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What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

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Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#41

Post by kramk »

gbog wrote: post #39
spodek wrote: post #4

My biggest motivation, now nearing three years without missing a day writing usually 500 to 2,000 words daily, which applies to exercise and a million other habits you don't want to lose, is If you miss one day you can miss two, if you miss two it's all over. (which I wrote up here -- http://joshuaspodek.com/a-model-for-consistency ) Words to live by if you want consistency and discipline in your life. I'm also comin…

> If you miss one day you can miss two, if you miss two it's all over. This is oh-so wrong. Haven't you heard of people working inconsistently? Haven't you heard of activities that just won't come to your hand? If you are a real poet or writer, you might very well be completely dry and it will be quite impossible for you to write a single word on one page for months, even years! And then maybe the source of inspirati…

A real poet or writer may not use everything (s)he writes for months but they still write (bad first drafts or just work that they'll never use). Also, for a real poet or writer, that is their job. So they HAVE to write, even if they miss a day or two. For someone who writes for hobby and wants to get good at it, it helps to have a plan like this in place. Hitler would have been an artist if he had the self-discipline to create something - anything- everyday.

If writing/exercising/insert-any-habit-here works for you by doing inconsistently, good for you. It works for the OP when he does it consistently. To each his own.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#42

Post by niuzeta »

lathropod wrote: post #8
marknutter wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consistency isn't everything. If you're consistently doing ineffective things it can be as bad as inconsistently doing very effective things. Doing nothing but burpees twice a day a year might make you feel like you've accomplished something, but it's not going to be nearly as effective as a varied, intense workout regiment with specific goals.

As a journalist/geek, the best thing my first editor (a beautiful writer) did for me was forcing me to write two or more news stories every (week)day for the 18 months I worked at that paper. Every day he (or another editor) edited my copy and gave me feedback. The writing was exhausting and the editing was invaluable. +1 for feedback.

As an aspiring writer I am inexplicably envious of you for having someone to edit your writing every day for such a long period.

You very lucky person.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#43

Post by jganetsk »

I lived abroad for 365 days. Each day I wrote a "recap", and posted it to Facebook. Many recaps were over 1,000 words long. I received tons of feedback, often in real life. It was a brilliant experience. I agree with many of the points in the OP. I would like to add that there was no such thing as oversharing. Honest, gut-wrenchingly intimate details (with some anonymizing and filtering), framed in a well-composed piece of writing, somehow stand on their own. They become more personal to the reader than to me, the writer. They contrast to the whitewashed self-portraits of most people on social networks. One point I disagree on is the importance of editing. I think the key to good writing is a solid first draft. If you are editing content, rather than grammar, ordering, syntax or structure... then throw it out and start over. Before writing, give your thoughts some time to bake. Then write them down, and edit minimally. If you want to edit more, put it away and edit the next day. I never did that, starting and finishing most pieces on the same day. But, I have had regrets on every piece of writing I have ever produced. Lastly, I explored every last idea that I had. You should have an idea queue. Get to all of them.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#44

Post by wanderingstan »

lloeki wrote: post #19
spodek wrote: post #4

My biggest motivation, now nearing three years without missing a day writing usually 500 to 2,000 words daily, which applies to exercise and a million other habits you don't want to lose, is If you miss one day you can miss two, if you miss two it's all over. (which I wrote up here -- http://joshuaspodek.com/a-model-for-consistency ) Words to live by if you want consistency and discipline in your life. I'm also comin…

> If you miss one day you can miss two, if you miss two it's all over. I'm using Lift[0] to keep up. It: - helps you keep on with the current running streak - makes you want to increase the counter anyway should you ever break a streak - displays progress by days stacked per week, which makes even low weeks not break the 'week' streak. [1] - reminds you casually yet in a motivating way to continue (reminders are conf…

+1 for Lift. I gave a Quantified Self talk a few months ago about my first full year using it. http://wanderingstan.com/2013-10-16/video-what-ive-learned-i...

Good point about the social part: I drift in and out of using it, but it certainly helps when I need to get back on track.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#45

Post by instakill »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #24

I'm 30 days away from finishing my second attempt at a 365 day photo project[1] (where you take a photo every day for an entire year). Interestingly, everything[2] Ben writes about writing 750 words a day holds true for my project. I suppose I'll have to do a writeup on January 1st after I finish this one and kick off the next one. 1. Process over product Totally agree. Being absolutely comfortable with the technical…

Your photos are amazing.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#46

Post by mikro2nd »

Kiro wrote: post #18

What kind of stuff do people who do this write?

I am at a very early stage in this process, and my initial goal is quite modest - my real aim is to cultivate the habit of writing 500 words every day, breaking through the laziness barrier. So any crap will do. And does. Sometimes it's complete stream of consciousness babble, sometimes it's a bit better than that. I don't care. The point - for me - at this stage - is just to build the habit. No more.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#47

Post by LambdaAlmighty »

gbog wrote: post #39
spodek wrote: post #4

My biggest motivation, now nearing three years without missing a day writing usually 500 to 2,000 words daily, which applies to exercise and a million other habits you don't want to lose, is If you miss one day you can miss two, if you miss two it's all over. (which I wrote up here -- http://joshuaspodek.com/a-model-for-consistency ) Words to live by if you want consistency and discipline in your life. I'm also comin…

> If you miss one day you can miss two, if you miss two it's all over. This is oh-so wrong. Haven't you heard of people working inconsistently? Haven't you heard of activities that just won't come to your hand? If you are a real poet or writer, you might very well be completely dry and it will be quite impossible for you to write a single word on one page for months, even years! And then maybe the source of inspirati…

"You're there now doing the thing on paper. You're not killing the goose, you're just producing an egg. So I don't worry about inspiration, or anything like that. It's a matter of just sitting down and working. I have never had the problem of a writing block. I've heard about it. I've felt reluctant to write on some days, for whole weeks, or sometimes even longer. I'd much rather go fishing. for example. or go sharpen pencils, or go swimming, or what not. But, later, coming back and reading what I have produced, I am unable to detect the difference between what came easily and when I had to sit down and say, 'Well, now it's writing time and now I'll write.' There's no difference on paper between the two."

--Frank Herbert (author of Dune)

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#48

Post by rsaarelm »

marknutter wrote: post #5
spodek wrote: post #4

My biggest motivation, now nearing three years without missing a day writing usually 500 to 2,000 words daily, which applies to exercise and a million other habits you don't want to lose, is If you miss one day you can miss two, if you miss two it's all over. (which I wrote up here -- http://joshuaspodek.com/a-model-for-consistency ) Words to live by if you want consistency and discipline in your life. I'm also comin…

Consistency isn't everything. If you're consistently doing ineffective things it can be as bad as inconsistently doing very effective things. Doing nothing but burpees twice a day a year might make you feel like you've accomplished something, but it's not going to be nearly as effective as a varied, intense workout regiment with specific goals.

Doing nothing but burpees twice a day a year might make you feel like you've accomplished something, but it's not going to be nearly as effective as a varied, intense workout regiment with specific goals.

This is why I end up doing neither burpees twice a day nor a varied, intense workout regiment with specified goals.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#49

Post by sireat »

I learned something different from writing 750 words for a year.

I grew to despise the need to do this exercise daily as I slowly realized that I would not get any meaningful improvement in my writing. I would not be Hemingway. My brain was too set in its ways.

One night as I was working on my masters I forgot to log in 750words before midnight. At first I felt sadness, but in the following days and ever since all I've felt has been relief.

I guess some people are just better readers than writers.

Re: What I learned from writing 750 words a day for 365 days

#50

Post by xerophtye »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #3

good writing is mostly good editing Absolutely. What the internet needs is some collaborative site where people can trade editing for article submissions. That way everybody can get better at their editing skills, which is where the real impact can be made.

have you been to critiquecirle.com?? amazing place with amazing people. They REALLY helped me improve my writing (and critiquing).
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