Blog #2 Dina's Writing Habits

Making writing a habit - that alone has been so important to me. Since I do technical writing as my day job and other writing with my classes, I write almost constantly. I have noticed that the more I write (and it doesn't seem to matter if it's creative or technical), the easier the writing flows. I think it's just putting my thoughts into words and moving my fingers on the keyboard that becomes a habit and, like anything done regularly, the sentences flow more quickly and with less effort.

That said, writing something I'm proud of and that I love is still difficult. And there are three things I'm working on making a habit. The first of these is believing in myself. If I sit down and think that all I can write is crap, then I give up and don't get anything accomplished. If I sit down and feel like I can write something that might be good, I get excited and just write. I can't think about what I'm writing, I have to just write and believe that if it's only okay this time, I can make it better as I go. I have to believe I can write something worth reading.

Another thing that helps me is letting myself write for fun. Even though choosing the right words and creating the right image is hard, I have fun coming up with the ideas and getting them on paper. If I let myself have fun with it, I get more pages completed and more involved in the story. If I stress out too much about word choice or whether I put in enough detail, I get far less written. I'm working on just writing, getting it all down on paper, and worrying about the details and the word choice when I'm through.

The last habit I've recently adopted has made a big difference in my confidence. I have too many pieces that I started and quit on because I didn't think they were good enough. My goal now is to finish whatever I start. Following this edict, I finished a novella last year that needs a lot of work, but I'm proud of it. It's the longest piece I've ever written; it's a complete story; and now I'm expanding it into a full-length novel. When that's done, I'll decide if I want to get rid of it or set it aside. When I finished the novella, for the first time, I began to maybe one day I will be able to write the novel that's in me.

Finding these habits has been a process, but each one has made a difference, each one changed how I think about my writing. Writing a novel is no longer an unattainable goal, but a marathon I'm training for. Sure, I'll fall down and come in last sometimes, but one day I hope to win gold!