I’ve been trying to build some new habits. Like blogging. I took a class (shoutout to Gotham Writers Workshop) to jumpstart the process, got this blog up and running, then promptly lost momentum once the class was done. (I’ve also neglected to do SEO for the blog, but that’s a topic for another day.)
Clearly, I had not done enough to build a blogging habit. Sure, I collected photos and brainstormed topics and wrote notes for potential posts, but I didn’t put any real effort into making a schedule or sticking to it. Most days, I forgot I even had a blog. It was time to get motivated again.
So I went to my motivator of choice. Quotes. (Searching for quotes is a terrific way to procrastinate on writing blog posts, BTW.) I found lots of quotes about practice and habits and improvement and percentages and small steps.
But the person who spoke most clearly to me was Twyla Tharp. In the first chapter of her book, The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life, she writes: “After so many years, I’ve learned that being creative is a full-time job with its own daily patterns. That’s why writers, for example, like to establish routines for themselves. . . . They might set a goal for themselves—write fifteen hundred words, or stay at their desk until noon—but the real secret is that they do this every day. In other words, they are disciplined. Over time, as the daily routines become second nature, discipline morphs into habit.”
Creativity. Routine. Habit. Hard work. Preparation. “In order to be creative you have to know how to prepare to be creative.”
I love a good routine. I love practice time. As I work through this process for the blog, I’ll share what I’m learning from Tharp’s book. Let’s see if blogging will become one of my creative habits.
