November 3, 2011

Ever find yourself getting distracted when you’re supposed to be writing? I’ve been having this problem a lot lately. I have a deadline in May for a book manuscript, and I’m not making my usual progress.

For most of my books, I would come to my office each morning and try to write for a couple of hours. My target was about 500 words per day. If I could achieve that, I could write my book in five to six months.

Now I find I cannot achieve that daily rhythm that fuels me through a project. Why, you ask? Because of following Twitter and Facebook, reading and responding to email and text messages, visiting websites, tending to other responsibilities at work and more. What now feels like a swamp of quicksand is grabbing me and keeping from my franchise — which is writing.

In this week’s career chat, I talked about how to focus on the business and pleasure of writing. I shared tips and strategies that have worked for me in the past, and tapped into the audience for ideas as well. You can replay the chat here:

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Roy Peter Clark has taught writing at Poynter to students of all ages since 1979. He has served the Institute as its first full-time faculty…
Roy Peter Clark

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