Writing the First Word on Reddit - March 8

There are some great discussion and prompts happening today!

• Hot prompt to try your hand at: [WP] At a young age you were abducted by aliens and raised in an alien zoo. Now with a change in management, the zoo is trying to readjust you so they can release you back into the "wilds" of earth.
• If you aren't sure what to do next when you finished writing, here's a great discussion: I finally finished. Now what?
• A six-word story that inspires some deep thinking: "Nobody ever asks, 'Who's actually Waldo?' "
• Are you new to writing short stories? Here's a discussion on what to avoid. What are common flaws in the short stories of novice writers?

How not to be a writer #17: Don't be consistent in where you write

Humans are, for the most part, reliant on habits to form their daily routines. That's why infants and toddlers do well when there's a set routine so they know what to expect next. For us adults (and teens), when we have such routines, then it's easier to get things done without much effort.

So, if we want to always put so much effort into completing something we don't want to do, then it will never become a habit as we continually try different ways of tackling the undesireable tasks. And perhaps hopefully pass it on to someone else. More on that in the next post.

Anyway, not having a routine requires a lot more effort to get things done because we have to think about it.

Set a time every day. Set a place, and go there to write and nothing else. Well, little else. YOur desk has your computer, and computer is more than just writing, but you know what I mean.

Develop a routine, and you'll get a lot of writing done. Today, I am happy to say that I finally have a desk and a computer chair today! It is so good to be sitting properly and not in an armchair. I can write so much more. So, think writing from your armchair is nice? It's not all cracked up to be. So make sure you consider the location of where you write when you do your routine.

How not to be a writer #16: Don't aim for 10,000 hours of writing time.

Writing is not something you want to do if you don't want to take the time to write. To remain a mediocre writer, practice writing less than one hour a week.

There's some studies and analysis out there that show  who are masters at something have amassed at least 10,000 hours of practice time. That's about an hour and half a day for 19 years. 3 hours in less than ten years.

You have to be truly dedicated to what you want to do, because you're in it for the long haul. Write, edit, read. Though, for the most part, reading isn't counted towards that 10,000 hours of writing time, especially if you are not actively analyzing the book you're reading.

Practice one hour a week is 10,000 weeks, and by that time, you're dead. 192 years year old masters don't exist.