There is a phrase I've heard, and I wish I could accredit it to somebody, called BICHOK. It simply stands for "Butt in Chair, Hands on Keyboard." This has been my mantra since I got back from LDS Storymakers, except that I have been doing my writing in a couch and not a chair, so the phrase still applies. Yay!
While at Storymakers a friend of mine asked how I was enjoying the conference. I said I was getting a lot out of it but before I started writing I had a lot of revisions to perform on my outline. The same outline I've been working on for months.
She said, "Enough is enough. Stop outlining and start writing the story. If you keep updating your outline waiting for it to be perfect you will never get around to writing your story."
So this is for you, if you are struggling getting some progress done. If you don't start writing I can promise you that your story is not going to write itself. Your story will not get written until you, and ONLY YOU, sit down and start working on it.
I've blogged several times on making time for writing. Notice I didn't say "finding time." If you are trying to find time it will never come up. Something more urgent or pressing will rear it's distracting head. You need to MAKE the time to write, and then write. Put it on the calendar. Let your family know that your writing time is YOUR time and if any emergencies crop up then, well, that is what 911 is for, right? Okay, maybe not that extreme. Maybe.
Make the time, schedule it, put your butt in a chair (or couch), and get to writing!
7 comments:
I had almost the exact same experience at the conference this year! I've been working on an outline for a YEAR and after the conference I finally decided enough is enough and started writing. It feels great to be making progress again!
I took her advice, and I think I've written about 150 thousand words of a 60 thousand word novel. Turns out, I need an outline. *Headdesk*
Just emphasizes the importance of finding out what works for you.
Heidi: Haha, that made me laugh. That could be a good topic for another blog post. I find outlines VERY important, but there comes a time when you've outlined enough and it is time to get to writing.
Good for you, James. I've found that for me the real writing happens during the edit. I can't edit until the dang thing's done.
The first place I heard the phrase "BICHOK" was in the Writing Podcast "Writing Excuses" http://www.writingexcuses.com/
I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that's were it came from originally. In the episode they first bring it up in, it sounds like it's Howard's personal thing.
Goddess: Now that you mention it, I'm feeling pretty strongly that is where I first heard it.
I used to hear the phrase at writers conferences six years ago, so Howard might have made it his own, but I don't think it originated there. Great post James.
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