Monday, May 05, 2008

10 Minute Prompt


Many of us live full lives, and for those with a writer's heart beating in their chest it can be quite a challenge to find time to write on a regular basis. Last night I was exhausted and hadn't worked on my novel in progress in a week. So I challenged myself. Just do it for 10 minutes. A little more than an hour later I reached a stopping point. Sometimes the biggest challenge is just getting started. Once you start writing, you'll often find creativity fuels your drive to write a little more.

Part of training for anything in life is learning to push past the elements you don't like. The up side of training yourself to write is that once you start you'll usually find yourself rewarded with a new spark of enthusiasm.

Today's Prompt:

Write for ten minutes when you don't feel like it. Choose a current project or pick one of the previous prompts, set the timer and start writing. .

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you, this is great advise. For me sometimes it is hard to just do it. When I finally get started, I love the way it feels when the words flow so easily from the mind to the fingers as I tap the keys. It doesn't always happen that way, but when it does it is so satisfying. Lyn

Donna Sundblad said...

Hi Lyn,

Exercise is not always easy OR something we want to do. But it does make us stronger. It is the same when we exercise our muse.

Yesterday I had to work on a literary bridge to connect newly written chapters to existing chapters. I didn't know what to write, but I sat down to tackle the passage anyway. Not everything is usable, but the process is always useful. Sometimes I learn something new about characters, or find a plot thread that makes the story better. If we want any of this to happen, the key is to write.

Thanks for taking the time to comment Lyn.