WRITE NOW NEWSLETTER – SEPTEMBER 2015
“First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won’t. Habit is persistence in practice.” – Octavia E. Butler
Hi Writers:
Several writing habits keep me involved in the practice. The first is an on-line writing group I joined back in 1999 after attending several writing workshops with Natalie Goldberg. A group of us formed an email list. We agreed to send eight ten-minute writing practices to each other. Eventually the list grew and now it is a listserv, but there are still a handful of us writing and sending these writes to each other.
This newsletter is another set of habits. Throughout the month I gather events that I see in the paper or other sources and individuals email events to me. On the first of the month I scan fifty to sixty websites for more events. On the third of the month, the day the newsletter is due, often at the last minute, I write an essay to include.
I rarely know what I will write about ahead of time. Sometimes I use a quotation to feed my thoughts. Other times I take the dog for a long, slow walk and an idea will form. And sometimes I do sitting meditation and allow an essay to arise that way. It’s as if my body and mind know that it’s the third of month, time for the essay, because only a few times when I’ve been in extreme emotional distress have I been at a loss for words. These habits have served me well.
What habits do you use to get the writing done? I’d love to hear about them on my blog BumGlue.
Nita Sweeney
(c)Nita Sweeney, 2015, all rights reserved
Follow me on Twitter at @NitaSweeney
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