I have joined an online goal setting community (focused.space). They have multiple daily 15-minute goal planning sessions. They also offer 90-minute community work sessions all day long that are hosted. These provide a structured short meditation to start and end the session. Then three pomodoro sessions help me to accomplish those earlier set goals. It’s been the best investment at $36/mo.
I have also played around with a more personal four person coworking online app called groove.ooo. They provide a place for four “groovers” to work in an hour session. Unhosted, the first and last five minutes are dedicated to discussion between the members on camera. Then cameras are shut down for 50 minutes. The last five minutes are then camera on minutes to reconnect and discuss your accomplishments. There’s an opportunity to work together again if you “click”again. The app provides an opportunity to find “friends” that you’ll want to cowork with. I’ve met groovers from around the world. A few days ago I worked with a woman from the Philippines
How fascinating that these services exist. I didn't know about them, Carole. It's great that you've found them useful. I don't know that I could do it.
I think a lot of people procrastinate because of the fear that it won't be good enough or of outright failure and rejection. When I wrote my first book, it was accepted that authors could go directly to publishers. I had a game I played with myself to keep going. As any first time author knows rejection is a major reason to procrastinate. So I had a reward for the best rejection letter I received. Nahum Waxman won. He was so kind in his rejection it has kept me going all these years. I'm not sure if this qualifies as procrastination but it's interesting how different people write. If I can't come up with my opening sentence, I can't seem to write anything else. Once I get that down on paper, everything else just flows. I even keep paper and pen on my night table for any late night inspirations. Many, many years ago, when I was featured in Bon Appetit, they asked for one more recipe for the article. No matter what I tried, I wasn't coming up with that last recipe. But in the middle of the night I found it. It made the cover of the magazine. I think the key is not to obsess over the inability to move forward as long it's temporary.
Definitely yes to that first sentence, Helen. Fear creates so much procrastination.
It's funny that you come up with the first line and that's enough to get going. I just go over it and over it and don't move forward for a while. Maybe it's the editor in me that keeps me from writing.
It sounds a little scary to come up with a recipe on demand for Bon Appetit. Funny that you were thinking about it in the middle of the night, hard enough to get the cover.
I love your last sentence too. I too find that eventually, I get it together and write what I wanted to write. There's no point to beating myself up about procrastination. It's part of a process.
I've written half a dozen books, but only one of them is a cookbook. (Really, it's more of a cooking manual on the process for getting from zero to pizza, which is a bit different than a book of recipes.) I wrote that book just like the others.
1. Develop an outline.
2. Every morning in the gray light of pre-dawn, make strong coffee.
3. Do a cursory review the previous day's work, then write the next chapter. It just becomes part of the routine. Sometimes, I write more. If I'm on a roll and bang out two or even three chapters. (I can be a binge writer.)
4. Review and revise following the same pre-dawn process. That always takes longer than the rough-draft, brain-dump stage. (As Mehitabel says to Archy, "I try not to think when I write. One cannot do two things at once and do them both well.")
I find this schedule energizing. It makes waking up a pleasure, and greases the skids (flours the peel?) into a good day of writing and everything to follow.
I have joined an online goal setting community (focused.space). They have multiple daily 15-minute goal planning sessions. They also offer 90-minute community work sessions all day long that are hosted. These provide a structured short meditation to start and end the session. Then three pomodoro sessions help me to accomplish those earlier set goals. It’s been the best investment at $36/mo.
I have also played around with a more personal four person coworking online app called groove.ooo. They provide a place for four “groovers” to work in an hour session. Unhosted, the first and last five minutes are dedicated to discussion between the members on camera. Then cameras are shut down for 50 minutes. The last five minutes are then camera on minutes to reconnect and discuss your accomplishments. There’s an opportunity to work together again if you “click”again. The app provides an opportunity to find “friends” that you’ll want to cowork with. I’ve met groovers from around the world. A few days ago I worked with a woman from the Philippines
How fascinating that these services exist. I didn't know about them, Carole. It's great that you've found them useful. I don't know that I could do it.
I think a lot of people procrastinate because of the fear that it won't be good enough or of outright failure and rejection. When I wrote my first book, it was accepted that authors could go directly to publishers. I had a game I played with myself to keep going. As any first time author knows rejection is a major reason to procrastinate. So I had a reward for the best rejection letter I received. Nahum Waxman won. He was so kind in his rejection it has kept me going all these years. I'm not sure if this qualifies as procrastination but it's interesting how different people write. If I can't come up with my opening sentence, I can't seem to write anything else. Once I get that down on paper, everything else just flows. I even keep paper and pen on my night table for any late night inspirations. Many, many years ago, when I was featured in Bon Appetit, they asked for one more recipe for the article. No matter what I tried, I wasn't coming up with that last recipe. But in the middle of the night I found it. It made the cover of the magazine. I think the key is not to obsess over the inability to move forward as long it's temporary.
Definitely yes to that first sentence, Helen. Fear creates so much procrastination.
It's funny that you come up with the first line and that's enough to get going. I just go over it and over it and don't move forward for a while. Maybe it's the editor in me that keeps me from writing.
It sounds a little scary to come up with a recipe on demand for Bon Appetit. Funny that you were thinking about it in the middle of the night, hard enough to get the cover.
I love your last sentence too. I too find that eventually, I get it together and write what I wanted to write. There's no point to beating myself up about procrastination. It's part of a process.
I've written half a dozen books, but only one of them is a cookbook. (Really, it's more of a cooking manual on the process for getting from zero to pizza, which is a bit different than a book of recipes.) I wrote that book just like the others.
1. Develop an outline.
2. Every morning in the gray light of pre-dawn, make strong coffee.
3. Do a cursory review the previous day's work, then write the next chapter. It just becomes part of the routine. Sometimes, I write more. If I'm on a roll and bang out two or even three chapters. (I can be a binge writer.)
4. Review and revise following the same pre-dawn process. That always takes longer than the rough-draft, brain-dump stage. (As Mehitabel says to Archy, "I try not to think when I write. One cannot do two things at once and do them both well.")
I find this schedule energizing. It makes waking up a pleasure, and greases the skids (flours the peel?) into a good day of writing and everything to follow.
Good lawd you are productive, Blaine! You are a dedicated writer. I like that you make time to write and revise every day.
Thanks. It's kind of a sickness. I'd be writing more books if there weren't that pesky problem of doing the other stuff that pays the bills.