Where Atomic Habits Meets Writing Sprints
I'm a bit of a self-improvement junky.
Ask anyone who knows me.
I'm always reading, listening or watching something that I think will help me improve in some area of my life. (And will help me help my clients, too.)
After hearing about the book Atomic Habits by James Clear for months, I finally snagged the audio book version and started listening.
And despite all the sports references—can we PLEASE start publishing just a few nonfiction books without any bloody sports references?—I really love this book and find it incredibly valuable.
There's one little tidbit that's particularly relevant for writers that I want to share today -- and then share with you a post that Anne Hawley wrote that illustrates the concept perfectly for writers.
In Atomic Habits, James Clear tells the story of a photography class. On the first day of class, the professor said that everyone sitting on the left side of the room would be graded by quantity — If they turned in 100 photos, they'd get an A, 90 photos a B, 80 a C and so on.
However, the people seated on the other side of the room would only have to turn in one photo, but it had to be truly great to earn an A. They'd be graded on quality.
At the end of the semester, the professor found that all the photos of superior quality came from the group of students who were being graded on quantity.
Because they took a crap-ton of photos, they got really good.
The students who sat around theorizing about would make a great photo before ever clicking the button produced seriously sub-par pictures.
There is absolutely no substitute for doing the work. If you want to achieve greatness, you've got to start by simply getting in your reps. (Oh, god. I think I just made a sports reference.)
Here's a short piece from Anne that illustrates the same thing, but for writers. She's recently found that doing ass-in-the-chair sprints every day has given her back not just her words, but her true identity as a writer.
I think we should all try it.
Then get your butt in the chair.