Recently I have come to realize that I work on organizing and plotting books, but I have slipped in my actual writing time and progress. This is also why I’ve gotten further and further behind on book reviews as even staring at a blank screen to review a book was causing blocks and anxiety.
But writing is a habit, a muscle that needs to be used and practiced, use it or lose it etc. Because of that, Operation March (a name for my operation to-get-my-shit-together plans) has included the start of a year long writing prompt project that my friend Mari over at Story and Somnomancy started/did awhile ago. I know she has plans to do it again once her life calms down, and I’ll be excited to go on the journey with her.
My co-host at Judging Book Covers Podcast, Stephanie Cortez, is doing it too! I plan on getting our website back up and working this week, so hopefully we can get some of our writing scribbles up too.
And because part of my issue has always been sharing my work, I will be posting my writing either the day of or the day after (depending on when I finish it.) My personal rules are as follows:
- I can pick a writing prompt, most likely an “opening line” prompt
- I can work on a scene from a novel I’m working on if none of the prompts seem to grab my attention, but the main plan here is to just practice and flex my muscles.
- I set the time for 30 – 60 minutes (starting at 30, working my way up to 60) and just write. (I turn off both phones and don’t look at social media.) When the timer ends, I add on whatever time I spent flailing at something like a name, and then that’s it. Where I end is where I end!
- Only background noise allowed is music, and you can’t change the music once the timer starts.
What am I trying to really achieve here?
- Writing. Working out whatever anxiety I’ve got right now.
- Getting better at trusting my gut and that I don’t need to do hours and hours and hours of research to get a first draft done.
- Building new ideas and potential stories/novellas/books off these prompts.
- Getting used to sharing my work. Maybe I’ll finish more this way.
So that’s it! March 2nd’s work is about to be posted, so enjoy!