Monday, September 17, 2012

Pocket Muse Excerpt - Maintenance Schedule

I've been perusing The Pocket Muse: Ideas and Inspiration for Writing, and I thought this excerpt would fit in perfectly with our goal oriented blog.  The following is Monica Wood's recommended schedule for writers. Some of these goals are things that we would have to work up to, but I feel that this schedule is a good goal/challenge for all of us. 

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE FOR THE WRITING LIFE
  • Once a week: Skip to the next part of whatever you're working on, no matter how stuck you feel.
  • Once a month: Write all day without talking to anybody.
  • Every three months: Send something out for publication, just to keep your hand in. 
  • Every six months: Clean your workspace: Pitch obsolete files, lumpen draft, rejection slips, leaky pens, old mail.  Clear away the dross, and you'll be able to think more clearly.
  • Once a year: Take a chunk of time, whatever you can afford - three full days, minimum - and go someplace where your writing will not be disturbed except for eating and sleeping. 


Excerpt from Monica Wood's The Pocket Muse: Ideas and Inspirations for Writing
Wood, Monica. The Pocket Muse: Ideas and Inspirations for Writing. Cincinnati, Ohio, 2002


Amanda LaFantasie (Skoora) © 2012

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