“Not a Day Without a Line”
How I’m Organizing my Writing for the Next Year, Part IV
Appeles, the ancient artist, coined this phrase and his accomplished students Van Gogh and Beethoven credited this resolution as a key part of their success. I am not what I do, I am what I do habitually. I am not shaped by an injury or the eating of a twinkie, but by whether or not I habitually stay in shape and eat well. I am not defined by any single moment. I am not a writer for having penned a novel, but for being one who writes as a part of common practice. There are plenty of accurate titles for every man, don’t think anyone is fooled by adopting one that does not fit. I am not a poet for having written a poem, but for writing poems as a matter of course; I am not a philanthropist for donating to a charity tomorrow with my tax return, but for the money and work I give regularly.
This is the most critical piece of my plan for this year. I have a website to rework, copy and handouts for four courses, three workshops, and the school lessons I teach, three manuscripts I’d like to compile by year’s end plus one to revise, and at least five hundred words every day on top of all the client work which comes in — with a day job! If I do not make writing and typing daily a part of my habits, there is no way I’ll have the reserves and energy for the late-night sessions to get everything done come crunch time. If I want to succeed, I must make the iron hot by striking instead of waiting for the iron to be hot, as Chaucer passed his observation on to Cromwell, on to Ben Franklin, and on and on down the list of accomplished folk. I must be something — let it come at my own hand!
I previously started a daily writing habit and have kept it going for almost three years now. I no longer care about setbacks, or missing a day when I am interrupted or my extended family calls me across town for a visit. I can afford to take a hit because I know I will keep moving forward. It has become who I am to write and keep writing even if plans get twisted. If I did not have the certainty that I would write at least two thousand words each day I would get anxious about making them effective. With that certitude I know about three-quarters of my words don’t need to be grade A and I’ll still produce enough good ones that when I edit them into a post, email, product, or proposal I will meet my demands for quality.
I want to reshape my life? I must do and I must want it enough to overcome inertia. It’s called work because we cannot simply glide across the peaks of each heartbeat. Your passions should not be about pursuit of the high of creativity or the thrill of success so much as overcoming the mountain and breaking through that blank page to release the torrent of ink and thought and story, unleashing your potential.
What do you call yourself? What do you do every day? What are your habits? Are you proud, or are you ashamed to face them? You have the protagonistic power to change them. Become who you would be! Say it to yourself, it begins now: “Not a day without _______!”
