A Wild Bucking Horse Named the Writing Habit

So, it's been quiet here for a week or so. There are a few reasons for that.

First, I got called into work on my day off and so I lost a day of writing. Second, I was working on my marketing plan for the picture book idea that's almost ready for submission. Lastly, I was creating an author's website.

You can see the results of my labor on the later here:

http://www.josephdmmiller.com/

Now that I'm through this busy patch, I hope to be posting regularly again.

However, this is a good time to talk about the habit of writing (or blogging). Just like any good habit, writing is something we have to keep doing as often as possible or we'll get lazy about it. I know I go through spurts of very active writing and then downturns of minimal writing.

Sort of like this



and this



These "breaks" can be good. They can give editorial distance on a story and allow you to see it in a new light. They can also allow your brain to explore other story ideas.

The downside to breaks is they get you out of the habit of writing. You lose momentum and find yourself not writing at all for long periods of time.

To be a writer (and eventually a published author), we need to strengthen our writing habits as much as possible. We need to exercise them on a daily or almost daily basis. This builds up our writing muscles and gives the the endurance we need to sit butt in chair and write even when we don't always feel like it.



So, the next time you get knocked out of your writing habit by distractions, emergencies, work, or other things, just remember that the best thing about any lost habit is it can be found again.

We just have to put in the effort to get ourselves back in the saddle and ride the wild, bucking horse that is writing!



Best Wishes,
Joseph

PS: Does anyone see the change I made to this blog?