On the Hook.

I must stop doing this.

I must stop reading books which are likely to jazz me up before bedtime. I know this is not a sensible part of good sleep hygiene (something I’ve taken fairly seriously since the diabolical sleep deprivation caused by my two darling boys). So if you’ve got any good recommends for calming, soothing yet compelling novels I can read, do share! I’ll request a stash from Santa…

Here’s the irony: I just downloaded Cal Newport’s book ‘Deep Work’, started reading it, and in reading about ‘people who are constantly distracted’, I realised that I’ve hopscotched between no fewer than 3 books this week, not completing one. I’m distracted even in my reading!

So, determined to finish at least one thing, I put down ‘Deep Work’, and returned to ‘The Practice’ by Seth Godin with a view to completing it. As mentioned last week it was responsible for having driven me out of bed to grab my laptop, and it’s only gone and done the same thing again!

It’s hard not to when you read paragraphs like this one:

Write until you’re no longer afraid to write.

It doesn’t matter whether you call yourself a ‘writer’. It doesn’t matter if you’re a signer or a traffic engineer.
Write more.
Write about your audience, your craft, your challenges. Write about the trade-offs, the industry and your genre. Write about your dreams and your fears. Write about what’s funny and what’s not.
Write to clarify. Write to challenge yourself.
Write on a regular schedule.
Writing isn’t the same as talking, because writing is organised and permanent. Writing puts you on the hook.
Don’t you want to be on the hook?

Seth Godin, The Practice, p.182

I do, Mr Godin! I want to be on the hook! I am reverting to my special little life trick of making myself accountable through my words. Becuase, gosh darnit, once it’s out there it’s a lot harder to dodge…

And so, here I am, putting myself on the hook.

I am going to write more. (More than just my morning pages, reams and reams of scribble-filled notebooks the content of which will never see the light of day, and yet give me the subtle clues as to where to head next).

I am going to write about all of the things that Seth suggests: my audience, my craft, my challenges.

But, more than anything else, I am going to write (and publish) to a schedule: for the rest of this year, 2020, the weirdest year ever, I’m going to write Monday – Friday. Rain or shine, prepared or not, I’m going to be turning up to the blank page, writing my thoughts and PRESSING PUBLISH.

That is a commitment.

On. The. Hook.