The Spaces In Between

The thing you are most
afraid to write.

write that.
-Advice to Young Writers, Nayyirah Waheed

“I write because I’m scared of writing, but I’m more scared of not writing.”
― Gloria E. Anzaldúa

One of the most important steps of writing for me is free-writing, that is, setting a word count goal or a timed goal, and just writing, writing, writing, stream of consciousness, no worry about being precise or grammatically correct. I do this both on the computer and with old-fashioned pen and paper. Sometimes I write about a specific topic–my research for example, and sometimes about my feelings, or whatever is on my mind. I have found that writing about feelings/life stuff can often free up the space needed to then approach academic writing.

My first year of grad school I discovered the website 750words.com, and began writing there, inspired by a friend’s posts about it on Facebook. The site is based on the idea of morning pages (from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way) and the importance of writing regularly, and challenges users to write 750 words every day.  There are badges to earn based on how many days in a row you write, how many words you write, how fast you type, what time of day you complete your words, and more. As someone who is pretty competitive with myself, I enjoyed the challenge. I even managed a 52 day streak once and I am very proud of my 500,000 word badge! I don’t write as consistently on the site as I used to, but it is still my go-to when I need to do a free-write to get my writing started, want to write about my anxieties about writing, or need to dump a bunch of rough ideas in one place.  A couple of years ago it became fee based, unfortunately. It is only $5 a month, but that can still be too much for folks. I was fortunate to be grandfathered in, and it is still free for me, which is why I have continued to use it.

Another (free) site that I like to use when I am struggling with motivation is Written? Kitten! where you are rewarded with a kitten picture every time you type 100 words. It can also be changed so that you can get a puppy picture, or a picture of anything you like.

Beyond the issue of motivation/reward, one of my writing challenges is finding time, especially in the midst of teaching. There is always something more immediate that needs to get done, and it is easy for writing to be neglected. And yet, most writers will tell you that the key to good writing is a daily writing practice.

Recently I have been looking for a writing community to help me be accountable. A friend, Rebecca Barrett-Fox, has been running a monthly writing challenge for a while now, and I finally signed up for it this past October, inspired by a post she wrote about it and the successes folks have had. (Also–the book Dark Moon Wolf mentioned in that post is really good! I bought it based on Rebecca’s recommendation).

How the AGT Writing Challenge works: You put $20 into the kitty to participate and agree to write 400 words five days each week. Revising can also count, with the idea that revising ~1200 words is the equivalent to writing 400 new ones. If you miss one day you forfeit $3, two days you forfeit $6, and if you miss more, you forfeit the whole $20. If you complete the challenge you get your $20 back, plus a share of the forfeited money.  If desired, you can also sign up for an individual accountability partner, and everyone in the group cheers each other on in a Facebook group.  I love that we are from all different writing genres but are linked together by the challenge of writing!

By the end of October I was feeling ambivalent about the challenge. I completely failed to complete the article that I had planned to write, I felt that I had not been as productive as I wanted to be, and I missed two days. On the other hand, I pushed through many days when I wanted to give up completely, and I wrote many words that I would not have otherwise. Although I didn’t write the article, I sent some emails that I have been avoiding for months! (I counted these in my 400 words, because I figure the main point of the challenge is to make me write when I don’t want to write). I wrote a bunch of notes for an article/chapter I want to write about the blog 4th Wave Now. I wrote ethnographic notes, and I wrote several reflective pieces on the doula training I attended in early October. I also enjoyed being a part of a community of writers, and the camaraderie of the facebook group.

In many ways it was successful, but it was also stressful and frustrating, and I lost some money. So, in November, I decided not to participate, because I was feeling unsure about whether it was worth it, and I also knew I wouldn’t be able to complete the challenge with our annual Thanksgiving trip. We stay in a cabin for almost a week, no electricity, cell service or internet!

The break was great. I am glad I took the time to focus on teaching, Thanksgiving, and myself. But, I also didn’t write! Even though I didn’t complete my article in October, I still wrote a heck of a lot more words in October than I did in November. So, this December, I have jumped back in (the challenge starts on the first Sunday of every month). I am currently in week four and it is going really well. I don’t have as many specific goals for the month, other than the fact that I want to write as many days as possible, complete all the days required, and contribute in some way to my research. It looks like I will finish the challenge this time, and I am already planning to sign up in January again!

Here is the graphic I created to track my AGT writing in my bullet journal. I need to add one more week, as this December challenges runs through the first week of January, which means 5 weeks, not 4. (The January challenge will begin on the first Sunday in Jan which is the 7th).

>PS: On the theme of writing sites, and productivity tools, in the AGT Facebook group someone posted about this site that tracks daily word counts and orders them by project/type. It looks fantastic and I signed up for it, and then promptly ignored it. So, clearly, your mileage may vary, but it might be helpful to anyone looking to track productivity and writing in particular!