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The Temptation of Writing-Related Activities · 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: This isn't a trick question, but it's a serious one.
• 0:26
  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 writing.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: There's that course to take, that writing group to be involved in, that new writing craft book to read, that movie to watch so you can analyze the story structure, that fellow writer to have coffee with.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: The list of things that help our writing is endless, but they don't actually constitute writing.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: The writer Matthew Kelly hit the nail on the head when he wrote, 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?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: The joy and the temptation of being a writer is that we love what we do.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: We love talking about it, reading about it, and learning more about our craft.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And while all those things are helpful, even necessary, they don't actually create the words.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: What does create the words, however, is actually sitting down to write.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's getting the words done however you can, whether it's by dictation, writing it out longhand, writing at lunchtime, getting up early, or staying up late, or doing whatever you need to do to get the writing actually done.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: All these tools and resources and relationships for writing can be like the sirens from Homer's Odyssey.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: The hero Odysseus was tempted by the beautiful singing of the sirens, but he stayed on course and didn't give in to temptation.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's tempting to spend all your time on writing-related activities without actually doing the writing.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we must learn, connect, and grow as writers, but are those activities honestly helping you get the writing done?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's a question we must ask ourselves.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailywriterlife.com.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.