“shades and shading” by devi laskar

Keep It Simple, Stupid. KISS. That’s the advice I’m dispensing today. There’s no special formula, there’s no potion, there’s no magic. Just work, a few minutes each day, followed by another few minutes the next day, and the day after that.

The following advice is free, but if you follow it what I will guarantee is that you will see results. First thing is to make sure you put in at least 15 minutes a day, in a spiral notebook, on the computer, on the back of a napkin or on a paper towel. Secondly, make sure you don’t look over the material from the day before, just write, write, write, something new.

And here’s the twist that keeps me the writer walking the tightrope without faltering: account for your time. Accounting is as simple as keeping a notebook or an electronic file that has the date and day (for example, July 6, Friday) followed by a simple notation – “worked on the blog” or “took a photo” or “thought about the plot line of the short story I want to finish,” or “wrote three sentences about the main character in a novel I’d like to write in 2014.”

That’s it. I’ve been doing this for a year now, and I have something to show for the past year, how I’ve spent my time, furthering the art I’m trying to make. You can do it too. It’s easy to start, and if taken with a certain amount of seriousness and a serious amount of levity, it’s something that can be sustained.

Try it. I dare you.