Comments on: Ditch the resolutions and make rituals instead

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 15:24:00 +0000

In reply to Ellen Kozub. Thanks for your kind words, Ellen.

By: Ellen Kozub

Ellen Kozub — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 14:43:00 +0000

Oh, dear Daphne! You continue to surprise, delight and offer delicious new ways of seeing and being…

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 16:12:00 +0000

In reply to Dawn Montgomery. Wow! I'm not often called brilliant, but I appreciate your enthusiasm!

By: Dawn Montgomery

Dawn Montgomery — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 12:38:00 +0000

This is brilliant!!!

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 17:08:00 +0000

In reply to CV. Sounds as though you're beating yourself up, CV. Instead of doing that just concentrate on creating ONE tiny ritual that will help you claim the writing life you want. I find it very helpful to spend the first 30 minutes of my own day writing for me. It's kind of like the pay-yourself-first philosophy. Could you perhaps give that a try?

By: CV

CV — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 16:52:00 +0000

Heewwyaaa, do I have a lot to learn from this one. I became a freelance writer 4 years ago and have never set up any type of ritual, routine or schedule for writing. I know, terrible. I go helter-skelter all over the place, end up making a Scrabble move on Facebook, throwing the laundry in, checking emails, brushing the cat, and at the end of the day have very little checked off my to-do list. Of course client work gets done on time, but my own personal writing has suffered completely as I don’t set aside any time at all for this “ritual”, opting instead to tell myself I’ll get to it when I have time. Eek.

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 19:24:00 +0000

In reply to Bernadett. Hi Bernadett, Here's the key rationale about word counts: many writers would rather edit than write. Getting out that first draft can be incredibly painful, But the sooner you get the first draft done, the sooner you can start editing. Having a word count goal keeps you productive. It bears no relationship to your writing style or your ultimate product. Yes, quality counts. But that comes from editing. When you're writing, you WANT a really crappy first draft. Then you can edit it into something better. Does that make sense?

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 19:21:00 +0000

In reply to David Hanger. Thanks for your kind words, David!

By: Bernadett

Bernadett — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 09:17:00 +0000

Dear Daphne, I’ve been reading your newsletters for a few months now, ever since a Canadian friend told me about you, and I really enjoy learning about all the ways people can “trick” themselves into doing what they most wish to do in their lives but are often afraid of doing.
One question, though, has been bugging me for a while now: why are writers so obsessed with word count? Why impose 500 words or whatever per day? Isn’t what counts (pun intended) quality rather than quantity? Good writing for me follows the golden rule “less is more”. Take Nobel Prize winner Coetze, for instance. Does not his concise, almost brutally so, style impress so much more and ring incredibly true, compared with the long, elaborate passages of other writers, who sometimes indulge in an narcissistic fashion in showing off their word power?
I’m looking forward to hear your opinion on that.
Thank you

By: David Hanger

David Hanger — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 20:06:00 +0000

Nice one, indeed.

As long as I can remember during the last 83 years I have
established routines and formed habits – Once learned and
ingrained – hit that turning indicator ALWAYS – it all becomes so
easy.

But I’ll now set out to establish and form rituals – has a nice
ring to it, religious connections or not.

As usual, thank you for a great idea worth spreading (I watch TED
too!)