2020 will be the year that I write 300 words a day on the MEMOIRE!!! How’s that for a commitment? Finally, after 25 years of what can only be described as dabbling I am going to do this.
The only reason I am able to make such a bold statement is that I have finally identified how I must support any goals that I set for myself.
1. I must make a financial outlay of some kind.
I once joined a gym so I would work out regularly. Well I paid my money and went sporadically until I cancelled my membership entirely. I did the same thing with the “Y” when I moved to Owen Sound in 2015.
Then in June 2018 I hired a personal trainer and prepaid for 4 months of training twice a week. AND I am still going only I am up to 3 or 4 days a week. What’s the difference – someone is depending on me and I feel better physically. This led me to my second support need.
2. I need to receive some visible reward for my efforts.
I look better, feel better, and think more clearly. Plus, my energy level is up and I no longer fall over. Beyond that I actually have someone on my side who is encouraging me to stay the course and guiding me along. And so, I have discovered my third requirement.
3. I need feedback from others be it a trainer, a coach or a teacher, for the efforts I make.
In other words, achieving my goals has to cost me hard earned money, provide either internal or external rewards (preferably both) and my skills/knowledge must be increasing as well.
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Over the years of writing I have taken several writing courses all of which have helped with my skill development. They have also helped with my productivity for varying periods of time. I have read several books on the craft of writing as well, which have led to spurts of writing many days in a row. But life always seem to interfere. It’s usually a bit better on the production end of things when I belong to a writer’s group such as Ascribe.
However, nothing has improved my commitment to writing as taking 3 on-line courses offered by Creative Non-Fiction (CNF) during 2019. Their courses are highly structured requiring 3 – 4 submissions of varying lengths per week for 10 weeks. The lectures are all on-line and accessible for the entire duration of the class. In addition, class size is limited to 12 students at most. So far, I have discovered that upwards of 8 people actually finish the course. We each receive feedback form each other and feedback from the teacher as well.
CNF launched a year-long program for 2020 which provides 35 weeks of input over 3 individual courses. This has allowed me to make the commitment to 300 words a day because the 3 aspects of support which I personally need will be provided.
I am 5 weeks into “30 Minute Memoire” at this point. I am meeting most (but not all) my deadlines. The feedback from my classmates and teacher plus all the instruction and ongoing discussions are guiding me very skillfully as I go along. Some days 300 words becomes much more; other days its sheer slogging. But I do the best I can. And so far, so good.
All intrepid writers are different; yet all of us have an underlying process of support needs that will help us write. Taking the necessary time to identify what your specific needs are and then designing your own support structure to meet those needs will pay off in the long run. Anything that helps writers to be consistently productive on a day to day basis is worth it.
At the very least I will be grateful on my “death day” (to quote Sir Nick from the Harry Potter series) that I wrote something every day.
