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Study Habits For Writing
Good study habits will make your courses much easier to handle.
It's human nature to want to do everything the easy way.
Unfortunately, anything that comes easily is usually not worth
having. Good writing and study habits begin with learning from
past experiences.
If you are a quarter horse and you slow down or choke in the
long stretch, there is a way to improve your performance.
Shorten your goals.
If you don't see how you have time to take a writing course for
eight weeks, sign up anyway. Shorten the goal, and don't look
at the package deal. Approach it one week at a time.
He who aims at nothing hits same. Staying focused is imperative
above all else. Taking one writing course will require about 90
minutes of homework a week. Some students can get by with just
an hour. Where can you work 60 - 90 minutes a week into your
schedule? Perhaps you could get up 15 minutes early every day.
(That's out, huh?) Okay. You could use your lunchtime. I know
of a lady who wrote a book by writing only 15 minutes a day.
But if that won't work for you, perhaps you could set time
aside in the evening. Could you stay up 15 minutes later each
night? Do whatever works for you, but make yourself do it.
To make the most of your study time, don't study with
earphones, music or television on. Learning to study in the
quiet is an art of its own. Some authors go to a cabin or up in
the attic to be alone. Learn to cherish the quiet. Listen to
it. That is how you will hear the words that come to you.
When the words come so fast that you barely have time to write
them down, that is called the muse. Above all, do not stop and
edit when you're in that mode. Keep writing as long as you can.
If you really want the muse (and every writer should), study at
the same time every day for a week. By the second week, you
will find that the muse will begin to come at the time you have
set.
Setting good habits is hard, and sometimes the only way you can
break a bad habit is to punish yourself for it. For example, if
you don't write one day, make yourself clean the toilet as
punishment (whether it needs it or not). Pick whatever chore
you hate most. Don't be discouraged if you miss writing now and
then. Begin each new day with the confidence that you can break
old habits, and the time to start is now - over and over
again.
Last, but not least, whether you're writing a short story,
article, or doing homework, don't begin new projects until you
finish the old one.
Remember, shorten your goals so you don't burn out before the
finish. If you can't see how you'll work the time in for one
week of studies, set your goal for three days of study. Make
yourself write at least 15 minutes a day, four days a week.
Disconnected writing times may make it a little harder to "get
into the groove", but you will acclimate to it. Best
wishes.
by Deborah Owen - 16th September 2008
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Article Source:
http://www.creativewriter.me.uk
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