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Me!
Me!
My Writing Routine:
My Writing Routine:
Where to begin? I learned a lot over the past eight weeks trying some of my favorite authors' writing routines. After much thought, below is the routine that I put together and followed for this final week of the project. I elaborate on why I made these choices below and on the reflection tab!
I did not write at the same time of day each day of the week. Some days, depending on my varying schedule, it made sense to write before I attended my classes, and some days it made sense to put off writing until the mid-afternoon when my classes were done for the day. On days when I wrote first thing in the morning, I wrote in my room at my desk. For days when I wrote after my classes, I wrote in a public place, most often a coffee shop.
I began each day by rereading the last few paragraphs of writing from the previous day. This allowed me to refresh my memory and dive into the scene I was bringing to life. I wrote exclusively by hand, in my favorite red notebook. Before beginning my writing, I put my phone on Do Not Disturb so that it wouldn't distract me, and I put my over-the-ear headphones on to feel more focused on the writing, though I didn't play any music.
Writing Data:
Writing Data:
18
18
how I felt about the quality of my writing over the course of the four days, out of a possible maximum of 20 points
746.25
746.25
average words written per day
41.75
41.75
average minutes spent writing per day
How the Experiment Went
How the Experiment Went
It seems so predictable that the routine I created for myself came out with the highest score out of 20, but I guess that just shows that I learned a lot throughout this experiment. The routine that I ended up with is a lot different than what I would have selected if I hadn’t gone through the eight-week process – the most drastic differences are that I would never have decided to write by hand, and I most likely would have listened to music as I wrote. Now, I know that writing by hand allows me to slow my brain down and feel more connected to the scenes I’m writing, and having my headphones over my ears but not playing music makes it so I’m able to block out the noise around me without distracting myself with my favorite music.
The experiment went really well. All four days, I felt ready to return to the work and didn’t dread sitting down to write. While my writing is definitely rough and will need to be edited/rewritten when it comes time to read through my entire novel draft, I was able to articulate all of my ideas and make a good first attempt at having the characters come to life. What was most shocking to me about this week was that, completely coincidentally, I reached the end of my first rough draft of my novel on the final day of the writing experiment. It was such a random and fun way to end the experiment, knowing that I’ve completed an entire draft of my first large body of writing.
To the left is my data for this experiment. Overall, this week was the most enjoyable for me, which is a relief. Can you imagine if the week I didn’t have to follow someone else’s routine wasn’t my favorite? Out of a maximum total of 20 points, this week got 18 points, which is the highest score out of all of my writing experiments. I wrote a total of 2985 words over the course of the week, and I wrote for a total of 167 minutes. I will more deeply reflect on the experience of taking my writing into my own hands for the first time in eight weeks in the “Reflection” tab on this website, but in general, this experiment made me very excited for the future of my writing. It gave me confidence in my ability to write daily and continue to enjoy the practice of writing without being burnt out.
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