New habit, what do you think?

[rubixmon]

I'm looking for some input on this new habit I'm starting..

I want to make a habit of writing everyday, no less then 500 words, about a random topic. I plan on using a random topic generator for this.

Think this is a good way to improve my writing? Any ideas that perhaps might be better?

[GregD]

Yes, join one of the article writing websites like Infobarrel, Hubpages or Squidoo and write your articles there. Sign up for ads and over time you will not only receive writing skills but also make friends on the forum and earn a bit of money. I don't know others but I used to write on Infobarrel and I enjoyed it there - very nice people. If you do go sign up use my referral link cause I referred you

i'm putting extra spaces in case someone doesnt like links here

http: //www. infobarrel. com/signup.php?ref_id=51065

[Matt Maresca]

GregD Yes, join one of the article writing websites like Infobarrel, Hubpages or Squidoo and write your articles there.

I used to write a bunch at Hubpages, cool community. You could also start your own blog of randomness, or just keep it for yourself if that floats your boat.

If you want to improve your writing, I've often benefited from brain dumping. That's where you just dump whatever thoughts come to your head onto paper. Sometimes you surprise yourself with what you come up with.

Also, you might want to check out Hollie Lisle's site. She has a lot of good stuff on there.

[Angelique]

Originally Posted by rubixmon

Think this is a good way to improve my writing? Any ideas that perhaps might be better?

Get quality feedback. By quality I mean people who write well or who's writing you admire.

[Swifthawk]

Originally Posted by rubixmon

I'm looking for some input on this new habit I'm starting..

I want to make a habit of writing everyday, no less then 500 words, about a random topic. I plan on using a random topic generator for this.

Think this is a good way to improve my writing? Any ideas that perhaps might be better?

This sounds like a good way of getting into the habit of forcing yourself to write and would definitely be a good thing.

As far as quality of writing I think a good plan would be to do how you plan for a few weeks then start writing one 500 work paper per week and edit the hell out of it. Make it clear, concise, and to the point. And make sure it explains what you want to explain.

It's one thing to churn out paper after paper, another to be able to edit one paper so much that it flows like a river.

[rubixmon]

I like all the the suggestions.

1. I'm definitely go to edit them after I write the first draft.
2. A blog? Hmm, I'll think about that, could be fun.
3. Isn't hubpages for 18+? I heard this somewhere and I'm not too sure if its true or not?

Thanks for the help, I'll keep this thread posted on how I'm doing- and If that blog is made or not

[Matt Maresca]

Originally Posted by rubixmon

I like all the the suggestions.

1. I'm definitely go to edit them after I write the first draft.
2. A blog? Hmm, I'll think about that, could be fun.
3. Isn't hubpages for 18+? I heard this somewhere and I'm not too sure if its true or not?

Thanks for the help, I'll keep this thread posted on how I'm doing- and If that blog is made or not

Ah yes, you're right. 18+ for HubPages, sorry about that. Good luck with your venture! Definitely keep us posted!

[wanzulfikri]

Blog is the best if you want to write everyday. Share your writings with others.

For Hubpages, unless you want to make money you'll be learning all the SEO stuff bla bla because you have to attract Google bots attention.

[Lynn 007]

Have your read "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron?

Amazon.com: The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity (Inner Workbook) (9780874776942): Julia Cameron: Books

One of the exercises involves writing for 30 minutes every morning. It doesn't focus on the quality of your writing or what you write but getting into the habit of writing every day.

It might be a good 30 day challenge for you?

[Matt Maresca]

Originally Posted by Lynn 007

Have your read "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron?

Amazon.com: The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity (Inner Workbook) (9780874776942): Julia Cameron: Books

One of the exercises involves writing for 30 minutes every morning. It doesn't focus on the quality of your writing or what you write but getting into the habit of writing every day.

It might be a good 30 day challenge for you?

I'll second that. Great book. It's where I came up with the whole brain dumping idea, though I've tweaked Julia's strategy to become more personally effective. Definitely great for a writer starting down a new path.

[Apresto]

Random is the thing that bothers me in your words. If you're going to start a habit make it more purposeful(if there's a word like that Consider what Lynn 007 said, a 30 day challenge would be more interesting and inspiring than just a habit for every day. Like brushing your teeth is not a creative act at all, writing every day can become just another thing you're doing, but writing shouldn't be "just a thing", or should it?

[ScottCofer]

I think it's a great idea if your goal is to improve your writing. An hour per day invested into any task or area of interest will make you an expert within two years.

Reminds me of John Grisham, who got up at 5 a.m. every day and wrote for an hour before going into the law office. We all know how well that discipline paid off for him ...

[CoolBee]

Fab idea - I did something like this a couple of years ago.
I opened an anonymous private blog for the purpose, never publicized it and made sure it was deeply anonymous.

A very good source of topics I found was 'journal jar' - google it, you can get all kinds of lists of things to write about. You don't have to put them in jars! I made a big list in Excel and set up a random number generator to 'decide' for me what I had to write about on any given day. (I'm a geek - sorry )

Here's one source of journal jar topics: Adult Journal Jar | Gifts in a Jar | Organized Christmas Adult in this context just means 'for grown ups' as quite a few of the sites are aimed at kids.

Some of the most unpromising topics - eg "talk about the games you used to play as a child' ended up being 2000-3000 words long!

I'm sure this exercise coupled with another few things that year was instrumental in some major breakthroughs in my life!

[Alice Hive]

Writing regularly is the best way to improve your writing.

I suggest you make a 30 day trial out of it: 30 Days to Success
At least for me, this has always been the best way to start a new habit.

As soon as you've made it a habit, there are also courses about writing you could take as well as read books about it (after all, there's plenty to learn from other writers). But only after you started writing, okay?! It's easy to get caught up in theory and never actually do something.

[Rimuel]

You should probably make your goal more specific. Fictional writing can be quite different from non-fictional writing. Within fiction, there's a whole list of genres, all of which demands a different level of vocabulary. Then there's the type of vocabulary. If you're trying to write about a time in the past, you may want to adopt an "older" vocabulary. If you write sci-fi, you may want to use scientific words or at least mimic them. Non-fiction is generally more homogenous.

Then you could consider whether you prefer to write in first person or third person.

So there are many factors to consider. If you simply want to improve your vocabulary and grammar in a non-differentiated manner though, then it doesn't matter what you write about.

"If you don't know where you want to go, then it doesn't matter what you do and where you'll end up." - adapted from Alice in the Wonderland


For non-differentiated writing, you can flip to a random page in a dictionary or book, take the first noun you see and write about that. e.g. You flip your chemistry textbook and you saw the noun "ester". So you write about "ester".

"I have a friend named Ester, though I thought her name had a 'h' in it..."

[rubixmon]

Thanks for all the support everyone!

I've come up with a plan now after taking all your suggestions into consideration:

-Write about a random nonfictional topic everyday. The goal is to become better at researching a topic, putting info about it on "paper", and communicating my own personal thoughts, and finally editing my own work.
(Might have a break day to pursue other things at that time)

-Put it on a blogspot blog along with some other stuff. It'll be done sort of like that ubermensch guy is doing his stuff. I'll probably link it.

Thanks lots again for the feedback on this. I really believe this habit will help me instill the self discipline I'm looking for.

EDIT
I think I'll change up the writing from nonfiction every once in awhile too

[rubixmon]

Originally Posted by Rimuel

You should probably make your goal more specific.

"If you don't know where you want to go, then it doesn't matter what you do and where you'll end up." - adapted from Alice in the Wonderland

I want to be a writer for something like cracked or a different online magazine.

[rubixmon]

I made a blog for general self improvement and one for the writing everyday thing.

Today's topic was Life and Death
One Random Topic- Once Everday

Think It would be cool to post what I write on here? Or just keep it to blogspot?

[Clint Cora]

I try to write on my Motivational Speaker blog at least five days per week. However, I try to stay within the areas that I'm interested in since it makes it easier not only to come up with topics but also it makes my writing more interesting. When you write about topics and issues that you are interested in, you will come out with more to say as well as appear more natural rather than forced if you end up with having to write about topics that do not thrill you.

One thing I do now is anytime I come across something I would like to write about, say watching something on the TV news or elsewhere, I jot down the idea before I forget it. Then I can revisit it when I'm in a better position to write a full blog post on it, which is usually first thing in the morning when my mind is fresh.

[rubixmon]

Internet was down for a few days so I just wrote about the first thing that came to mind.
Tis the season
12/13/11

Christmas- the jolliest time of the year! I used to have so much fun around this time- mainly because of the white blanket that covered the landscape. Snowmen, Igloos, SNOW FORTRESSES GUARDED BY SNOWMEN, snowball fights, and at end the day, a big cup of hot chocolate as my family warmed up by the fireplace. That's the Christmas time I imagine, sadly though, I can only imagine it now, things have changed.

Maybe it's because we moved to the tropics, without the snow the holiday truly feels a little different. Maybe its because money is tight, my parents stressing weither or not Santa will be putting anything under the tree this year. Maybe... Maybe... Maybe-

Maybe I'm just getting older. Seriously, it might be time to to face the facts...

• I can't really participate in Halloween anymore, I'm just to old. Trick or treating would seem weird.
• Competing with my siblings over who gets the most eggs during the Easter Hunt- a thing of the past.
• Even birthdays have changed.

The only good part is I don't have to sit at the kiddie table during Thanksgiving! When younger I always strived to be older, walking down the street by myself, going to a public bathroom without an escort, sleeping over a friends house, going to that party with that hot girl. As I write this I am nearly an adult, on the little span of time before I become a “big kid”. My childhood memories seem so distant, like a different person almost. Bugs Bunny isn't even something that excites me anymore! Is this the cost of being an adult? Time has flown by, and continues too, faster then before, all that is left of my past is a odd, faint, dwindling sense of nostalgia.

Age comes with priviledges and responsibility, only afterwards do we realize that there is a hook hidden among that worm. Driving and drinking is nice though, but not in a combination.