A Self-Reflective Activity to
Improve Your Writing Life
Conside these issues to improve your writing life...
- What changes can you make in your life that will help you accomplish your writing goals? How can you schedule more time to write?
- What are your writing rituals? What is the best time of day for you to write? Where do you like to write? (The crowded cafeteria? The quiet study?) How does your writing space influence your writing? Have you ensured that you have the materials on hand necessary to do your rituals?
- What changes can you make in your environment that will help you achieve your writing goals?
- What self-talk can you identify that intrudes on your productivity? For example, does a small voice within you whisper that your ideas lack originality, that the editor and editorial reviewers will dislike your manuscript? Do you tell yourself that you lack the time or ability necessary to get the work done well?
- What kinds of social support can you establish to promote regular writing?
- What myths about writing and scholarly activity do you hold that intrude on regular writing? What changes in how you write will help you achieve your writing goals?
- How is regular writing influencing your attitude about yourself as a writer? Or, if you are having difficulty writing regularly, why do you think this is?
- How has rejection in the past influenced your perception of yourself as a writer? How has the fear of rejection influenced what you write about?
(From: Moxley, J. (1992). Publish, Don't Perish. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishing. pp.39-40).
