It

Wednesdays on this blog I'll post about something which relates in one way or another to writing every day. Sometimes, like this week, the connection may be very obvious. Other times, it could be more tenuous.

Would you believe there have been plenty of days during the daily writing chain I've built up over the past 10 or so months where I would have just as soon not written? I haven't kept track of those days, but I'm sure there's been at least a couple dozen of them.

While working on building a lengthy daily writing chain, you're bound to end up coming across days when you really don't feel like writing. Ultimately, it's up to each individual writer to decide how he or she feels about pushing through on those days. If you've built appropriate options into the daily goal for your chain, then you may well be able to find a task that fits your mood such as critiquing a story for a fellow writer or preparing a blog post in advance. I've done that quite a few times.

Then there have been other days that I simply sat down and got to work on my writing even if I wasn't "feeling" like doing it. Some of those days I've ended up with good results. Occasionally I've even ended up writing a whole lot more than my goal once I in a groove. Other days I've checked my word count repeatedly until I saw I had those 500 words and then saved my work and gotten away from it as quickly as possible.

Is it worth it to fight through those days? For me, the answer is yes. Because even on plenty of days when I don't actively dislike the idea of writing sitting down and getting started isn't the easiest thing in the world. There could be games to play or a movie to watch. Fighting through the really hard days gives me motivation to make sure I have fingers-on-keyboard time during those other, less hard, days.

Not everyone will find writing on those really bad days to be worthwhile. There's really no substantial difference between building five 59-day chains in 300 days as compared to one 300-day chain. The latter might sound a lot more impressive, but ultimately you're talking one extra day of writing every month.

The key thing is to be honest with yourself. If you are the kind of person who can take a day or two off and then get right back to it and be productive in the upcoming weeks, then you should work however you feel comfortable. I fear that I'm not that kind of person, though, so I press on even through the bad days.