Latest / The Daily Writer / Create a Body of Work

Transcript

Create a Body of Work · The Daily Writer

• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hey my friend, welcome to this episode of the Daily Writer Podcast.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: The writer Matthew Kelly said, It is important to understand that you are not writing a story or a book or a sentence or a paragraph.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: You are writing a body of work.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever you are writing today is just one small part of that body of work.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I love that quote from Mr.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Kelly because it helps take the pressure off.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: We can easily get stressed out by feeling like we have to create a perfect article, social media posts, email, or book chapter every time we sit down to write.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: But no single thing that we write is the defining element of our body of work.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's part of a much larger whole.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you're writing a book, don't think of it as one book, but think of it as one book among many books that you're going to write.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: What if you thought about writing a dozen books over the next 10 years?
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: How would that change your point of view and how would that take the pressure off?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever you're writing, it's just a snapshot of where you are right now in your learning and in your life.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: And there's no end to your knowledge and learning that you will accumulate over the span of your life.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: So just write that book now and move on.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Your legacy isn't just one book.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: The one book doesn't represent the end all be all of your learning.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: At the Taylor Guitars Company, which is one of my favorite companies in the world because I play Taylor guitars, they say this the best guitar we make is the one we make tomorrow.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: And in the same vein, the best book that you write is the one you will write tomorrow.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: So always be improving and adding a bit each day to your body of work.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Here's today's question: Does thinking about your writing as a larger body of work help take the pressure off what you're working on right now?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you've been listening to this show for any length of time, you know that one of the four practices of a great writer is creativity.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And in order to stay creative, you've got to have great input.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where writing prompts come in.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: A writing prompt is a sentence or two that helps you break through creative blocks, brainstorm new ideas, and get back into a state of flow.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Writing prompts are an awesome creative tool for journaling, storytelling, creative writing, stress relief, social media posts, and so much more.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: But the great news is that you don't have to create these yourself.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: We've put together an amazing package of 365 daily writing prompts.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: So every day for the next year, you can have a shot of inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: You can check it out at dailywriterlife.comslash writing prompts.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.