New Writer’s Struggle

I have never written anything in public before. This blog is my first attempt in public writing. I have two problems with writing consistently. I call it “The 2T Problem”. One is ‘Time’ and the other is ‘Topic’. 

1. Time – I do not find time to write. 
2. Topic – I do not know what to write about. 

It is hard to find time to write during the day while doing a fulltime job and running a family with two young kids. Even if I get lucky and find time to write, I sit there staring at the screen without knowing what to write. Recently I came across this article by Buster Benson. In this article, Buster talks about how writing can be meditative. He also talks about Free Writing and Morning Pages. 

These concepts have solved my 2T Problems. It has helped me create a better writing habit. I have already written close to 5000 words in 5 days. And I am yet to miss a day. 

Free Writing

Free Writing is a process of continuous writing for a specific period of time without thinking about the content, the grammar or editing. You just write what comes to your mind. Following are the recommended approach for free writing

1. Set a limit – Say 3 pages or 750 words. Keep writing until you reach the limit.
2. Just write. Do not read what you are writing.
3. It is about developing a habit. Do not worry about spelling, punctuation, or style.
4. If you run out of ideas, think again. Write what captures your mind.
5. If you feel stuck or uncomfortable, ask why and write about it.

Morning Pages

Morning pages is a concept popularized by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way. Morning pages follow the Free writing concept where you sit down every morning and write what comes to your consciousness. Julia recommends the following as guidelines for writing morning pages. 

1. Three pages of longhand writing done in the morning
2. It is a clearing exercise where you go poking into all the corners of your consciousness.
3. And write down any cloud thoughts that just move through your consciousness
4. It is an exercise that makes you have much more consciousness as you pass through your day

The Solution to my Problems

I started writing Morning pages five days ago. Here is how Morning Pages have solved my 2T problems.  

1. Topic – I am writing about what happened yesterday. How did my day go? I am writing  about the plan for today. When I blank out, I ask myself what I was thinking when I was in shower, while doing my workout, while meditating, while cooking. Suddenly I remember random things. And I will write that down. 
2. Time – Instead of searching for time during the day, I have decided to write in the morning right after my workout. 
3. Develops a writing habit – Stacking a new habit to an existing routine increases the chance of sticking to it when you find it hard or after the initial enthusiasm fades. As you can see below, I am yet to miss a day since I stacked my writing with my morning routine. 

4. Meditative – It clears my mind from remembering the trivial things that go through my mind throughout the day. It makes me more concise as I go through the day. 

As you can see, I already have a few small wins by writing Morning Pages. I am on a 5-day writing streak and I have about 5000 words written to show in 5 days. I am finding Morning Pages to be really helpful as I develop my writing habit. If you are a new writer like me, I highly recommend you try morning pages.