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One Word at a Time · The Daily Writer

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Writer, where we share a lesson each day to help you cultivate the habits for creative success.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: One of the most common themes of successful writers is that they're consistent.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: They establish a habit or a routine for getting the work done and they just stick with it.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get even more granular, down to the level of words.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: After all, the fundamental building block of any book is words.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Those words are put into sentences, then paragraphs, then chapters, then, of course, a complete book.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: The novelist Neil Gaiman shared some insights about what happens when he finishes a book and how the work actually gets done.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: He said this put it aside for a few days or longer.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Do other things.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Try not to think about it.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Then sit down and read it.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Printouts are best, I find, but that's just me, as if you've never seen it before.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Start at the beginning.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Scribble on the manuscript as you go if you see anything you want to change.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And often, when you get to the end, you'll be both enthusiastic about it and know what the next few words are.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: And you do it all one word at a time.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: The major reason why we get stalled out with writing is that we just feel intimidated.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: We see the final project in our minds, and it seems so huge, so massive.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: How can we possibly create something as big as a book?
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's done just one word at a time.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe a quick example will suffice.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say you want to write a full-length book of 45,000 words.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: It sounds intimidating, right?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it would be pretty hard to write a 45,000-word book in one single day.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: But could you write 500 words in a day?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: If so, you could have a draft of that 45,000-word book in just 90 days or three months.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: We can break it down even further.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you write for 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening, that's only 250 words per session.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Easy peasy.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: So don't be intimidated by the big writing project in front of you.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Just break it down into little chunks and take it one word at a time.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: You've got this.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: As I often do on this podcast, I want to take a second to let you know about our Daily Writer membership community.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: One of the best ways to develop better habits and impact more people's lives with your writing is to spend time around other successful writers.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you're tired of feeling isolated and chasing success on your own, I know that you're going to love the Daily Writer community.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: For years, I searched for the kind of group that I would want to join, and I could never find what I wanted, so I created my own.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the features of the Daily Writer community include weekly writing sprints, monthly community calls, help from writing mentors, calls with guest experts, courses to help you be more productive and successful, and so much more.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: For more info, you can visit dailywriterlife.comslash community.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much, and I'll see you tomorrow.