The Daily Practice

In the olden times, I had a very specific daily writing practice. I did it everyday. At the time, I began writing whenever I woke up and made the coffee. I would write until it was time to get off to work. I never stopped thinking about writing or what it was I was writing. There were times I could write at work. It was something that I did every day, I couldn't stop.

I did stop, though. I stopped writing daily when my son was born. My hours were traded: writing for baby care. Later it was playtime, trains, cars and Legos, namely. It has been the two of us, my boy and me for years.

Kindergarten started last week.

Now, I'm alone from 8:45 to 2:30. And the writing practice? Well, it's been slow over the last few years, it had to have been. I had been writing for an hour or two weekly, whereas it was once 6 to 8 hours daily. Where am I today? I'm not sure. I'm not sure I'll be able to fill the time. Kindergarten proves to be a great many hours daily, weekly, and there is no end in sight.

I think the writing practice we all seek is something that has no real permanence. I mean, there will be times when you get to write all day, everyday. There are times when you must go live life. Life, so often has more “pressing” things than that notebook and pen. Life's pace changes, and for some of us, quickly and some slowly.

I think that whatever the writing practice really is, it must stay somewhat consistent. I say this only because for the last five years I have not been able to work the way I'd like to work. I have not been able to be alone all day with my notebook. But I have committed to small projects. I have consistently written about the same number of hours weekly. These last five years have been tough, which is to be expected with a young child at home.

And Kindergarten started last week.

For me, I know I will probably not be able to keep the same pace I once had. I know it'll be next to impossible to write for more than half my waking hours daily. I also know that I'll be able to work well more than a few hours a week.

This is what I think about the writing practice: develop goals, deadlines and a specific amount of time to do it.

Developing goals will help keep you on task. Write a short story, a really good one and submit a short story—these are two very solid goals for a writer.

Setting deadlines is about the best thing you can do. If your goals are like the one above, perhaps you'll want to have a deadline of one month, taking off the weekends. Now, you got the goal of writing once killer short story and submitting a short story and these have to happen in one month.

And last, a specific amount of time to do it. Let's say you got a lunch hour Monday through Friday. That's five hours a week, and twenty hours in a month. Commit to the time allotted, use it wisely, and you can reach your goals in the prescribed amount of time.

Good luck, and happy writing. If you're anything like me, and Kindergarten has just started, use all that time wisely.