Deciding to commit

On writing discipline

Last year, I made the resolution that I would update Ruin at least once a week. My fear has always been that I wouldn't have enough. That I'd get to some point and then the idea would disappear or I'd stop wanting to write, or I'd get distracted.

So the whole year was an experiment. If I could keep up writing one update a week, then I could prove to myself that I could do it. And I did it. A year later, only a couple more updates to go to complete the year and I'm still going strong (with plenty of updates that I feel I absolutely must put out still).

Ruin is the only story I've got in my head, but there is a lot of it, and after a year of battling through distraction, indifference, lack of confidence, I've come out on top of it all and still determined to get it done. I want to write, even when I don't want to write, and I have plenty of ideas left that I want to explore that still surprise me.


For the next year, my main resolution is going to be all about focus training. I'm going to work on writing an hour a day at least five days a week. This will be one hour of distraction fre writing. I'll lock myself in the bedroom with a computer and write. It doesn't matter what I write or what I do so long as I focus on getting something done and take that time to myself.

And no distractions allowed. No internet or email peeking or blog poking or twitter. For starting at least one hour a day.


This deciding to commit thing isn't new for me. Sometimes I just get to a point where I'm ready and then I get determined. So I'm determined. I'm going to write a book, and I'm practicing saying it out loud. (But still not talking about it out loud.)


Also, this is awesome.