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Troy Kirby

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Just Write 5,000 words

I realize that everyone is not the same. However, I encounter a lot of procrastination out there.

The old adage is that opportunity is 50% showing up. I agree with that.

A lot of people, with a lot more talent that I have, don't chose to write. They see that looming empty page and sit there, worried about how they should fill it.

I tell myself that I did not accomplish my tasks without a good 5,000 word week. That doesn't mean I write 5,000 words, then stop writing. But it means if I cannot generate 5,000 words (not even good words, but words in a halfway coherent form), then I didn't do what I set out to do at the beginning of that week.

Sometimes it is very difficult. Job, stress, family issues, friends, whatever. But I tell myself that other people are challenging me for the right to be a good, successful writer. That is the goal. If that is the goal, it is something I need to focus on, above all else.

Sometimes, you need to be greedy in order to do things in life. Opportunity is not there when you want it, but comes when you least expect it.

When I sat down to write this blog, I had nothing to write about. Seriously, I was asking myself, what do I want to write about today? But then I remembered the challenge I set about myself when I created this blog: I will write at least one post per day. I have noticed that I write more than one post per day, but that doesn't allow me to become lazy by not posting one day (because I have so many additional posts already up on another).

It is a challenge, but a task that I want to be up for.

Today, I've crossed the 3,000 word mark. Not just in this post, but in other forms of writing; developing short stories, trying to finish the last real redraft of my second full crime novel which will be a follow-up of Crunk (side characters from the first book will be main characters in the second but a new adventure).

Those are the challenges we all face. I am a friend to make stand-up comedians in Spokane where I live. If half of them didn't work on their material, they have no one to blame but themselves when they go up in front of a crowd to perform. Think I'm kidding? Please, try stand-up sometime. You'll run back to the word processor, ready to write about 50,000 words in a day just to keep from going up on stage. Especially if you have nothing to say.

Glad I wrote this post. I feel better. Now, back to work on writing more great stuff...

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