A few of us have returned to work this decade, determined to write more and write often – both for professional and personal reasons. Speaking for myself, there’s deadlines in the next few weeks (applying for this, revising something for this, and (of course) this) and the only thing that will get me focussed and writing more and often is time-blocking. Time-blocking is basically scheduling regular writing sessions, where I block out times in my calendar to Shut Up and Write, and (most importantly) I STICK to this schedule.
Another thing that works well for my Writing More, Writing Often is a Public Declaration that I am going to be writing at some specific location at some specific time and having others witness me doing this. Ideally the witnesses would have their own writing schedules and deadlines so we can then write side by side in shared, forced, silent* writerly companionship. This too is another motivator: being surrounded by other people busily writing and really-shouldn’t-you-be-doing-the-same-ing myself?
If a guaranteed at-least-50-minutes of solid, shutted-up* writing time also appeals to you, the Learning Innovation Hub is hosting weekly Shut Up and Write sessions for anybody who wants to get away from their usual workspace/s and do some writing for whatever reason and whatever purpose. Nobody is going to be checking up on you, nobody is going to be asking what you’re writing, so all you need to do is show up with your choice of writing device and get to it. Write your report, paper, novel, or blog post (while you’re at it, why not write a post for Teche?), or even that long, detailed email to key stakeholders explaining something again (and this time with diagrams) – all in shared, forced, and silent* writerly companionship. And to boot, coffee is available nearby.
Please do feel free to join us. We’ll be at 2 First Walk, room 315 on Thursdays (starting from January 30) from 2-3pm.
*Please note: our SUAW sessions may have five minutes of general chit-chat (or shared commiseration about work things) at the beginning and end, but generally all that’ll be heard for most of the time is the click-clack of keyboards, someone’s stomach rumbling (usually mine), and/or muffled groans of writerly frustration.
👍💪