It's easy to procrastinate when you know no one may ever see your writing. Maybe you plan to do a little work every day, but then you think, "Well, I don't have to. No one's waiting for me."
My advice is to make an audience for yourself. Impose deadlines upon yourself and then work to meet them.
Here's a list of ways you can create deadlines and get yourself writing:
1. Join a writing critique group. When it is your turn to share, you will HAVE to complete some story or poem or essay.
2. Take a writing class. Whether it is for credit or for fun, making yourself accountable to a grade and a teacher can force you to write consistently. But what happens when the class ends? Easy, take another class. I don't think you can ever learn too much.
3. Create a blog and set up your own publishing time table. For the Writer's Comfy Corner, I post every Monday and Thursday. To make sure I have an audience, I have done things like sending the link to my writing friends and commenting on other people's writing blogs. (Important note: Once you begin a blog, don't skip days unless it is a holiday or a rare emergency. Your readers are counting on you.)
4. Use your writing skills in some type of volunteer situation. Years ago, I had no audience for my work. Then I saw an ad to edit my church's newsletter. By creating that free newsletter month after month, I gained confidence in myself and found a large pool of readers.
5. Get a part time job writing. A boss and a paycheck are GREAT motivators.
There are probably many more ingenious ways to create an audience for your work. Can you think of any? If so, please leave your thoughts in the comment section or email me at melodychef at gmail dot com.
As always, I wish for you lots of writing productivity and good cheer.
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