Up stupidly early today, dropping the Mrs off at the station at 06:45, get the kids' breakfasts, make the lunches, then get some writing in before daring to surf. We have a points system for activity in Boot Camp and "Prelog" words score five times as well as words written later in the day.
Silly, right? Why bother with activity logs, words written before logging on to the web or reading emails?
Yeah, it's silly, except every time we have had a campaign for more prelog words the total number of words written has rocketed, AND SO HAS THE QUALITY. Second, the best predictor of publication and prize performance has always been, WORK and nothing else.
A few years back we had a Boot Camp where some old hands ("ex" Boot Campers) used to hang around in the BC Coffee Shop. Two of these both very good writers and now both editors had slipped into that mode where they were talking about writing, living off old stories etc but doing almost nothing fresh. One said he had written "effectively nothing" in the previous six months.
Both joined the pre-log push. Ten days later one had written 8,500 words, the other considerably more. One "faded' back to that problem behaviour but one didn't. But both now knew how to break out from the problem.
A day lost is a day nearer your death. You never get it back. NEVER.
Writers are writers 24-7 and for 365 days a year.
We all need to remember that.
Alex
Some Prompts
The Shield
When the Women Come Out to Dance
Literary Big Brother
1,001 Dalmations
Homestead, Toothbrush
Creative Writhing
The Blacksmith's Arms
To Be Blunt
Tree, Dark Blossom, a Cleaner, Sun
Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Saddest Day
1 comment:
Thanks, Lee
It does look good, and I think it will make a lovely home as well as a nice place to do teaching.
The blog was quiet cos I was away without internet.
Keep writing.
alex
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