Improving writing pt. 1
It’s really hard to develop a sustainable writing habit. I have struggled with this for years. I’m not alone in this struggle, and I am actively working on overcoming this. This is my first article I’m publishing as a way to get started. I spent some time reflecting on my history of writing, when I was successful with writing and the times I wasn’t able to string a sentence together. I also want to understand what’s the root cause preventing me from writing as much as I envision. Once I understand the root cause, I plan on developing strategies to maintain a healthy writing habit.
Writing timeline
Since I was an undergraduate, I wanted to have my writing published. During that time, the majority of my writing was intensely private, my attempts to understand my personal struggles.
When I graduated, I spent a year working for the Indiana Geological Survey. This was a simple, 30–40 hour per week job that allowed me the freedom to write. I filled dozens of notebooks with my thoughts and perspective.
After I started graduate studies, I did not have the time to read- let alone write anything except for technical papers related to my classes or research. This was completely consuming, although I was not aware at the time. I was unable to reflect on what a stressful situation I was in while it was happening.
When I completed my graduate degree and was hired by an oil services company on a rotational schedule, I was under the impression I would have much more time to focus on writing. Overall, that has been true; however, I have spent that time in other ways. I have been reading fairly consistently, despite my setback during my role change.
When I was finishing the processing for a project in Alaska, I was alone waiting for the system to complete the calculations for hours. I used this time to write a short series of articles on my day to day life, as well as a basic introduction to my career of seismic data processing field work. I published these articles on Medium as a way to connect with others while I was isolated.
After this work was completed, I attempted to maintain a practice of writing. I didn’t publish as much to Medium but I did keep a consistent journal on my personal laptop for over a year. At some point, this habit too was ended. Shortly after, my rotational field career took a pause as I was transferred to an office position.
I had expected to have a normal 40 hour per week office job, but this expectation was quickly ended after the first work emergency when an engineer ran out of fuel during the middle of an operation. As much as I tried to create personal boundaries between myself and work, this failed as work spilled over into my mornings and nights. Despite my inability to write for myself, I focused on my written communication as a way to satisfy my writing appetite.
I have recently left that role, and I am eagerly trying to reclaim my personal time for writing. I have a lot of time to compensate!
Understanding why I stop writing
One barrier to writing is my perfectionism- I feel that if I cannot complete something I’m writing, it is a failure. I have many half-started ideas that I forget by the time I wake up the next day. This is not failure, and I need to redefine it. This is part of creating. Projects may seem important one day, but life comes up and that takes precedence. I can remove this by allowing myself to start up as many projects as I want. It’s great to close them out, but that’s not necessary. Starting them; however, is critical. I can’t finish what I never start because of my resistance to half-completed & abandoned ideas. Now, that train of thinking is rather dizzying and a great example of the way my mind fooled me into inaction.
Inability to prioritize writing to being unable to establish healthy work/life balance are other reasons I have delayed writing projects. It seems like one has all the time in the world for projects in the future; just right now, there is so much going on! This is a trick- the future will be just as busy as the present. One must make time for the important tasks and delegate or adjust the priority of other tasks. There will always be something easier to do than writing. The trick is writing anyways while putting those easier tasks on hold until the writing is completed.
Strategies to develop sustainable writing habit
Every day, I am reminding myself of the best advice I received as an undergraduate struggling with writing a thesis:
Perfection is the enemy of good.
This simple sentence, commonly attributed to Voltaire, has been instrumental to freeing me from paralysis. It is easier to never start a writing project than deal with the disappointment and frustration of falling short of unrealistic expectations. Writing is a difficult skill to master, and the first products will always fall short of perfection. Quality will improve with time, as one continues to hone the skill of writing.
Scheduling writing is another way to ensure writing is done consistently. I have used the excuse that I don’t feel motivated or inspired to write. Scheduling time for writing- and writing anything- will help one find the motivation and inspiration. The act of writing will create positive feelings that will reinforce developing a writing habit. Practice is the only way to improve.
