15 Comments
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Marjorie Apple's avatar

Congrats. I like the disciplined approach. It works for me too. I strive for 90 mins of seriously drafting or editing every day. Anything more is to be commended; less, forgiven. Bravo.

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Jeff Goins's avatar

Haha, indeed. Thanks, Marjorie. I like that system. 90 minutes feels like the right amount to budget. Less than that, it feels a little rushed, like you can't actually work with the words on the page too much. Just have to get them down.

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Dr Habit's avatar

YES!!! Elizabeth Gilbert discusses the myth that discipline finishes books 📚 - what REALLY finishes books is forgiveness ❤️

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Jeff Goins's avatar

Oh, snap. That's good.

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Matt Cardin's avatar

Absolutely yes to what you say about the writing coming naturally in fits and starts. My own experience is the same. It helps to show up every day, keep the plates spinning, keep the energy flowing, keep the muse door open. And/but also let go of expectations about what might happen that day on the page, and just follow the energy where it wants to go. Sometimes, as you say, you write only a few words, or just rearrange or otherwise work with words previously written. Other days it's like a volcano, like you're plugged into the universal mind and struggling to keep up with all the words that want to come through. Really cool that you're sharing your raw experience of these things.

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Mollie Lyon's avatar

More inspiration for this old lady. After a start at school routine with out-of-state guests last week, I’m looking forward to finding my groove again. Monday I felt really tired, but I think today, as I realize the time I have, a writing comeback materializes. Glad you are doing so well.

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Coralee A. Gionta's avatar

Jeff! Congratulations on your hard work and the exciting first draft of your next book! I really think it amounts to just getting started and committing yourself to the doing of the writing every day, whether you spend 15 minutes on it per day or 5 hours. Good for you, I can't wait to read it!

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Jeff Goins's avatar

Thank you, Coralee.

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Molly B's avatar

Ah! I want so badly to read the "Driving To Tennessee" part!!! Waiting (kinda) patiently. I am inspired by the way you're outlining your chapters, just the reminders to yourself. Thank you for writing :)

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Jeff Goins's avatar

Heh. Thanks. I actually didn't get that part in. Need to include in the rewrite.

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Dr Habit's avatar

I really appreciate you sharing these gritty details ❤️ ✨️

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Jeff Goins's avatar

I'm glad! More to come...

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Molly B's avatar

Thank you for the update! I've been wondering how it was going :) Thank you for sharing and for the encouragement, as always.

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Jeff Goins's avatar

You bet. I'm plugging away. I think I'll end up around 40K-ish words, but we'll see. Definitely going to do some culling and trimming. I appreciate your encouragement and your example of going first.

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Tim's avatar

I just finished your draft. I’m exhausted because I traveled with you down the path less traveled after a left-hand turn. What an amazing journey. You had the courage to leave the group and go in search of YOUR desired experience. You didn’t know where the path would end, but you DID know when you got there. What a metaphor for living life-and writing. Congrats.

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