“The only book that shall ever be written is the one that flows up from the heart, forced out by the inward pressure. When such a work has gestated within a man, it is almost certain that it will be written. The man who is thus charged with a message will not be turned back by any blase’ consideration. His book will be, to him, not only imperitave, it will be inevitable.” ~ A.W. Tozer from “God’s Pursuit of Man.”
Over the long weekend, I reverted to a style that has served me well from college to the present.
I was never good at composing research papers over extended periods of time, never embraced studying a bit each day, and really never have been good at doing a “little bit” of anything. For most of the things I do, I have to go “all-in.” It’s why I stay away from casinos.
I’m a binger.
It goes agains the conventional writing style that most experts will offer. Most say the best way to begin writing is just that, begin writing … write something each day, even if it’s just a few hundred words. That’s good advice for beginning writers, I’ll grant you. It creates a habit, and habits are good things for writers.
But if you’ve moved to a point where you’re more serious in your work, the notion of bits of pieces of writing daily may no longer work.
It’s become apparent that if my first book has any chance of being released by Thanksgiving – I must binge.
Last weekend, Friday 3am through Sunday noon was a 57 hour writing session with very few breaks. It was productive, resulting in nearly 10,000 words of decent copy.
When you write for three days straight, you inevitably learn some lessons. Here are 12 I learned:
- Without moving your cell phone’s switch to the “off” position, it will continue to ring.
- A.W. Tozer is magnificent.
- Periodic naps help.
- Grape juice keeps you going.
- One moment, you think what you’ve written is brilliant. On second read, it can sound really stupid.
- Sometimes, just sometimes, volume trumps quality.
- There’s no substitute for a good chair.
- The environment in which you write can make a huge difference.
- If you have a random thought, put it on paper immediately.
- Sometimes, it’s more important to write randomly, than chronologically.
- It’s ok to take a short Facebook break now and then, but just a short one.
- It’s going to take at least three more binges to get this thing done.
—30—
Good for you. I too am a binge writer. Whether it’s research papers, lesson plans or my blog, I write when it feels right, and I write for hours and days on end, until it is complete. It’s how I find the whole picture. Anything less would be bits and pieces with less cohesion. Congrats on your accomplishment!
Exactly. Even when I binge, it’s not always cohesive, but it’s more than it otherwise would be … and at least it’s a productive sense of accomplishment … kind of like I get when I finish mowing the yard!