Hi Rajesh, thank you for sharing your thoughts and feedback! I agree, it’s the verbal equivalent of tapestry or quilting – creating in small blocks that you can later ‘stitch’ together as you say (I like the sewing analogy).

Vladimir Nabokov wrote on index cards he could reshuffle into any order he liked. It is also a useful way to escape the tyranny of a linear narrative, of feeling the the creative process has to flow from beginning to end in one continuous line (though if not working this way it’s very helpful to have a plan!).

The best one I liked was writing in snippets because even if you write in bits and pieces, you happen to accumulate good material. Later, you can stitch the pieces and make a gem of a story or article or whatever. This kind of writing suits part-time writers like anything.

Of course, to make it big, this is not sufficient. Perhaps everyone would agree on that.

Thanks a lot.

Thank you for sharing this, Jess! That’s how critique groups *should* work ideally, to spur on and encourage. Giving feedback is also a great learning process, I find, so it’s win-win. See you in Groups 🙂

Hi Mark! It’s fantastic what a guide and comfort a good plan can be. Self-bribery or reward is really useful as well for keeping motivation strong. Thank you for sharing your process. See you in Groups 🙂

Hi Deborah! Absolutely, I think this is a common mindset around creativity; we think it has to be an ‘event’ rather than a scribble or scrawl between duties and obligations that can always turn into something more developed and whittled into shape when we revisit and revise. I like ‘pootle away’. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Hi Angela,

Absolutely, in addition to writing groups (that are free to join and where members swap crits and chat in forum threads), we also have options such as the Group Coaching course described in the article as well as private one-on-one coaching where you work with a published writer who’s done it all before – which works similarly to having a peer accountability partner.

Some of our members swap details to stay in touch via email, particularly in our Group Coaching course where some alumni have become friends in the course of meeting at the daily writing sprints. Writing circles are generally a great place to find accountability partners, provided that the circle is constructive and you’re able to find writers of a similar skill level.

I hope this answers the query you received sufficiently, do please mail me if not.

Thanks so much, Becca! It’s a pleasure. Yes, I’m forging onwards with Spanish and Turkish applying the same principles, wish me luck 🙂

Hi Mindy, it’s a pleasure. Changing entrenched habits may feel hard but it starts with those small steps. Same here (and giving feedback has been a wonderful teacher, too).