I stole this idea from the fabulous writer, Arthur Slade. Anyone who knows me knows that the first draft is a killer for me. I can revise until the geese come home (we don’t have cows here on the lake), but first drafts? I need to be super-glued to my chair. Thus, the timer method. Art told me (I may not have it exactly right, but it was some version of this story) that he sets the timer for forty minutes and sits in his chair, hopefully writing, but doing nothing if writing doesn’t happen until the timer goes off. When the forty minutes are up, he takes a twenty minute break. He does this four times before noon. Then he’s done for the day. Unless he wants to keep writing.

I usually have to work my way up to four forty minute sessions when I’m doing a first draft. I aim for one or two sessions a day and then add more over a ten day period or so. For a revision, I have to set the timer so that I remember to take the break! When I’m revising, I have to MAKE myself take days off. Sometimes I even have to give my computer to my husband and tell him not to give it back until the next day. One day last fall, I thought, “Gosh, I’m tired.” and that’s when it hit me I hadn’t had a do-nothing day off since May! Yes, May.

I am doing a first draft right now which means I’m very good at finding other things to keep me busy. Wish me well on my forty minutes today…I’m aiming for two sessions…

How do you get motivated to write?

Four hours later… I did one forty minute session that turned into 60 minutes (my timer’s broken) and went back and wrote another forty minutes after that. Yay! Take that, first draft!