Now that you've spent some time

attempting to implement
a writing practice,

let's check in about your experience.

I want to say first that this isn't
about succeeding or failing.

We are information gathering,

so whether you met your goal or not,
you learn something about your needs

as a writer.

Let's go over a couple of common responses

to beginning to implement
a writing practice.

Some people have a tendency
to overpromise.

You know the kind of person
I'm talking about,

the kind who decides
they're going to revamp their body

and they go on a low carb diet.

But at the same time, somehow
they're also intermittent fasting

and only eating gluten.

And now, they're in a bootcamp class
that meets every morning at 4 a.m.,

and they've set the goal of running
six miles a day.

You know that person is going to burn out
within a couple of weeks or minutes.

The writing practice survey emphasizes
getting to know your needs as a writer,

but you also need
to take into consideration

the constraints of your life.

Maybe you need to write
early in the morning,

but you got to take your kid to school,
so you can't.

Be reasonable and practical
in your expectations for yourself.

Start slow,

making a commitment to yourself
that you can keep.

Another common response
can be beating yourself up

when you fail to meet your goals.

You want to make yourself accountable,

however,

the emotional energy
you spend being angry at yourself

is exhausting
and will not feed your writing process.

I had a client 
who started out as a screenwriter

and he really wanted to write a novel

based on a script
that he'd failed to sell.

That novel sat in his mind for a decade.

And I remember him saying to me once

when we were working together
on that novel, finally,

that his biggest achievement 
over that decade

was not hating himself for not writing.

That really stuck with me.

Now let's discuss "shoulds."

Years ago, I had a student say,

"I just feel like I should write at night
because all good writers write at night."

And I was like,
"Kirk, when do you write best?"

And he said, 
"I write best in the morning."

And I was like,
"Okay, so that's when you need to write."

It sounds silly,

but it's really easy to get wrapped up
in external notions of achievement.

You always want to bring the focus
back to yourself in your own needs,

not what a YouTuber
or even Stephen King

says about the creative process.

In this module, you'll find tips
for cultivating a writing practice.

But I'll just take one final moment
to emphasize one.

Turn off your phone.

Just a visual reminder
that there is an outside world

that can be enough to stop a writer dead.

If I see my phone sitting on the table,

my brain is instantly out of my project.

When I'm writing,
I either turn off my phone

or at least put it in the other room.

There are so many distractions,

the least you can do
is give yourself a fighting shot.