New habits are hard to create. Sometimes it feels like getting a new habit to be a habit (rather than just a plan of action) is one of the hardest things to do, especially a good habit. It can be even harder than stopping a bad one. I wonder if it would be easier to start a bad habit. hhhhmmmmm…
The habit I am aiming for is right here. I want to develop the habit of writing on a daily basis. It is easy enough to do. It just isn’t a habit yet. It’s still just a plan of action. I think about it a lot. I have a lot of time to think in my commute, but when I arrive at a place where I can transform those thoughts and plans into actions…well…I get distracted by other things that have higher priority, and then I forget about all the great ideas and plans I came up with in the car. I don’t completely forget them. I remember them again when I can’t do anything about them; while driving, at the grocery store, in the middle of the night. Those places and times are ideal for executing the plan, if by that I mean “kill” the plan. If I want to execute the plan as in “implement, complete, fulfill” etc., then those are not the best of times to be remembering.
In my last blog I talked about NaPlWriMo. Yeah. Well, those ten pages I was so pleased with…that’s all I have. I kept forgetting to do more, plus I was busy and distracted by more important things. What could be more important than my writing goals? Family visiting from far away, work, sleep, breathing…lots of things.
To be fair to myself, I do write every day. I write about things that matter to me. I write about important things. I also write the things I have to write for work and whatever things might need written for home…like grocery lists and to-do lists. But work-writing, keeping up with friends and family via email and social media, and reminder lists do not count as the kind of writing I mean when I say that I want to do on a daily basis.
I have “real” writing that I need to get back to. There are several unfinished plays, as well as a few that could use some polishing. I started a BIG project way back in high school and I really want to finish it. I’ve completely re-written and revised the parts of it that I have done over the years…my characters call and talk to me all the time…when I’m driving, or at the store, or asleep, or in the middle of something else that I can’t stop. That is the kind of writing I mean. And poetry. I don’t write poetry on purpose, but it attacks at will, and I have to let it out.
Poetry is the one kind of writing that I cannot put off. I keep paper and writing tools in the car…just in case. I don’t recommend writing while driving. I also don’t recommend photography while driving. That doesn’t mean that I never do either one. You can check out some of the things I’ve captured by pure luck.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.247820683199.172656.605003199&type=1&l=ba6b2dd454
I might use my camera in the car, but I don’t take time to focus or even aim. I see something I like and I point the camera in that general direction and click. Sometimes I get great pictures. Sometimes I get the dashboard or some other close up of the car. I don’t post those anywhere, but I do keep them as proof of my method. I write poetry in the car in much the same way. I scribble the words on a notebook, and sometimes by the time I can pull over or park I can still remember them. My handwriting for notes is hard enough to read when I am looking at it. It’s amazing that I can decipher the driving notes at all. Usually I can’t.
I really need to find time to write each day. It is important to me. Time. We never get enough, at least I don’t. I spend 8 hours a day at work, 3 hours in the car getting there and home again. I need to sleep. There are everyday life things that I have to do at home…and then I am tired, and sleepy.
Time. If anyone knows where I can get more time when I am able to be productive, please let me know. I have some other habits I’d like to develop, too. I think it is important to get the habits going now, rather than waiting for New Year's resolution time. Resolutions are easy to break. Habits, if developed the right way, become part of who we are not, just something that we do.
I am open for suggestions...how do you develop good habits? Or, should I just give up and start up a few bad ones?
