Daily " tudu"(to do) list

I love it when I hear rhymes in my head. Sometimes I write them down. This one has become my daily to-do list. Let me explain how it works—at least how I am applying it today.

Schedule for each day:

Something new, something old,
Something quiet, something bold
Something selfish, something kind,
Something strengthening the mind.


Something new: write a portion of my new novel first thing every morning.

Something old: edit and rewrite one of the two novels I have finished but need to prepare for publication.

Something quiet: reflect and listen to my thoughts and my subconscious mind (meditation or at least rumination.)

Something bold: Promote Raven Publishing titles! Put my company and my products out there for the world to see. (Marketing seems frighteningly overwhelming, so for me to venture forth in this endeavor is bold.)

Something selfish: It seems as if almost everything I do is selfish, for I love my job, my life, and all the people in it. I'll just list three specific things I do for myself each day. 1) I soak in a warm bath in the beautiful, spacious, and well-lit bathroom my husband designed. It is here that many of my ideas, thoughts, and stories are born. (2) Some days—and I strive to make it every day—I enjoy hikes in the nearby hills or walks in the country side. Not only is this good for my health, it stimulates my mind as well. 3) I go to bed early each night so I can read another novelist's story, as much as I can each night, before falling asleep.

Something kind: These are usually just little things, a kind word, a comforting hug to a grandchild, a sympathetic ear, and time spent looking after the little ones when parents need a break or have to work.

Something strengthening the mind: There is always so much to learn and I enjoy learning. I research facts to support ideas that come up in my stories and I learn a lot from just that. Also, I read and study to improve the skills I must use everyday. Right now, that is mostly focused on areas of marketing and promotion.

With a lot going on in my life, organization—something that does not come easily for me—is a must. This little ditty helps me plan my days.

A planned schedule is important, a daily writing habit, essential.

The more I have to do and the more varied the projects demanding my attention become, the more I realize the importance of a plan of action. Being a morning person, I reserve the earliest morning hours of each day for creative writing time. Or, at least that is the plan. However when other duties are on my mind, it's easy to skip the writing, "just for today," and jump right into the marketing or design or editing or whatever it is on my mind that "must" be done right now.

I have learned, though, that skipping my morning writing wastes time, because the longer I am away from my book, the longer it takes me to get back into it. I have to go back and reread what I've already written. If I've missed a day, it may not take a few pages of rereading to get my mind—and muse—back into it. If I've missed two or three days, it will take longer. If I've missed weeks or months, I will have to reread from the beginning, or keep going back as I write to check on what I've already said or haven't said.

So, my renewed resolution is to write EVERY DAY. Even if it's only a few minutes to a half-hour, it will keep me in touch with my characters and their place in the plot. I find it's best if it's two or three hours, but that isn't always possible. Not having a big block of time, does not mean that I cannot write at all. Making writing my first activity of the day is very important to me. If I don't write then, the chances are slim that I will get to it at all.

Only after I've finished writing, should I move on to other activities. Then I must, to the best of my ability, keep to a schedule that will get it all in. (More on a daily schedule tomorrow)

Developing creative writing habits

In March, I completed another enjoyable workshop with six talented authors in Ennis, Montana. It was the first five-day writing workshop and included  four more lessons in the workbook. A daily schedule of lessons will soon be posted on our website. You can e-mail author@janetmuirheadhill.com and request a workshop schedule, a list of lessons covered, a registration form, and/or more information. 

As always, we began "true fiction" writing through free-form writing exercises, with each lesson building on the one before it. Those who've participated in the three-day workshop may wonder what has been added. The three-day workshop consisted of fifteen lessons. We now have nineteen lessons in the five-day class, with lesson nineteen, Publishing Options, taking a large portion of day five. I also added lessons on setting, writing background and development, and I divided one lesson and expanded it into two; one on dispelling self-doubts, and one on developing good writing habits. The lesson on writing habits takes up the first hour of day-five. 

As in every workshop I've presented, I learn along with my students. I also learn from research and study I put into each lesson. In particular, the lesson on writing habits has helped me strengthen my own habits with good results. I just finished the first draft of the adult novel I began 3 or 4 years ago, and had put aside to work on a trilogy of children's books. Now I have developed the habit that will help me rewrite and polish this first rough draft systematically. 

I think the part of the 18th lesson that has helped me the most is the emphasis on the word "habit." We all know what habits are. Our life is ordered (or disordered) by them. We have long-established habits that compel us to a certain ritual of behavior each day. Whether it's rising at a certain time each morning, proceeding to the next step which for some is making the coffee or getting in the shower or letting out the dog or jumping on the treadmill or heading out the door in your jogging clothes,  journal writing or daily devotions, we repeat the same pattern each morning, and it's hard—almost impossible—to veer from it. Why? Because it's a habit. It's ingrained. 

Why not add one more habit to your ritual? Schedule a writing time each day wherever it fits into your already established ritual. Anne Lamott in her book, Bird by Bird, said, "So much of writing is sitting down and doing it every day, and so much of it is about getting into the custom of taking in everything that comes along, seeing it all as grist for the mill." 

From this I realize there are two parts to developing a writing habit. One is to sit down and do it every day. The other is to be open to ideas and inspiration all day long. Not all of my writing is done while sitting in front of my computer monitor each morning. Even more of it is done earlier while soaking in my morning bath with a freshly brewed cup of coffee, where I habitually solve a daily cryptogram, which is usually a profundity from some past poet or philosopher. Then I read something inspiring, currently an essay from another writer in the book, A Cup of Comfort for Writers, edited by Colleen Sell. And lastly, totally relaxed by this time, I let my mind fill with ideas for my book or whatever else comes. I have note paper and pencil handy to write down the ideas that the muse introduces. Then when I approach the computer, I use all the available time, typing madly as the muse continues, through the characters, to show my fingers where to go. 

It helps to be prepared for the presentation of ideas from the muse as you go about your daily living, seeing it all, as Lamott says, as grist for the mill. Keep pocket-sized notebooks or index cards and a pencil with you to jot down interesting conversations, descriptions of buildings, rooms, landscapes, or anything else that comes to mind that may later be adapted to your book, short story, poem or essay.  

We will each develop and integrate our unique writing habits into our daily lives in a way that works. Now that I'm experiencing "the habit" more compulsively, I can recommend that every writer work to develop one, if you haven't already done so. 

How is this done? The first step is to make the decision, firmly, to write each day and to set the time and space for doing so. The next step is to force yourself to do it consistently for as long as it takes for it to become a habit, a part of your daily ritual you would not think of skipping. Some say that takes fourteen times, some say twenty-one, others a month. Like everything else in life, however, first of all, it takes the desire. If you really want to write, it will be easier, and a productive writing habit will be formed in no time.