Welcome, writers! We are well into our first week of NaNoWriMo—and I am sure you are noticing the changes in your writing muscles already. Your neck may be a bit sore but your fingers feel more limber. You may be writing a bit faster than you did earlier in the week. No doubt, you are aware that you are piling up words and daily becoming who you have always wanted to be: a writer.
Today’s guest post comes from author and writing teacher, Kelly L. Stone. And get this: she is giving away a 15-page critique, any genre, to one of our commenters. So comment away, writers! —Rochelle, the Write Now! Coach
The Power of Daily Writing by Kelly L. Stone
If you are participating in NaNoWrMo this November, congratulations! Participating in this event strengthens your writing muscle and will hopefully help you realize a very important concept: there is power in daily writing!
Daily writing leads to success, no ifs, ands, or buts. That’s because it forces you to focus like a laser on your work in progress and hone your writing skills whether you feel like writing or not. This in turn influences your subconscious mind to help you start thinking of yourself as a writer (or reinforces that belief) and that in turns affects your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors toward writing. Writing begets writing. Daily writing begets writing success.
Success is predicted by how you think, feel, and behave toward your writing goals. A person who has success-oriented thoughts and who feels confident in her abilities will naturally take daily actions that bring about her desired outcomes. She will feel enthusiastic, motivated, and dedicated to those outcomes because she thinks, feels, and acts her way toward reaching them, and she does the things every day necessary to achieve success.
This is the case with writing. An aspiring author who thinks positive thoughts and believes in herself will touch her craft daily, which will generate the enthusiasm and motivation to set goals. She will then cultivate the dedication required to take steps to reach those goals over a long period of time. She will write every day or take action every day toward her writing dream. She will act in methodical, self-disciplined ways that bring about desire outcomes. She will think, feel, and act in ways that stimulate enthusiasm, motivation, and dedication for achieving success as a writer as she defines it.
You can be that writer. Even if you have gotten off-track with your efforts to become a successful writer, it’s never too late to start again! Through daily writing, you can generate the enthusiasm, motivation, and dedication needed to work toward your long-term writing goals. You can create for yourself what is known in psychology as a positive self-fulfilling prophecy, which is a belief system that sets you up to succeed.
For more information on the power of daily writing, see chapter 1 in LIVING WRITE: The Secret to Inviting Your Craft Into Your Daily Life.
Question for discussion: How does daily writing help you achieve success? Remember: Kelly L. Stone is giving away a 15-page critique, any genre, to one of our commenters. Leave a comment to be entered into the drawing to win!
About the Author. Kelly L. Stone (www.AuthorKellyLStone.com) is a licensed mental health counselor and writer. Her women’s fiction novel, GRAVE SECRET (Mundania Press, September 2007) was called “powerful” by RT Book Reviews. She is also the author of the TIME TO WRITE series of craft books for writers; the latest in the series is LIVING WRITE: The Secret to Bringing Your Craft Into Your Daily Life (Adams Media, September 2010).
