Breaking the Writer's Back - Bad Habits

It hadn't ever really occurred to me before now that I could actually be a published writer, much less be a writer trying to attack bad writing habits head on. I skated for too many years not examining how I work, or questioning if how I work is actually productive. About three years ago, that process began, so I still have plenty of bad habits to address, but these are the top few.

1. Running from that which should be embraced - Conflict. Hard emotional stuff. You know. All the things most people (including me) actually read books for. But, and this is serious social conditioning at work here, I'm trained to avoid conflict and hardcore, dangerous emotion like the plague. Lots of people are, though I wager more women in this society than men, simply because Western culture espouses the 'women are the bridge builders' thing. Saw someone suggest that view was a pile of BS and women avoiding conflict is a survival thing. Don't care where it comes from. I want it gone when it comes to writing. I want to wade in, flailing, because I want to see what my characters are going to do. Easier said than done. I have to catch myself avoiding, route back and redo a scene in order to wallow in the conflict and/or angst.
2. Distractions - like most writers with internet connections I have the attention span of a gnat. I've been working on that for the past year. Meditation - no seriously - it's training to keep your mind in a particular place or frame - and when it ducks out, you're learning how to bring it back. Writing sessions go the same way. Focus. When I duck out to look something up that could wait until after the draft was done, or a I sheer off to screw around on Facebook for no good reason, I recognize what's happening far sooner than I used to and I bring myself back to the story. (There's a spreadsheet and reporting system involved, too. Also, an internet blocker, like Freedom is helpful.)
3. Chasing the shiny - so you know I had a former life as a tech employee at a large Seattle area software company. I'm guilty of still lusting after the latest, greatest tech and software. My bad habit is putting this stuff on my writing box with all the cock-eyed optimism of a trusting 2 year old. That bit me right in the place where my productivity lives this week. Windows 10. If you haven't installed it, don't. Not yet. There's a pretty nasty bug involving the Start button (which means that when it fucks up, you can no longer get to your applications). Known issue. Under investigation. No ETA for a fix. Sooooo. Don't go there if you don't have to. Not until that fix gets rolled out. I'm going to have to rebuild the machine. There goes another entire day.
4. Taking what I do seriously - you know what Jeffe said earlier this week about priorities? I have a bad habit of prioritizing myself and what I want last. For a very long time, I waited for other people in my life to take what I do seriously. Then came the day that someone (specifically Jeffe) called me out saying that it didn't matter who else took me seriously - taking me seriously was my job. She was right. When I have a contract, my family bends over backwards to make sure I get writing time. But the rest of the time, when I'm writing on spec - it all goes away. I'm not *really* working, so I'm eminently interruptible, right? Only if I'm not sticking to my guns and making writing the priority I want it to be. That's on me. No one else has to understand. They just don't get to call me or bug me between 8am and noon.

Oh there are more. But behavior modification really is a one step at a time kind of thing. You declare a theme (productivity is mine this year) and you work on the habits surrounding that theme. It's better to work FOR something (productivity in my case) than to work against the bad habits. It is easier by far to displace the poor habits with better habits than it is to attempt to simply stamp the bad ones out. That's my story. I'm sticking with it.

Begone Ye Foul Distraction-Beast!

Of bad writing habits, I have my share. And it is my own fault.

I keep my phone too damn handy. It's circuits have a hyperactivity syndrome. It flickers because I got an email or a text or a FB message or someone liked something I posted or the battery is fully charged or some random app updated and it thinks I need to know RIGHT NOW.

Sure these are controllable sounds and flashes. I can adjust the settings anytime I want. But subconsciously I want to know, to feel connected and needed and to respond...

Worse, if I get stuck on a scene, I'll check my phone. I play Spider Solitaire. I think, it's a quick break and I'll come back with a fresh thought.

Right?

Wrong.

I'm training myself in bad habits, and reinforcing that training, with rewards that work to shorten my already hobbled attention-span.

Therefore, to reduce these bad habits, it is my resolution this year is to:

Cut the umbilical to my metallic symbiont. 

No, I'm not ditching the phone. I'm removing it from the desk to a place of restful silence while I work. This has proven to be a chore, breaking that addiction to the digital 'connection.'

Also, I'm forcing myself to rely much less on my Spotify playlists while I write because that free bitch is always burping out a commercial right in the midst of my story groove. I own a hundred+ cds of movie scores. All of them are loaded on my desktop and I can work there instead of my laptop and go interruption free.

3 Had Babits of a Writer

What sort of bad habits do I have...in relation to writing? ~slaps knee~ Oh my gods, so many.  Clearly, I'm not as disciplined as Jeffe or as productive as James. I could wax lyrical about the first step is admitting I have a problem...problems.

99 problems...

Don't worry, I'm too exhausted from shoveling Snowmageddon2016 break 'em all down for you.  I'll stick to my Top 3.  What can I say, I like lists.

1. Distractions
Yep. I'm one of those who spends too much precious time and focus farting around on the Internet. Mostly researching things I'll never buy or do. ~Hides the remodeling bookmarks~  Surfing artists' online portfolios is an addiction that can cost me entire days of productivity. Then there are the random weekends lost to Hiddleston videos and interviews. SPN outtakes and Con-panels? I'm a goner.

2. Weeds
Not the smokable sort. As in the "too much attention to the micro details of a scene" kind. Why, oh why do I care how many steps it takes to cross the room? I'm not going to tell the reader that, but I have to know. I have to know so I can supply the character(s) with enough action to fill the space. It's crippling to start a scene and think about how much I don't know and how much I need to know in order for the scene to even begin much less flow. It's completely nutters, the way I approach a chapter. It's why it takes me so damn long to write.

3. Perfection
The relentless and useless pursuit of perfection. Massaging sentences. Triple-checking full sensory deployment in every scene. Arguments with myself over whether the action is in character for the character. Are the secondary characters different enough? Do I have too many? Maybe I should combine these two and rewrite... I'm not arrogant enough to assume I'll achieve perfection like the pre-godly-wrath Sisyphus. I'm definitely in-the-throes-of-punishment Sisyphus.

Don't be like me. Have some willpower. Give yourself permission to only hit the high points. Don't be the boulder destroying your chances for success.

Five Ways to Combat Bad Writer Habits

This week I put out on Amazon a short read. It's a true story I wrote some time ago, that was originally published in a literary magazine, about one of the most unsettling experiences of my life. A brush with the unseen that I don't care to repeat!

So, our topic this week is "My Bad Habit as a Writer."

Which took some thinking about, really. Not that I'm ALL THAT or anything... but I have rather ruthlessly weeded out my bad habits over the many years. An aspiring writer in LERA, my local RWA chapter (which rocks and you should totally join if you're anywhere in the New Mexico neighborhood - we have people who drive 3-4 hours to come to the meetings) messaged me this morning and said admiring things about my productivity. I replied that I've spent *years* building up the habits and skills to be at this point. Like... twenty years.

And I'm still a work in progress, which I suppose is part of the point. So, rather than focus specifically on my own bad habits, former, existing or future, I thought I'd give five ways that I've developed to identify and eliminate bad habits.

1) Own Your Process

I put this first because I think this is the most vital thing for us to discover about ourselves as writers. It trumps all other advice. If writing every day doesn't work for you, fine. BUT, learn what *does* work, own it, and hold your own feet to the fire. This takes a lot of writing, self-examination and ruthless honesty. There's a reason so many tales hinge on seeing oneself in the mirror or seeing oneself truly. The best thing any writer can do, in my opinion, is to concentrate on learning how they write best - and then holding themselves to that standard.

2) Kick Excuses to the Curb

Excuses are like opiates - they soften the edge of ambition. They make everything okay. Believe me, I hear such a huge range from aspiring writers. Family is usually a huge one, from kids to aging parents. There's something notable right there. Kids grow up and parents age, which means there will *always* be someone who seems to need you. That's not a bad thing, but their need can easily become an excuse. Again, this takes brutal honesty with oneself. Sure, some days the writing has to defer to something else - health, business, other priorities. But that's the key word: PRIORITIES. Have a strong prioritization list and don't change it. Many successful writers with kids put "somebody is bleeding" over "finishing wordcount," but everything else falls below that. It's salient to me that the productive writers I know never offer excuses for not getting their work done. They might bemoan failing to reach a goal, but they take solid responsibility for it. No excuses!

3) Listen to Your Editors - and Learn

I hear editors complain sometimes that their authors turn in book after book with the exact same elements that need correcting. A good editor/author relationship should be ever-evolving. I don't expect to receive edit letters on the drafts I turn in to say, "Perfect! You've done everything with such excellence that I have zero editorial comments." (Okay, maybe I fantasize about this - a girl can dream, after all - but I know that's not at all likely.) BUT, I really hope that I won't get the same editorial comments over and over. Working with an editor should improve my craft and skill as a writer. A good editor should help us grow. That can only happen if we're willing to learn.

4) Study Successful Authors

By this I mean anyone who's doing well. Sure some are flukes, but be wary of dismissing a popular book as beneath your notice. Even if it seems the prose isn't up to some standard, hundreds of thousands of people don't read "bad" books. Read at least some to discover what IS appealing to readers. Pay attention to the books *you* love to read, too, and learn from them. Take workshops from authors who are doing good work. Study what other writers are doing that makes them successful. There's always room to learn something more.

5) Keep a List of Recurring Tics

I've talked about this before, but it's worth revisiting. No writer is perfect. We all have various tics and crutches. I keep a list of words I tend to overuse, grammatical errors I often repeat, and punctuation bugaboos that escape me while drafting. Before I send to my editor, I spend usually an entire day searching my novel for these common mistakes. Over time, I've gotten much better about some of them. "Now" and "just" don't turn up nearly with the frequency that they used to. (Though when they do, they're inevitably in little poisonous nests, with several in one paragraph, or sometimes in the same sentence!) This loops back to #1, Owning Your Process. I don't worry about these things while drafting, because they're incidental to my process. I do, however, need to fix them at some point. No excuses for that.