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Is It Helping You Get the Writing Done? · The Daily Writer

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Writer, where we share a lesson each day to help you cultivate the habits for creative success.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a question to consider.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: What activities actually produce writing?
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is not a trick question, but it's a serious one.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's easy for us to fall under the spell of doing writing-related activities while secretly avoiding the hard work of actual writing.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: There's that course to take, there's that writing group to be involved in.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: There's that new writing craft book to read.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: There's that movie to watch so you can analyze the story structure.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: There's that fellow writer or creative person to have coffee with.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: The list of things that help our writing is endless, but they don't actually constitute writing.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: The author Matthew Kelly hit the nail on the head when he said, Writers will do anything to avoid writing and do it all in the name of writing.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Can I get an amen?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: The joy and the temptation of being a writer is that we love what we do.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: We love talking about it.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: We love reading about it.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: We love learning more about our craft.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: And even though all those things are immensely helpful, maybe they're even necessary, they don't actually get the words written.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: They don't actually get the work done.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: What does get the work done, however, is sitting down to write.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's getting the words done however you can, whether it's dictation, writing it out longhand on a piece of paper, writing at lunchtime, getting up early or staying up late, or whatever it takes to get it done.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: All those tools and resources for writing can be like the sirens from Homer's Odyssey.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: The hero Odysseus was tempted by the beautiful singing of the sirens, but he stayed the course.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: He kept going in the direction he was supposed to be going and didn't get distracted.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's tempting to spend all your time on writing-related activities without actually getting the work done.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we must learn, we must connect, we must grow as writers.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: But when you spend time on those activities, it's helpful to always ask Is it helping me actually get the writing done?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailywriterlife.com.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.