Today marks my 31st day of writing in my blog. This is a milestone for me in many ways. I have attempted to write in my blog, starting at the beginning of the year, many times. As I had little external encouragement, writing never took a priority in my day and my blogging life lasted less than a week each time.
This year, with the help of a few friends and daily reminders on Facebook and Twitter, I managed to create a writing habit. I have to also give a shout out to my wonderful Sunday am writing group often referred to as "Church".
A habit tends to be created after doing something over and over for 21 times or sequences. This time, I blogged for 31 straight days. Did it cause a habit? I am not sure yet. I know I feel a nagging grab from my desktop, pulling me to it to write. Will it continue? My goal was 31 straight days. I did it! I am not sure that I will blog daily from this point...who knows. I may set a new goal of 3 times a week.
What all writers know is- writing is hard work. It puts YOU out there in a way that cannot be described or realized if you do not write. There is a lot of self-judgement in writing. For that reason, one the first of the year, I came up with a simple rule for my writing...
My blog posts will be brief. They will be raw. I will not edit them. They will be mind-streamed emotional wondering.
My writing for the teacher educational website will be 900-1200 words. It will have one focus and have my voice as I take my readers through my thinking. It will be perfect, or as well edited as I can make it.
My writing for my two book projects will be the long stuff. It will be focused and researched. It will be outlined and as perfect as I can make it before sending it off to editing. It will be in my voice with the intention of teaching along my journey. These chapters are about 11 pages long.
Regardless if my writing is a habit at this point or not... I am now not just a writer, I am writing. It is truly who I am. I spend 2-4 hours a day writing or processing my writing. THAT is truly my writing habit!
Be Mindful.
Peace.
Mark Levine
#Mindfulliteracy
@LevineWrites
Yay you! 31 days is amazing. I hope you do keep writing the raw stuff and posting on here....I will miss your voice if you quit.
ReplyDeleteThanks Deb! I will keep posting as long as my blog draws me to reflect.
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