By Leo Babauta
In this webinar, I talked about some of the best things I’ve learned from writing (just about) every day for the last 10 years (and most days for 16 years before that). (See notes below.)
I also answered some great questions:
- My son Bode is watching. He’s struggling with procrastination and writing at school. He’s wondering about importance of writing. Do you have any thoughts for a 5th grader?
- I’ve got all of these first draft blog posts but don’t seem to get back to edit. Do you think it’s important to finish one blog post before starting a new one?
- Do you have a recommended “self publishing” service?
- I like to write in the morning but on paper, it’s time consuming though… Do you spent most time writing with your comptuer?
- I am participating in a poetry reading tonight, which is great and also a little scary. I’ve read before people but not routinely. Any tips for connecting with the audience while I’m reading
- How do you balance creating with doing other work/things?
- I write a few paragraphs in the morning just to clear my mind. Any ideas of applying this writing to a blog? I’m afraid to start writing for others.
You can download this video here, or download just the audio. Or watch below.
Webinar Notes
In the talk, I discuss some things I’ve learned writing every day:
- how to just start
- how to notice & deal with urges to go to distractions
- how to come back to focus after getting distracted
- close the browser!
- perfection doesn’t matter
- keep doing small bits, adds up to a lot
- don’t let “feeling like it” tell me what to do
- be motivated by love & accountability
- write in bursts
- get up, stretch, walk around, think
- stay with the fear
- how to get a victory on the days when you don’t have anything
- prewriting is important – go for a walk
- revision is important too
- make the projects smaller
- iterate and find beta testers
- find inspiration, read a lot
- always be on the lookout for ideas
- find fellow writers
- understand the reader
- use friends and public commitments as needed
- favorite tools: distraction-free writing tools – Ulysses, Typora, Byword, Writeroom, Ommwriter
- writing can change lives