Seven Habits of Highly Effective Writers

After reading this:

http://writerswrite.posterous.com/the-seven-habits-of-highly-effective-writers

I have some of my own to add

1. Get up early in the morning, take a shower, get dressed, have a good breakfast. Take breaks to move around. Have lunch, perhaps a chat by the watercooler (facebook, phone, neighbor, etc), go for a walk. Then get back to work. If you have to follow the muse into the night… then go for it if that is your time, but regular sleep is crucial. Naps work for me.

2.     Take care of family and friends and your own personal needs, balance your creative work and the more mundane aspects of life. If you have to keep a “day job” find the balance for that too. Hopefully your day job, regardless of what it is, feeds your muse in some way. The muse should, ideally, hover calmly at your center in turn fueling everything you do. The other stuff should swirl around it at a pretty regular pace. Balance around. Balance within. I believe the muse is there to help us find meaning, process feelings, regain balance when the outer world goes careening out of orbit due to circumstances beyond our control! So, take good care of it too. Give yourself appreciation even for incremental accomplishments.

3.     Parce the day (week/month/year) into blocks for specific activities, such as… writing, reading, researching, listening, practicing (for us songwriters), networking, business, etc. Then… write when it’s time to write and don’t let those other things edge in. Keep a running “to do” list for each block and write down attracting urges on that list…to get back to later.

4.     Take some time to make a strategic plan and revisit it formally… yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily, etc. Try to stay on track. Use the “data” to see where you veer, or decide if a change of course is warranted. A dose of objectivity is usually helpful.

5.     Have all the nuts and bolts in place… such as… a bank account for income and expenses related only to your writing (music/art, etc.). Build a team of people behind you, or in tandem. More detail on that would take me into another blog. So back to that later.

6.     Write in your head. Imagine it. Think it through. Keep it elastic as you play with the possibilities. Look at it from many angles. Write the story under the story (even if all you end up using is a four line verse). You will have the “motivation” for the character. This will build consistency across the work and often leads to better ideas and new directions.

7.     Be prepared for the long haul. Work your life around it and enjoy the process. Even when you get to “product” stage, enjoy the new levels of process each phase brings. Be flexible with your goals and aspirations but hard set on your determination to do it.

There. That’s seven.  I could go on, but I’ll stick to the form. … because… that’s another good habit… work within and around a form. Ok… Back to writing the play. By writing this exercise right now I broke “habit number 3” – but “habit number 7” gives me that leeway. Ok, I hope this is useful to you. Have fun writing…that’s another habit!