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Write every day

mlafeldt.github.io

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Re: Write every day

#51

Post by shubhamjain »

wiremine wrote: post #33
shubhamjain wrote: post #27

Code everyday, contribute to open source, write n words everyday, read books everyday, exercise, learn new skills, market yourself, socialize, travel. Is there an end? I am surrounded by so many productive activities and each one within my reach that each time I am not doing it, it feels I am frittering away very valuable time. In fact, even when I am doing it like reading a book, I feel working on my mini-game could…

I second this: reading all this can create a sense of guilt. I think for myself, the key is knowing that the guy who biked across India wasn't writing a novel. Or at least, he wasn't biking across India, writing a novel, and maintaining a 40+ hour job and raising a family. I'm a husband, father of two kids, am involved in my church, and own a house with a yard. So, "contributing to open source" and "writing every day…

I have always picked up things because I have found them interesting but the sense of guilt of not doing enough plagues you when you see success and recognition of other people in those fields.

For eg, someone who didn't waste his time during grad years and was able to complete many awesome things, fetched a job that I could only imagine. Lately, I have been avoiding going out on weekends, because "I have to do build something for world to show". Has this been helpful? Yes maybe, but not certainly, "very enjoyable".

Re: Write every day

#52

Post by ulisesrmzroche »

sireat wrote: post #13

I will prove a counterexample to this point. I used 750words for almost a year but ultimately stopped by accident and have not been back since. The "do not break the chain" mechanism kept me going, but there were days when I had trouble filling out the word count. In the end I stopped, because it was a hassle and I did not see myself progressing in skill. Maybe if you have a clear goal in mind like writing a book wit…

I think the 750 words method is more of a morning brain dump than a tool to improve the technique of your writing.

Re: Write every day

#53

Post by stronglikedan »

shubhamjain wrote: post #27

Code everyday, contribute to open source, write n words everyday, read books everyday, exercise, learn new skills, market yourself, socialize, travel. Is there an end? I am surrounded by so many productive activities and each one within my reach that each time I am not doing it, it feels I am frittering away very valuable time. In fact, even when I am doing it like reading a book, I feel working on my mini-game could…

My solution is to not do any one thing every day, with the exception of common tasks, like eating and breathing. I try to do at least one thing to better myself each day, and that activity can come from a myriad of choices. Even on those days when I seemingly get nothing done, like sitting on the couch stuffing my face and watching football, I feel like I've accomplished resting myself to prepare for a more productive day tomorrow.

Life's to short to worry about doing anything that you don't want to do in the moment, as long as all of your responsibilities are out of the way first. By responsibilities, I mean commitments to others, such as family, friends, and associates. If I don't feel like doing something for myself, I just don't do it, and I'm much better off for it.

Re: Write every day

#54

Post by thirdtruck »

wiremine wrote: post #33
shubhamjain wrote: post #27

Code everyday, contribute to open source, write n words everyday, read books everyday, exercise, learn new skills, market yourself, socialize, travel. Is there an end? I am surrounded by so many productive activities and each one within my reach that each time I am not doing it, it feels I am frittering away very valuable time. In fact, even when I am doing it like reading a book, I feel working on my mini-game could…

I second this: reading all this can create a sense of guilt. I think for myself, the key is knowing that the guy who biked across India wasn't writing a novel. Or at least, he wasn't biking across India, writing a novel, and maintaining a 40+ hour job and raising a family. I'm a husband, father of two kids, am involved in my church, and own a house with a yard. So, "contributing to open source" and "writing every day…

I agree. It's easy to overlook the sustainability advantage of doing something every day.

With the rarest exceptions, I've spent at least an hour every day on preparing for, executing, and fulfilling the Kickstarter I ran last year (http://planetoz.net/kickstarter). It's only an hour, but it adds up.

It's taken much longer to complete than I anticipated. However, I've made steady progress despite losing one job, moving to a new state, and starting a new job over the course of that year. If I had tried to put in 2-4 hours of work every day, on top of managing my full time career, I know (from many a HN comment) that I would have burned out.

Instead, I have all my bills in order, steady income, and the funds I need to get the external help (editors, proofreaders, cover artists) that I need beyond what the Kickstarter helped cover. This means a longer wait for my backers, but also much better rewards for their patience. With the hour a day pace, a finished novel looks like an inevitability rather than a mere dream.

Re: Write every day

#55

Post by lettergram »

shubhamjain wrote: post #27

Code everyday, contribute to open source, write n words everyday, read books everyday, exercise, learn new skills, market yourself, socialize, travel. Is there an end? I am surrounded by so many productive activities and each one within my reach that each time I am not doing it, it feels I am frittering away very valuable time. In fact, even when I am doing it like reading a book, I feel working on my mini-game could…

The simple solution is finding your niche. I commented on the thread explaining how I blog everything I learn and connect it to previous blog articles I have written (to help my memory).

I intentionally write the articles across multiple blogs to ensure no one expects I write daily and that I can explore various interests.

The point being, this works for me. It doesn't look at all like I write daily (even though I do), and as such I'll never "achieve" what other people do (i.e. I'll never have 1600 blog entries in one blog).

Does this make me feel bad?

Not at all! The point is, I am doing it for myself, not for bragging rights over others. If I wanted to do that, I could totally just set up a program to auto-push to github.

Rather, I feel good at the end of each day because I write out a list of things I need to accomplish: wash dishes, compliment my girlfriend, write a blog post, etc. Every time I cross something off the list I know I am working towards my goals.

Humans are notorious for achieving things no other species can achieve. However, this is only achieved through our consciousness and our ability to see and reach for long-term goals.

No one can achieve every long-term goal, but to achieve one just set aside 20 - 60 minutes a day to work on it. Cross it off your list, and accomplish great things. There's no shame in not writing 40K words in five months if that's not your goal.

Re: Write every day

#56

Post by dragonwriter »

shubhamjain wrote: post #27

Code everyday, contribute to open source, write n words everyday, read books everyday, exercise, learn new skills, market yourself, socialize, travel. Is there an end? I am surrounded by so many productive activities and each one within my reach that each time I am not doing it, it feels I am frittering away very valuable time. In fact, even when I am doing it like reading a book, I feel working on my mini-game could…

> Someone has written 40K words in five months, someone has created a kernel at the age of 18, someone has made 365 days streak on github and someone has done a biking trip across India. I wish there was an easy way to avoid feeling guilty when you see other people's achievements.

There is: accept and own your own past choices and move forward, and stop comparing your achievements to other people as a yardstick of past success (still do it, if you want, as a tool to find ways to improve your own future outcomes, but that's a different function.)

There are billions of people in the world. Most probably, very large (absolutely) numbers of them are going to have done more impressive things in narrow domains of achievement than you, and its quite likely that a sizable number will have done much more impressively in fairly broad areas -- and with modern technology, you are more likely to hear about all of them than in the past. But there is no reason to be guilty about not having the most impressive resume in the world (and in many cases, if you had the capacity to have mirrored their achievement [and fortune of circumstance as well as effort and innate ability often play a role], the cost would have been unacceptable -- lots of people who have done impressive things regret the cost.)

Well, maybe not an easy way, but probably easier than mirroring the all of the kind of achievements you are talking about that make you feel guilty, so easier, at least.

Re: Write every day

#57

Post by thirdtruck »

smokel wrote: post #17

I agree that writing is good exercise. However, it seems that some people think that achieving a high word count is a good thing. Please try to use as few words as possible to get your ideas across. See this as a friendly gesture to your audience, saving them time. Obviously, this does not hold for novels and fiction, where the reader actually likes to read. Perhaps I am a bit misguided in thinking that (technical) b…

As both a novel writer and blogger, I actually recommend going for sheer word count first, but still editing vigorously afterward. I find it much easier to edit after I've dumped everything from my brain.

Case in point: I only reached this concise comment after drafting two other, much longer versions of it.

Re: Write every day

#58

Post by [deleted] »

ntaso wrote: post #28
sireat wrote: post #13

I will prove a counterexample to this point. I used 750words for almost a year but ultimately stopped by accident and have not been back since. The "do not break the chain" mechanism kept me going, but there were days when I had trouble filling out the word count. In the end I stopped, because it was a hassle and I did not see myself progressing in skill. Maybe if you have a clear goal in mind like writing a book wit…

I have to agree. I always want to start a somewhat personal blog, but I can't think of many topics. My thoughts are often half-baked, not very original and once I wrote them down, they tend to be obsolete again, more or less. I never got paid for writing directly, but then I figured that in a certain way, I am already a writer. Because I write articles for my business and they make me money. I didn't rank for a certa…

[deleted]

Re: Write every day

#59

Post by thirdtruck »

atomroflbomber wrote: post #3

This reminds me about an idea I had but never really followed: For all you writers out there, do you think a device with an e-ink display and a normal keyboard, similar to a laptop, but designed for the sole purpose of distraction free writing, is something consumers might want? I always wondered why this does not exist.

I rather like the idea, at least in theory. It turns out that nature can actually be rather noisy, not to mention filled with mosquitoes and the like, so I've found it less productive than hoped in practice.

Re: Write every day

#60

Post by neovive »

bennesvig wrote: post #50
neovive wrote: post #20

I'm tempted to try this exercise for the remainder of the year. Can someone recommend a way to not just write, but also learn to write better in the process. I'm thinking of using Hemingway App.

Find writing that you love and deconstruct it. What techniques do they use? How do they tell stories? How do they start/end their writing? Reading great writing will also influence your own writing as well, especially if you read before writing. It "primes" you to write in a similar style.

Thanks. I've actually been saving links to articles and stories that I consider well-written for various reasons (flow, style, grammar usage, etc.).
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