What’s kept me from writing, and a tool for actually writing daily: Two Crappy Pages.
Authoring two crappy pages as an illustrator.
You’re Reading Adam Ming’s Daily Blog, Everyday, I’ll share a Drawing Prompt, followed by some thoughts related to my daily practice of being a Children’s Author and Illustrator. If you want to get this in your inbox, you must first be a subscriber of Ten Minute Artist, then toggle the Daily Blog on.
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Drawing Prompt:
Draw an Idiom. Pick one of your own. If you don’t have one, draw ‘Monkey Business’.
What’s kept me from writing
I know a number of authors, more than most.
I’ve worked with a dozen. And I am friendly with a dozen or so more. I’ve seen their journey and it is a long one.
If I could average out all their experiences at minimum it sounds like spending many years alone hunched over a desk, followed by a lot of rejection. And maybe somewhere between 2 and 15 years in you might get published.
And so what has kept me from writing is a lack of patience.
Has my agent asked me for writing, Yes.
Have multiple publishers asked me for writing, Yes.
Have I written anything? … Next question please.
2 Crappy Pages
I know of only one way to deal with these huge projects. And that is breaking it down into a piece I can do daily. And work that into my daily routine. And so that’s what I’ve done.
So for the past 3 days, Right after my morning pages, and just before doing my 10 minute sketch, I’ve been writing 2 crappy pages.
Two crappy pages is how multibestselling author Tim Ferriss goes about his writing practice. It’s based on the idea that
We just need to do the work
Bad writing can be edited
So two crappy pages is the space to create the bad writing, and perhaps one day it will be used to write drafts, and even editing.
The important thing for me is to have something I can do daily.
The two ways of thinking about being a writer is.
Working for a decade or more in obscurity
Doing a fun exercise every day. I’m choosing this.
I have a small collection of writing prompts and ideas in my head from books and from hanging out with writers.
So far ..
I’ve explored my experience of certain words
Written lists of writing words.
Drawn 4 panel comics
Written hooks with some doodles.
All within my daily 2 crappy pages.
And just like that, I’m authoring.
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