Making A Commitment To Your Own Writing

The Gathering of Your Own Words

I have been reflecting on my advice to teachers regarding the necessity to create time for writing. A question that has frequently arisen is -How does a teacher go about finding time in a busy life to become a teacher who writes? How do you do this?  I always do my best to answer the question. Essentially this is what I say when prompted:

Every time I pick up a pen to write, the rest of my world defaults to standby. Every thing else comes to a halt. Only the writing matters.

Mel Levine in his book, The Myth of Laziness describes writing as ‘exquisite synchronization.’  At this point my mind is pried open and thoughts begin to flow. I am connected only to the page. The challenge of the blank page takes over and must be attended to, immediately. The first words to spill onto the pages of a notebook are often raw and untamed. It doesn’t all glitter.  As writers, we just want to trap those thoughts and ideas before they evade us. To do this we must carve out some time to write. Set time aside to allow our writing to develop. We must learn to quarantine time in our hectic lives. We must give life to the writing ideas that come calling. Maybe beginning with things we never want to forget.

For writing to ever move beyond good intentions, requires a degree of self indulgence. Conscious self-indulgence, if you like. Remove the roadblocks holding up your writing. No one knows better than you what these obstacles are.  Get them out of the way! Out damn spot!

For this to happen, writing must be treated as something considered important, - a task too important; too urgent to be ignored. Prioritize, even if it takes you away from other tasks. Make time to breathe life into your words. Commit to the act of writing. Gather the raw stuff. Gather it regularly. 


Habits require time to develop. It is the regular repetition of the action that enables any habit to form. We need a cue. A notebook kept in a prominent place perhaps. We need the behaviour (find a convenient place and time- and write!) and the reward that arises from accomplishing the task of actually writing. 

The visible representation of your words on the page provides a powerful incentive.  This raw material you gather in the process is full of potential. First we harvest it, then we examine it to assess its value. 

So, my notebook remains with me at all times, a travelling companion. I ensure it is conveniently positioned at all times so that it is ready to receive even the smallest entry I can jot down.

When you arrange to meet friends for coffee, get there 10 minutes early and settle in to a little writing time. I do this quite often. It's an effective way of harvesting a few extra words in my notebook. 

 We can make excuses for our inaction and equally we can commit to taking action. It all depends on how much importance we attach to that action. I have never been able to disassociate my reading and writing from my core role as an educator. They are entwined, so I must attend to them and occasionally let go of things I assess as less important. These things I know to be true.

Alan j Wright




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