Finding the right rhythm of writing

I am not sure what is the effect of resting. It's too early to tell. 

Writing a book is not easy. I know, starts badly, but I have actually started working our my routine finally. I have to confess that I did not write for two days and missed it! To put a meaningful bunch of sentences on one page is a bit of a challenge so to face the entire plan can be a bit overwhelming but I have decided not to stress out about the results of this project. I am treating it as a mental exercise and a way to get back to writing in the old, student meaning of the word. Routine does help a lot and I am committed to develop it and stick to it as much as possible. My life is too hectic to promise to myself that each and every evening I will spend an hour on writing, I can however consider an hour each day at any moment of the day. I think that is achievable. Tonight I was writing for the third time and I think I am starting to feel the way it works for me:

Starting is hard! 

As awful as it sounds it is really, really difficult to start each session! There are so many other things I could do! Checking emails, networking or blogging became my evening habit already. Watching a movie or reading a book are there in the evening to let me think that I am not working all the time. I think having a place, music and a habit of sitting down for this particular process does help a lot. I am writing on my work laptop so it is also crucial to sit down and ignore all other files and applications just go to my book directly. I am hoping to develop that notion based on the idea that we can actually train our body to wake up at any time of the day if we teach our body to get up without thinking. Getting into the right place in the book is also quite challenging. I need to ignore everything that I have written before. I can only read the most recent paragraph and I need to start from there. If I do it this way I can actually go back to where I left the writing before. 

Keeping up with the right rhythm is important!

I am using all the tips and methods of writing a longer piece of text acquired at American Studies which is quite helpful. I am doing my best to plan content as much as possible but in very top-line points. I have them copied in relevant places so that each time I get back to writing of the next section I can see what is aimed to be there without having to look for directions in previous parts of my text. This sounds complex but means that the list of chapters and their description will need to be there, waiting for me each time I start a new one. 

Keeping in mind my personal methodology helps!

I have decided to write with help of my friends and blog readers so while I am writing I also need to think about the content that needs evaluation or at least a little bit of feedback to push me to the next section. In some cases I might need to plan a bit in advance and blog about a topic before I address it in my book. I need to keep that in mind too. It helps a lot to write and think about the process at the same time. I have a notepad next to my mac where I place all my notes and additional questions. I am choosing a topic for the next blog post each time I write. I have only one shot each time so I need to use it wisely. Tonight I am writing about the process so that when I email my friends with contents I will able to link to all posts in the relevant category. They will then read this and see how important their feedback is and how I am approaching the entire writing process. 

Realising when my brain stops thinking straight is crucial! 

It's rather challenging to stop once the writing feels good, but I can clearly feel when I slow down and I am not entirely sure what and how I want to express in the following section. By then I have an idea of what I want to blog about, what I want to ask my friends and how. I also feel that I am loosing focus. I think this is the time to stop - as long as I did at least an hour of work. 

Counting hours of work helps in managing my productivity!

I have been very keen on the daily hour of work and have skipped two days. I need to work harder next week. Maybe blogging those stats would help too? Let's see: 

Amount of days (started day before my 1st blog post): 5

Amount of sessions: 3

Time spent on writing: 4 hrs

Balance: -1 hr

Now, can I keep it up!? It actually starts to feel really good!