This week’s prompt is simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. In fact, it’s pretty tough to do. For one week, commit to writing every day. Notice that there are no stipulations as to quantity or quality of the writing. You can write as little or as much as you like, for as long as you like, and it doesn’t have to be that good either. The important thing is that you’re writing. Every day. We’re not focusing on the product of your week’s work, we just care about the commitment you make to the process. Whatever you write–long or short, good or bad–just make sure you write something.
Prompt: Write Something
Next week, write something every day. It could be a poem or a short story or section of your work in progress. It could be a to do list of all the things you want to write. What you write doesn’t matter, what matters is that you write.
Some ground rules:
- Social medial doesn’t count. Let’s face it, we all fiddle around way too much on social media and then call it “writing” so for the purposes of this exercise, email and Twitter/Facebook/etc. don’t count. As for everything else, anything goes.
- Don’t judge, just write. Don’t worry about quantity and definitely don’t fret over quality. Just get the words down on the page as quickly as you can, then put it away and get on with your day.
- Reserve your best time for writing. We all have times of the day when we feel at the top of the world and other times when we drag along by sheer force of will. Maybe you’re a morning person, and if so try to write first thing when you wake up. If you’re a night owl, do your writing during those productive hours of the nighttime. It may not always be possible to reserve your best time for writing, but try to do that whenever you can. After all, writing every day is hard. Give your writing a leg-up by doing it when you feel refreshed and energized.
Also, if you can, try to write by hand. I’m a huge fan of writing by hand for a few reasons.
- It’s portable. Yes, laptops and tablets and smart phones are portable too, but something about tucking a notebook into your pocket just seems easier. There are also downsides to writing on your laptop/tablet/phone. Ever have the battery die on you just when you make a breakthrough? Notebooks and pends don’t need batteries.
- You avoid verbal spillage. Most of us write slower by hand than at a keyboard, which can actually be a good thing. By the time the thought has traveled from your brain all the way down your arm and fingers to your pen, you’ve had a chance to think about it and work through it in your head a few times. When you type, whatever nonsense that comes out of your head goes straight to the page. Writing by hand forces you to think.
- It connects you to your writing heroes. Writing by hand may not always be practical (ever notice how a fountain pen has a tendency to explode when you use it on an airplane?) but I do it anyway. Why? Because when I’m scratching at the unlined pages of my notebook with my fountain pen, I feel almost like I’m channeling Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, Jane Austen or any of my writing mentors of old. Sure, my notebook might have a hot pink cover and my fountain pen may be neon blue, but something about putting pen to page makes me feel connected to other writers in a way that writing on a computer just doesn’t seem to do.
This week, commit to writing every day. Remember, it doesn’t matter what you write, how long you write, or even if it’s any good. Just make sure you’re writing. And if you’re on Twitter, use hash tags like #writingsprint or #amwriting to share your progress with other writers who are doing the same thing.
