Letting Go Of The Chain

"Will I give up the chain someday even while continuing a daily writing routine? I suppose it's possible. But I know that if I did give it up and then realized I was having trouble keeping to a routine, I'd want to return to using the chain to help myself get back into a groove.

In the end, the chain is just another tool to help you reach your goals. Like any tool, you can use it when it's helpful and leave it in its toolbox when it's not."

- A Time to Let Go of the Chain? (Chapter 11, Write Every Day)

I've been considering this for a while, off and on. But I've decided to make it official with the start of 2013. I'm no longer going to be formally maintaining a Daily Writing Chain.

Monday July 9th #writemotivation Update

First off, I have publication dates to announce for two of my short stories. Nature will be running "An Unsuitable Job for a Human" in their July 12, 2012 issue. It should be available to read on-line beginning in the late-afternoon of the 11th for readers in North America. Also, Every Day Fiction will be running "Present Company" on July 24th. I'll post links as soon as these are available for reading.

July being a #writemotivation month, I'm going to be posting status update on my goals for the month every Monday. Before I get to that though, I wanted to mention a new wrinkle I'm adding to my Daily Writing Chain. My current goals are to write 500 words every day (which can take the form of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, blog post writing, and/or critiques for other writers) or spend 45 minutes on intensive revisions.

Well, I've gotten massively behind on my fiction submissions/re-submissions. Enough so that it's going to take me an hour or two some day to get stories that are ready for submission out to market.

Now I don't normally want to include time spent submitting stories as "writing" time for my Chain. But it seems that every once in a while I might have a "Special Project" of some kind that's truly writing-related but that doesn't fit my existing criteria.

So I'm going to try letting myself have one "Special Project" day per month for my Chain. I have to spend at least an hour of serious, focused work on that project and it has to be something that genuinely helps move my writing career forward. I'm going to give that a try this month (with a day in the very near future where I blast through a bunch of submissions as my July "Special Project") and keep it as an option for now. If it starts to turn into a nuisance, I'll get rid of it. But I think it will prove a valuable option which, at once a month, shouldn't really decrease my overall output in any notable way.

As always, I'll let everyone know how this goes and whether it is something that I think is useful as an option for people or if it's something that I think poses challenges or risks I haven't considered so far.

So, with that in mind, let's go on to the #writemotivation July progress report below the jump!

Announcing "Write Every Day" by Michael Haynes

(Cross-posted from the "Write Every Day" blog.)

Late last summer I started a daily writing routine, based on motivational techniques described by Jerry Seinfeld. One of my first blog posts was about starting this routine, or chain, and it's still one of my most popular posts. The central concept is quite simple:

You get a big wall calendar (or some other visible equivalent) and a bold marker. Commit to some goal which you will achieve every day. Then, when you've met each day's goal, put an "X" in the calendar for the day. Quickly, you'll have a chain of "X"s and then all you have to do, in Seinfeld's words, is "Don't Break the Chain."

I've been writing every day since I started my daily writing chain and I'm quickly coming up on a year since I started my daily writing chain. Along the way, I've learned quite a few things about how I write and ways to help keep myself into this daily routine.

Earlier this year, Australian author Valerie Parv asked me when I was going to develop my thoughts around this way of establishing a daily writing routine into a something larger than several blog entries. I hadn't thought about that seriously before her suggestion, but soon afterwards I started working on the outline of a short book around the idea of writing every day and the tools I've used to help make it possible.

And now, that book is (almost) here. Next Monday, June 25th, I'll be launching "Write Every Day" on Amazon for the Kindle. You don't have to wait for the 25th, though!  I'll select five people who sign up for my Write Every Day mailing list between now and 11:59 PM (EDT) on Thursday June 21st and send them a free pre-release review PDF.

Along with the release of "Write Every Day" I'll be publishing daily blog posts relating to helping keep your daily writing routine going. Most of these will be very short, such as a writing prompt or two for writers who are feeling stuck, but there will be at least one longer post each week.

Thanks for stopping by to read my announcement!

Writing Through a Rough Patch

The past week or so has not been anywhere near my most productive writing-wise. By far the biggest problem has been a lack of mental energy/focus. I attribute a lot of that to the fact that I spent Memorial Day weekend simultaneously trying to help run a medium-size convention (classic film, not science fiction) and trying to help an elderly relative deal with issues which temporarily forced this relative out of their home.

Combine that with the fact that I had post-convention duties which became more urgent than usual this year and our oldest child was in the midst of graduating from high school... Well, most nights recently when it's been "writing time" the clock has already rolled over past midnight and I've been feeling fried.

Nevertheless, I've been able to keep up my Daily Writing Chain and make bits of progress here and there. Some of those days it's been a bit challenging to get those 500 words. I've managed, though, through a combination of tactics.

Revision Day New Words Waiver

Thursday 3/29 is the day which I've made as my "revision day", as defined in my March monthly goals.

"Have a short story revising day where I get at least three stories into a form where I am ready to send them out for beta or submission."

I'm giving myself a one day waiver from my daily writing chain. If I meet that goal, getting three stories ready to go on to their next "level", then I'll check off my "500 words" box in my chain for the day. Of course, Friday, it's right back to the new words routine but this will be a little reward for getting a lot of work done on stories which need some attention.

I'll put up a post late Thursday or on Friday to let you all know how Revising Day 1.0 goes for me. Wish me luck!