• Forest for the Trees
  • THE FOREST FOR THE TREES is about writing, publishing and what makes writers tick. This blog is dedicated to the self loathing that afflicts most writers. A community of like-minded malcontents gather here. I post less frequently now, but hopefully with as much vitriol. Please join in! Gluttons for punishment can scroll through the archives.

    If I’ve learned one thing about writers, it’s this: we really are all alone. Thanks for reading. Love, Betsy

I’m on the Edge of Glory

Day 28. I had a goodish writing day. The big win was doing it 5pm. Taking back the night. Taking back my life. I’ve always done all my writing at 5:30 in the morning until about 10:00 am. Lifting the restriction about doing it first thing or not at all has been liberating. This has been the big revelation for me these last 28 days. And also that a half hour is enough time to get something done.

What rules do you have about when, where and how much time you need to write?

10 Responses

  1. I write first thing, before my brain wears itself out. And it turns out I can’t write when family is visiting. I can’t even write a witty comment!

  2. “What rules do you have about when, where and how much time you need to write?”

    None. Oh, I’ve tried them all, learning again and again — slow on the uptake I can be — that the only rule to be ruled by is the one: Write!

  3. No rules – just get it done – at some point!

  4. Early in the day I carve. Along the edges of the day I tend to the scraps.

  5. i write in the morning but not too early–i’m no good until about 9 a.m. too sleepy. i no longer drink coffee so i can’t force myself awake before my natural time.

    i try to touch my writing most days, that’s it. i add a little bit or subtract a little bit, and move forward. i consider that success. i’m slow.

    rea

  6. The only “rule” I have is if I miss it in the morning, I catch it in the evening. (I give myself a pass on Sunday. I can write if I want, but not if I don’t.) The other thing is not a rule, but an observation: I do better with my writing if I’m reading a good book. So I always have a few books I want to read handy.

  7. No real rules for memoir, just write. But if I want weird fiction, write after my mile walk. Thoughts turn strange when the brain is busy with just walking and staying upright.

  8. It’s a question of absorption. Doesn’t matter where or when once the world drops away. Except, never at night.

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