I subscribe to Poets & Writers Magazine, and this month (with the most amazing Joan Didion on the cover), I was lucky enough to read something that really blew my mind. I read a feature article by a writer who detailed her process. It was so amazing to me because it works but mostly because of its simplicty and rewards system.

She writes for 45 minutes then takes a 15 minute break to do something, anything not related to writing. This allows her to take a breather, water plants or the like, but mostly it allows her to step back into reality for a moment. After this most wonderous of breaks, she often goes back to her writing refreshed and with a fresher lens on which to view it all. She also writes at the same time every day, from 9-12,and doesn’t shy away from telling the world that she is a writer. It should be noted, that she has a regular full time job and used to shirk away from that title in the past. By owning the profession of “writer”, she is now pushing herself to actually do just that.

I think this idea works well because I often get frustrated and the fifteen minute break is something to look forward to. I put it into practice recently as I sit in my school’s library and work on my assignments and papers. The fifteen minutes I can dwindle away on facebook or the like really works like a charm.

 

What have you done recently to ensure that you write often?