Monday, November 23, 2009

The 5-minute blog post

I'm not doing InaDWriMo or NaNoWriMo or any of those this month; I'm just trying to get through a piece of writing, so this blog post can only take me 5 minutes to write.

In the spirit of Merlin Mann's pep talk and a warning, besides the 5-minute limit for posting, here's what I'm trying today:

  • More typing, less thinking. I know you can't really separate them, but getting the hands flapping on the keys is the action of the day. Turning pages? Reading more source materials? That can wait.
  • Write first, edit later. That big, juicy, and awful introduction that's crying out to be edited? Can totally wait for two hours. First, generate the writing, however awful you think it is while your hands are flapping. Then edit it.
  • Reading about writing a lot is not the same as writing a lot. Get moving.
Time's up!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the pep talk Undine. I admit to being one of those creatures that spend far too much time 'reading about writing' and no, it is not the same as writing as you so rightfully remind us!

And as someone who is attempting NanoWriMo, I must now, like the winged bird ... get flapping!

A timely post indeed. Now onwards and upwards and to hell with the consequences or the structure for that matter ...

Words, Words, Words ... here be they.

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