See Jane.
She has an idea for a novel.
Every day she wakes up and thinks about her novel.
She takes a shower thinking to herself, "My best ideas are in the shower!"Throughout the day she makes notes about her novel: on napkins, on scratch paper, and even on her hand.
She knows all the main characters by name.
She knows generally what happens to them.
And what comes about after all this thought?She grows old and she dies.
She left out a key ingredient:Actual writing!A writer can't get wishy-washy about writing.
She must sit down every day and write!It's a discipline no serious writer can avoid.
What does discipline look like?Discipline doesn't require having the right pen or computer, having the perfect desk or room in which to work.
No, discipline is stilling down to write based on a specific schedule.
A writer actually writer down a schedule of free time that she has every week.
If she can't find time for writing, then she will not become a serious writer.
She has to make time, just as one would make time for a class, a hospital visit, and so on.
The great Victorian author Anthony Trollope wrote three hours a day before he went to his "real" job as a post office worker.
Guess what he is remembered for.
A writer doesn't have to start with such a big schedule but could start out with a schedule of three hours a week and gradually increase that amount as she successfully commits to these times.
Let's look at the difference between a discipline and an undisciplined writers.
The first writer says he will write when he feels like it, i.
e.
when he gets inspired.
The second writer says she will devote four hours a week to writing and actually writes out the times for this schedule.
She commits to sticking to that schedule no matter what.
The writer who waits to get inspired spends his evening watching television or floating around on Facebook.
He's still waiting for that great idea.
The second writer sits down and starts brainstorming ideas right away.
She even begins forming an outline.
On the second day, the writer has a fuzzy idea for an essay about cheese, but doesn't know where to begin.
The second writer finishes her outline and begins writing.
A year passes.
The first writer kind of remembers an idea he had for an article about cheese, but he barely remembers.
The second writer is now published and famous.
Do you see the difference? So let's look at some examples of those who fit the second writer category.
Do you remember our friend Trollope?He wrote over 60 novels and he's considered one of the great English novelists.
Joan Didion writes for an hour before dinner.
She says it's where all her ideas get incubated.
E.
B.
White says, "A writer who waits for the ideal conditions under which to write will die without putting a word on paper.
"Hemmingway wrote every morning as soon as light appeared.
So what is the result of all these writers who schedule time for writing and make writing a part of their routine: they are the greatest writers of their times.
Perhaps writing for even an hour may sound daunting for you.
So, you could commit to half-an-hour three times a week.
Then as you sticks to this schedule, you can increase that time.
You smarter, come up with more ideas, and generally create more and better work.
This could be your life, a life of prolific output.
Who knows?Even you could become famous.