In On Writing, Stephen King writes:
More importantly, for us, it translates (very well I think) to many other resolutions, including the one Dort Munder has made. Dort has resolved, as we all know, to run a 5K race after many years of not running and certainly of not racing. Not an easy prospect, and, yet, attainable. He did not say, "I want to run the fastest 5K of my life" or "I want to win my age group" or "finish in under half an hour." He wants to run a 5K. It's a noble challenge. He is working hard towards it.
Stephen King's above quote doesn't come right out and say it, but we all know it, right? Once we've settled into our rhythm of a thousand words a day, once we've carved out a space in our lives for that, once that task becomes easy, we bump it up to fifteen hundred words per day.
Maybe this fall Dort will chase after a 30:00 5K. Maybe, instead, he'll put a 10K on his agenda. Hey, four of those is nearly a marathon . . . but it's this kind of thinking, I think, that can be stifling, ultimately, so I'm sorry if I've planted an awful seed. But I have good reason . . .
There will always be one more thing. There is always the next goal. But we can't reach the next goal if we don't reach the first one, well . . . first. King's right about a lot of things or seems to be right about a lot of things in his writing memoir, but I think the truest thing, no matter what kind of writer you are, is that writing happens one word at a time.
Running, no matter whether your Usain Bolt, Dort Munder, or reading this post, happens step by step.
(Again, I feel obligated to stress that this is not a photo of Dort Munder.)
* * *
Meanwhile, we did, in fact, get hit by an ice storm Friday night. Dort, as many of you heard, did have a tumble on the ice. He was unable to get out for his walk Saturday, which I would contend is good, because we all need a day off from time to time, though I wish it had been under better circumstances.
Still, he's back at it. Every day. Still focused on that 5K this spring.
By the time you step into your new writing space and close the door, you should have settled on a daily writing goal. As with physical exercise, it would be best to set this goal low at first, to avoid discouragement. I suggest a thousand words a day, and because I'm feeling magnanimous, I'll also suggest that you can take one day a week off, at least to begin with. no more; you'll lose the urgency and immediacy of your story if you do. With that goal set, resolve to yourself that the door stays closed until that goal is met. Get busy putting those thousand words on paper or on a floppy disk. In an early interview (this was to promote Carrie, I think), a radio talk-show host asked me how I wrote. My reply--"One word at a time"--seemingly left him without a reply. I think he was trying to decide whether or not I was joking. I wasn't.Damn near a month into this thing, and I'm still finding mentions of resolutions in my day-to-day life. Here, Stephen King is the inspiration, and, I believe, this is some of the best writing advice I know of, advice I give writers all the time.
More importantly, for us, it translates (very well I think) to many other resolutions, including the one Dort Munder has made. Dort has resolved, as we all know, to run a 5K race after many years of not running and certainly of not racing. Not an easy prospect, and, yet, attainable. He did not say, "I want to run the fastest 5K of my life" or "I want to win my age group" or "finish in under half an hour." He wants to run a 5K. It's a noble challenge. He is working hard towards it.
Stephen King's above quote doesn't come right out and say it, but we all know it, right? Once we've settled into our rhythm of a thousand words a day, once we've carved out a space in our lives for that, once that task becomes easy, we bump it up to fifteen hundred words per day.
Maybe this fall Dort will chase after a 30:00 5K. Maybe, instead, he'll put a 10K on his agenda. Hey, four of those is nearly a marathon . . . but it's this kind of thinking, I think, that can be stifling, ultimately, so I'm sorry if I've planted an awful seed. But I have good reason . . .
There will always be one more thing. There is always the next goal. But we can't reach the next goal if we don't reach the first one, well . . . first. King's right about a lot of things or seems to be right about a lot of things in his writing memoir, but I think the truest thing, no matter what kind of writer you are, is that writing happens one word at a time.
Running, no matter whether your Usain Bolt, Dort Munder, or reading this post, happens step by step.
(Again, I feel obligated to stress that this is not a photo of Dort Munder.)
* * *
Meanwhile, we did, in fact, get hit by an ice storm Friday night. Dort, as many of you heard, did have a tumble on the ice. He was unable to get out for his walk Saturday, which I would contend is good, because we all need a day off from time to time, though I wish it had been under better circumstances.
Still, he's back at it. Every day. Still focused on that 5K this spring.
Dort's Running Tally:
As of 025 January 2012
Days Running: 22
Minutes Run: nearly 800
Cross Training: 1 day
Days off: 1 day
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