As a freshman at Dodge College, I jumped at the opportunity to take an advanced TV writing course 'Seminar in TV Writing' with a successful writer/professor Lee Marshall. Lee could not stress enough the significance of writing every day or at the very least every week for the procrastinators out there. "The writing will not create itself and it matters not what you write so long as it is written." Not a direct quote from Lee but that was basically the main point of his practice.
We would come into our weekly 3 hour class (at 1 pm on a Friday in college in SoCal, attendance was an extreme effort in itself) and hand in our "Morning Pages" or "Napkin notes" as he would sometimes call them, for back in the ancient time before instant access to the Notes apps on any smartphone, Lee would write down little bursts of creativity on the paper napkins at a diner, cafe, or restaurant he was at. I guess he must have eaten out a lot. Anyway, the morning pages were 10 single-spaced 12 point font sheets of computer paper which Lee didn't actually read. "It's just to prove to yourself that you can write every day/week. It's for you, not me, to make a habit out of your craft." Good thing he didn't read them because most of what I wrote was complete trash.
5 years after the fact, the principle remains true and instilled within me. The key for me is to set a tangible goal with my writing in order to track its progress clearly and also to avoid becoming overwhelmed. Now I am not a professional writer at this point in my life, but as someone who is really trying to make this possibility a reality, this creative potential into a commercial success, I've found that Lee was absolutely spot on. 1000 words a day for two months could get you your first novel. 1000 words, by the way, may seem like a lot, but right before the last comma I was already up to 338 and now am heading to 400 by the end of this paragraph. Most of my favorite novels range in the 60-70 thousand word spectrum and I'm sure many of yours are in that general vicinity. 1000 words a day for two months CAN get you a first draft of a novel so long as you take no days off. But once you get into the groove of 1000 words, and realize that it's really not that impressive of a feat, in two weeks you'll have 14,000 words, perhaps 5-6 chapters of medium length, and that stack of pages alone will be enough to get you through those days when you would rather donate an organ that write one more damned word.
The point is that when anyone tries to do something they are passionate about but takes a great deal of effort and consistency, you must break up the task into sections that you can realistically achieve. This enables you from the start to approach the task honestly and further reflect your honesty into your work. Take the pressure off yourself. "Writing is hard enough. Don't make it any harder." Have your spot for writing, preferably a place in your home or office, a sacred desk that symbolically is a shrine for your worship or confession, depending on your selected genre. Write that self-help book or purge out your gloomy depressed thoughts. It doesn't matter at this stage because it's only for you. Lee didn't read my morning pages so who cares what I've written? Once you make writing a habit, master it into simply another task on your daily to-do list, I promise you the real juice of your story, plot, and characters will ripen and be flavorful, so much so that you'll have others coming back for more. And just like that, in 1000 words a day, you can remove the 'aspiring' from your self-description and be known as a real writer, ie one who writes and not just one who dreams of writing.
Many people who struggle to reach their potential as artists often feel stuck due to unideal circumstances. Whether it be not having the time to write (easy, sacrifice one tv show per day and poof there's at least an hour), not having the environment to write (the disciplined artist can create anywhere, somewhere in the wilderness in a log cabin - hey thoreau! - or in the middle of a crowded coffee shop or workplace), or simply lacking the ideas or motivation to write (watch a TED talk on writing or read a chapter of your favorite book - inspiration is all around), anyone who is serious about being a professional writer must simply detatch themselves from the infinite number of reasons of 'why I can't write right now.' Granted, I am a single 23-year-old with an apartment typically to myself and a great library over in Cambridge, work part time and don't have any familial responsibilities yet, so I understand it might be easier said than done for me. But I understand that I will not always have this luxury of 'free time' - in January I plan on having a 9-5 salaried position which will require my creative and visual attention. What about the lunch break or the missed dinner date in order to stay on task with my goal? It is true...to achieve what some may call the 'impossible' one must make sacrifices here or there. Your friends and tv shows will still be there for you, I promise, once you have finished. But then, after the first novel comes the second, and third and so on until you wake up to go to your first meeting with a literary agent, your first book signing, your first journalistic interview and bam. All of a sudden you made a career out of your dream. And your future self will thank you. And Netflix and your cat will forgive you. 1000 words a day. No shortcuts. No excuses. No pressure.
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