24/9/2016 GetaLife,PhD:TenwaysToWriteEveryDay

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Saturday,January14,2012

TenwaysToWriteEveryDay
Ifyouhavebeenfollowingmyadviceandwritingeverydaythissemester,
congratulations!Ifyouhaven't,askyourself"whynot?"Ifyouneedsomeideasonhow
toactuallywriteeveryday,thenthispostisforyou!

Writeeverydayisfabulousadvice.But,howdoyouactuallydoit?Thatwasmyquestionforalong
timebeforeIconvincedmyselftogiveitatry.NowthatIhavebeenwritingeverydayforfiveyears,I
cansharewithyouafewwaystomakethatpossible,andexplaintoyouwhyIwakeupeachweekday
morningandwrite.

Whyyouneedtowriteeveryday
IdecidedIneededtotrytowriteeverydaywhenIfoundoutthatscholarswhowritedailyandhold
themselvesaccountablewritenearlytentimesasmuchasothers!InRobertBoicesarticle,he
explainsthevirtuesofwritingeveryday.Boicedescribesastudywherehedividednewfacultyinto
threegroupsandrecordedtheirwritingproductivity:

Thefirstgroupdidnotchangetheirwritinghabits,andcontinuedtowriteoccasionallyin
bigblocksoftimeinoneyeartheywroteanaverageof17pages
Thesecondgroupwrotedailyandkeptarecordoftheirwritingtheyaveraged64pages
Thethirdgroupwrotedaily,keptadailyrecord,andheldthemselvesaccountableto
someoneweeklythisgroup'saveragewas157pages(Boice1989:609).

OnceIreadthosefindings,IwasconvincedIshouldatleasttrydailywriting.

http://getalifephd.blogspot.cl/2012/01/tenwaystowriteeveryday.html?m=1 1/5
24/9/2016 GetaLife,PhD:TenwaysToWriteEveryDay

Howtowriteeveryday
AfterdecidingIneededtowriteeveryday,mygreatestchallengewastofigureoutwhatitmeantto
writeeveryday.Iaskedmyself,"Whatcountsasdailywriting?"Tofindout,Idoveinandtriedto
writeeveryday.IjoinedanonlinewritingaccountabilitygroupwhereIcouldrecordmywriting
progressandtalktootherdailywritersaboutthepractice.

Eventually,Icametorealizethatwritingmeansalotofthingsandthattherearelotsofwaystowrite
everyday.Dailywritingworksfortworeasons:1)Itensuresyouaremovingforwardwithyourwriting
projects.2)Itkeepsyouengagedwithyourwriting.Thus,anyactivitythataccomplishesthesetwo
goalscountsasdailywriting.

Herearetenwaysyoucanwriteeveryday:

1.Writeonablankpage
2.Lineeditsomethingyouhavealreadywritten
3.Restructureapaperthatyouhavebeenworkingon
4.Pulltogetherpiecesofolderdocumentsyouhavewrittenintoanewpaper
5.Checkreferencesandfootnotesforaccuracy
6.Outlineormindmapanewproject
7.Summarizeortakenotesonsomethingyouhavereadrecentlythatmightberelevanttopresent
orfutureresearchprojects
8.Makearevisionplanforarejectedarticleorareviseandresubmit
9.Maketables,figures,graphs,orimagestorepresentvisuallyconceptsortrendsinapaper
10.CreateanAfterthefactorReverseOutline

Ifyouthinkofwritingasonly#1):Writeonablankpage,itwillbehardtodothateverysingleday.
However,ityouareopentootherkindsofwriting,itwillbepossibletodoatleastoneofthesekinds
ofwritingeveryday.

Itrytodoatleasttwokindsofwritingeachday,startingwiththeblankpageinthemorning.Iamat
mybestearlyinthemorning.Thatismyprimetime.Iusethoseearly,freshmomentsofthedayto
freewriteandtocreatenewmaterial.OnceIrunoutofsteam,ImightturntoeditingsomethingI
havewrittenortocheckingreferences.IfIgetstuck,Iwillpulloutamindmapandbrainstormideas.

Myroutineeachweekday,then,istobeginthedaywithwritingorwritingrelatedtasks.Onagood
day,Icanconcentratefortwohours.Usually,however,myminddriftsafteranhour,soItakeabreak
tocheckemailorhavesomecoffee,andputinanotherhouraftermybreak.IkeeptrackofthetimeI
havespentworkingonwritingsothatIcanbeproudofmyaccomplishments,andsothatIknowwhen
Ineedtostop.

Iknowthatmanyacademicsrejectasridiculoustheideathatonecouldorshouldwriteeveryday.To
them,Iwouldgentlyaskiftheyhaveevertriedit.And,Iwouldaddthatitisnotonlyimportanttotry
writingeveryday,buttocommittotryingitforatleastamonthtoseeifitworksforyou.Itisalso
importanttohaveotherstowhomyouareaccountableandwithwhomyoucanshareyourstruggles.

Ifyoudotrywritingeveryday,letmeknowhowitgoes!Ifyouareaseasoneddailywriter,letme
knowwhyyoukeepitup!
http://getalifephd.blogspot.cl/2012/01/tenwaystowriteeveryday.html?m=1 2/5
24/9/2016 GetaLife,PhD:TenwaysToWriteEveryDay

TanyaGolashBozaat11:03AM

Share 42

6comments:

Anonymous January16,2012at6:20AM
Ilovetheadviceandhavebeengivenitbeforeaswell.Iamjuststartingoutinmygraduatecareerandam
stilldoinglabrotations.Therefore,Idonthaveamanuscriptorevenaspecificprojecttobewritingabout.
Whatwouldyouadvisesomeonetowriteaboutinthebeginningstages?Thiswouldbethetimeformeto
startahabbitlikethisbutIamunsurewheretostart.

Thanks
Reply

W,NoelRobbins February25,2012at11:18AM
ThisissimplyGOLD.Thankyousomuch.ThedatahelpedaLOT!

W.NoelRobbins
SociologyGradStudent
OklahomaStateUniv
Reply

ThePhDwar July23,2012at2:51AM
Thanksforsharingthis!Iwilltryit!:)ActuallyIamstartingfromtoday!
Reply

PriscillaTaylor November1,2012at11:42AM
Ilovethatyouinclude"otherwritingtasks"becauseyou'reright:thethoughtofwritingonablankpage
everysingledayseemsalittledaunting.Thisseemseasierandmorerealistictoaimforeveryday.
Reply

huitzilin February20,2013at8:52PM
Afterreadingsomeofyourwritingstrategiesafewdaysago,Idecidedtogiveitashot.Nothingurgentwas
comingup,soIstartedeasy,3045minutesperday.Wow.Halfanhouradayofwritingsurebeatsthe
heckoutofweeksoffeelingguiltyaboutnotwriting.Ialreadyhadtheresearchformytaskdone,soIcould
justsitandwrite,edit,proofread,etc,andinaweekandahalf,Ifinishedaconferencepaper...without
interferingwiththerestofmyschedule!

http://getalifephd.blogspot.cl/2012/01/tenwaystowriteeveryday.html?m=1 3/5
24/9/2016 GetaLife,PhD:TenwaysToWriteEveryDay

I have a lot of morning responsibilities, so I started getting up an hour earlier. Not nearly as hard as I
thought.Now,ifIcouldjustremembertoONLYwrite...noreading,noopeninginternetforathesaurus,
nofactchecking...that'swhereIfall!

Thanksforyourveryusefuladvice.
Reply

Replies

TanyaGolashBoza February20,2013at9:22PM
Thanksforreportingback!Iamverygladtohearthestrategywassuccessful.

Reply

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TanyaGolashBoza
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IamaProfessorofSociologyattheUniversityofCaliforniaatMerced.Previously,Itaughtatthe
UniversityofKansas.Myresearchisonracialidentitiesandimmigrationpolicies.Mycurrentwork
isonmassdeportationfromtheUnitedStates.
Viewmycompleteprofile
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