Monthly Archives: May 2017

Writing Habits

Writing Program: Week 6 (Crabs in a Bucket)

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Talking with those closest to you

With all the writing you have been doing, your friends and family may have noticed a change in your habits. This is a good thing. It’s time to take your writing a step further. It’s time to talk to your family and friends and explain to them what you’re doing.

You need to tell them about the writing habits you are forming and what you’re trying to accomplish. If you’re not sure what you’re trying to accomplish, you better figure it out. You’ve been writing for five weeks now, you should have some inkling of what you want to do with your writing.

You don’t need to have a full detailed plan, just some idea of where you’re heading. Like most goals we make in life they change over time. At this stage in the game an idea of the general direction you want to take is perfectly fine.

Crabs in a Bucket

When talking to loved ones, many of them will be happy for you and give you encouragement. However, some of them will try talking you out of writing. Most, if not all, of these negative people won’t even realize that they’re doing it.

This is what’s referred to as “Crabs in a Bucket Mentality.” When a bunch of crabs are put in a bucket, with the lid off none of them can escape. This is because while one crab tries to climb out the others grab hold and pull it back down, keeping them all trapped.

This is what some of the people that are closest to us do. They are either afraid to try something new or anything different. When the negative person hears someone saying they’re going to start a business, travel to somewhere foreign, or writing a book they immediately try to talk that person out of it and tell them how hard it will be to succeed.

How to deal with Crabby People

While you don’t have to shun them you will want to talk to them. In a very nice way you need to explain to them that this is what you’re doing and that you don’t appreciate their negative comments. They will probably tell you something along the lines of, “I’m just being realistic.”

If they keep up and don’t respect your wishes you will want to do one of two things.

  1. Distance yourself from them. (These will most likely be the people you are not close too anyway.)

Or

  1. Don’t bring up your writing when you are around them.

If you are serious about your writing and keep up with it, those who truly care about you will come around. They will stop trying to bring you down and will become some of your strongest supporters.

Week 6 Writing Program

Welcome to the Intermediate portion of the Writing Program.

First five weeks of the writing programFirst week of the intermediate writers program

Weekly Book Recommend

With each week’s post I wanted to add a little something extra and wanted to start recommending a book that I enjoyed reading.

The first book I wanted to mention is a novel most of us have already read, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. This is the first full length novel I can remember my Mom reading to me when I was little. While I wasn’t interested in reading books, unless they had pictures in them, it’s was the first book that got me interested in storytelling. And yes, if anyone was wondering, I have read it myself once I got older.

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Writing Habits

Writing Program: Week 5 (Stick to one project at a time)

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This Week in Writing’s Writing Program consists of four sections, Beginner, Intermediate, Proficient, and Advanced, each section lasting five weeks. This week marks the last week in the Beginner section of the program.

In the last few weeks I’ve personally been struggling with trying to edit my book and write these blog posts at the same time. By trying to write two different projects at once I’ve spread myself a little too thin.

To ensure that these posts are sent on time I am dedicating the next few weeks finishing up on writing the rest of the blog posts for the Writing Program. That way I can focus solely on my book.

My recommendation to all of you is to only work on one project at a time. Learn from my mistakes so you don’t make them yourselves. Don’t try to do what I did and write multiple projects at once. Once we get further along in the program there will be more writing sessions, allowing us the ability to write for more than just one project.

On to week five of This Week in Writing’s Writing Program!

Week 5 doesn’t add any additional writing. However, it does add an additional day of exercise.

Day 29

Another day of just reading. Today try reading something you wouldn’t normally read. It’s always good to try something new. If you only prefer reading genre fiction, try reading something more literary. Only like fiction, try nonfiction. I personally try reading a little bit of everything and am always trying something new. You never know, you might find something you really enjoy.

Day 30

One hour of writing today and thirty minutes of exercising. To break up the writing, try exercising between the writing sessions.

Day 31

Read for thirty minutes. With your reading I recommend alternating between two to three types of books.

  1. A book for pure enjoyment
  2. A nonfiction book either on the craft of writing or a self-help book. These types of books can help expand your knowledge and help you look at things in a different light.
  3. A book in the genre that fits the genre of the book that you’re writing. By reading a book that is similar to yours, you can get a better sense of how to write your book. I of course don’t mean copying their story or any part of their book. By studying how someone else crafted their story can help give you ideas on how to craft your own story.

Day 32

Another hour of writing with 30 minutes of exercise. Just as Day 30, try splitting up the writing by exercising in-between your writing sessions.

Day 33

Just one session, 30 minute of writing for this day.

Day 34

The big day of writing. Four sessions, totaling two hours of writing.

Day 35

Rest day. Spend time away from the computer. Enjoy your time with your friends and family. In the next five week, the Intermediate section, there will be an additional 31.5 hours added to the writing program. So rest up, next week we’re adding an additional three hours of writing.

First five weeks of the Writing Program.




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Writing Program: Week 4 (One Month of Writing Completed)

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This week marks the completion of the first month of the program. One thing that can help keep you motivated during each week is to have a physical calendar hanging on your wall. As you finish each day’s schedule put a big X on that day. As you fill up the calendar with Xs a chain forms. If you Google the term “Don’t break the chain” you will find a ton of articles about a motivational technique used by Jerry Seinfeld.

Mark off each day you complete your goal.

The theory behind it, is the more Xs you have in a row the less likely you will be to break the chain. If you were to go a whole month completing ever day’s task you wouldn’t want to skip a day, breaking the chain. You would do whatever you could to keep the chain going.

As you use this or any habit setting program get out that calendar, hang it up somewhere prominent, where you will see it everyday, and mark off each day with an X.

Week 4:

Day 22

As an opposite to the 6th day of each week, being the most intense, the 1st day of the week is the most relaxed. This day is just a reading day. Don’t worry this day will soon be a writing day.

While I only list 30 minutes of reading feel free to read more. As long as you don’t subtract time from a timeframe, add as much time as you like. The times that are listed are here to help ensure that a particular amount of time is dedicated to a specific event. If you want to read, write, or exercise more by all means go for it.

Day 23

More writing has been added to this day.  A full hour, two 30 minute, of writing needs to be completed.

Day 24

No more rest days during the week. Today adds a 30 minute reading session to the program.

Day 25

Just like Day 23, this day has a full hour of the day dedicated to writing.

Day 26

A light day of writing, just one session today.

Day 27

This is the weekly long writing day. Two full hours of writing. Like all the other writing, break it up into 30 minute sessions.

Day 28

Rest Day

One thing that I have noticed is that sometime between week 3 and 4, if you are starting out as a beginner, is when the first stages of struggling to write comes in. This is where those Xs I talked about earlier come in handy. Keep up the good work. Building a good habit in never easy, but with dedication and perseverance the habit will form and soon it will become second nature.

Remember we are treating this like a new part-time job. With any new job there is the training period where we are still learning. Take this time to get used to writing in short bursts; it will make things easier when you have to write during longer writing stretches.




Writing Habits

Week 3 of the Writing Program

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I’ve decided to change things up a bit. Instead of writing here and there with small bits of information about the writing program, I’ve decided to provide a week at a time of the program.

Week 2

Last week, week 2, the writing of this week remained the same as last. Day 9 and 11 each consisted of a 30 minute writing sprint. Day 13 was broken up to two 30 minute sprints totaling one hour. Day 10, 12, and 14 were rest days.

Week 3

This week slowly ramps things up a little bit. A new element is being added into the mix, exercise and an additional two hours of writing spread thought the week. Here’s the breakdown:

            Day 15 is another day of reading. It’s important to keep your brain active and fueled with new information.

Day 16 consists of two activities, a 30 minute writing session and the newly added exercise. Exercising is a must, especially with a sedimentary job as writing. For 30 minutes exercise, any exercise. It could be a 30 minute walk around the block, push-ups, yoga, jumping jacks, it can be anything physical.

Day 17 is a day to rest and relax. Spoiler alert, this is the last rest day except for the 7th day of a given week, like I mentioned before, that day is always a rest day.

Day 18, double the writing than before, two sessions of writing. As writers we need to be able to write for more than just 30 minutes a day, especially if we want to make a career or even a part-time job out of it. I find that it’s helpful taking a short five minute brake between sessions to allow the brain to rest and refresh itself before plugging away at another block of writing.

Day 19, back to only one 30 minute session.

Day 20 is a big day for writing, two whole hours (4 sessions each for 30 minutes). For the last two weeks this day was only one hour, its time to get a little more serious. Personally this day for me is Saturday. While it’s only two hours this is still a chunk of time out of my weekend. As each week goes by I slowly have to change how I plan my weekend. While I could write two hours all at once I might write one hour in the morning and the other at night. You can break up the time that best suites you.

Day 21 is another day to rest and to spend time doing whatever you want.