Brad!

This summer, I've been working on an article.  It has to do with metaphors and teaching writing, but the topic isn't really that important.  It's really the process that I want to discuss.

Every day this summer, I would get up, go grab a cup of coffee and read for an hour, and then come back home to write.  I need to be immersed in whatever it is that I'm writing, and so I tend to begin at the beginning during most writing sessions.  I'll skim to where I feel like I need to start for that day and then dive in.

For me, writing is a layered activity.  I'll write as much as I can in a single sitting of about three hours.  When I've finished with that writing session, I'll let what I have written sit before coming back to it the next day.  Then I'll begin again at the beginning and push myself a little further each day.  This style of writing works really well for me, and I think it shows a little bit about who I am: purposeful, methodical, focused, attentive, and perhaps a little obsessive.

Above all, I'm quiet.  And that is true for both speaking and writing.  I find that when I'm writing, sometimes, I just like to sit there and think.  For me, this can be a very valuable activity because it means that I do a lot of writing and revising before I actually type anything.

This style of writing is different from the way that a lot of my friends write.  They too have a good model, one that is better suited to who they are as people.  Some of my friends will sit and write 750 to 1000 words each day.  Their goal is to keep at it until they have hit that basic word limit, and once they reach their goal, they stop.  It can take two hours, or it could take half the day, depending on how easy the writing is going.

But I find that this style of writing doesn't work for many of my projects.  I like to work a little more slowly.  I take my time and relish in the act of writing.  And so for me, a time limit imposed on my process fits me a little better.  Maybe I'll write a page; maybe I'll write five in those few hours each day.  Whatever the case, I know that the continual, daily focus is the key.  Writers need to write every day, or nearly every day--even if it's just for a little while--in order to stay sharp.