The Magic Spreadsheet

Around the start of the year, I decided that I would start writing.  Not that I’ve never written before, I’ve just never taken it seriously.  Like so many others I would start projects and those projects, once started, would fall by the wayside fairly quick.  No one is really at fault for that, right?  Life’s busy after all, and who has time to write?

I spent a lot of time listening to podcast before starting to write.  Mostly “Writing Excuses” with Brandon Sanderson, Howard Taylor, Dan Wells and Mary Robinette Kowal.  It’s a great podcast, and the knowledge that I gleaned from that podcast was my main inspiration to start writing.

That kick in the pants was not enough to make me write consistently though.  I would write one day and not the next, then maybe not the next either.  Days would pass with no words being put down.  I was busy.  I’ve got a family, a job and all sorts of other stuff to do.  “I’ll write when I get caught up,” I would tell myself.

 

If this is you, then let me tell you something.  You are never going to get caught up! 

It’s frustrating when you’re trying to do something and there is always something else in the way of what you want to do.  Well, Never fear, The Magic Spreadsheet is here.  I’ve got to thank Mur Lafferty for her podcast, “I Should Be Writing” because that is where I learned about The Magic Spreadsheet.  “I Should Be Writing” is a podcast that I found after I started writing.  Mur is an experienced professional that gives great advice but was also someone that I could relate to.  She would get frustrated or busy and not write just like me.  It was nice to know that I was not the only one with these issues.

ISBW was a new podcast for me, so there was a lot of catching up to do!  Mur shared the ups and downs of her career including her adventures in self-publishing, agent woes and her eventual book deal.  One of the most recent revelations she shared was The Magic Spreadsheet.  She said that she had been able for the first time in her life to write consistently.  At the time she was busting through the hundred day barrier.  Impressive!

So I signed up!  This is only day eleven but I haven’t missed a day.  Here’s how it works.  It may not be for everyone, but it’s working for me.  Just put down at least 250 words a day, log your words and the spreadsheet does the rest.  It’s great and  it works for me.  Check it out and get to writing consistently.  Thanks for reading, and until next time, I’ll be here write ‘n stuff.