How Recording One Second A Day Will Make You A Better Writer

I have never been super great at living in the present. Doing the whole "live in the moment" kind of thing. My mind is always thinking about my novel and the short stories I'm working on and the agents I've submitted to and ideas for social media. I am pretty much always projecting into the future, imagining how things might be.

Basically this:

Then a while ago I listened to this incredible TED Talk from a guy who did a project recording one second every day. Just one second.

I remember that idea really hitting me. He talks about how there were days when it was really hard, and days when he had to be creative, and it ended up really making him focus on how each day was different and unique.

In other words, it helped him live in the moment.

So why do writers want or need to live in the moment? Why will it make us better writers? Well, as an example, my Monday/Thursday blog schedule has presented me with some interesting challenges, and not ones I necessarily expected. Especially with the more personal Thursday posts, where my goal is more connection and entertainment than information and instruction, like the Monday posts. But I've often found myself having a difficult time coming up with ideas or topics when I sit down to write my Thursday posts. I find myself thinking, "What can I say that's entertaining? I work and I write, that's about it."

Living in the moment provides us writers with the material. And it's something I'm working on improving. When I make a conscious effort each day to think about why this day is unique and different, or why my particular situation or view on the world is different, then I start seeing more of the richness of life. And that richness is exactly what provides the stories and ideas and thoughts we writers need, not just for personal style blog posts, but for any writing we ever do.

So how do we do it? How do we get better at noticing and observing and gathering the day-to-day things into usable material?

We record one second every day.

And by no means does it have to be video recording either. In fact I suggest three other methods of recording and observing our day that might even be more useful for a writer.

1. Write in a journal. I've made a rule for myself recently that I must write in my journal every day, even if its just once sentence. Just one sentence is enough. This has helped me temper my natural tendency to project into the future rather than noticing that actual lived moment. It helps me go over my day and think about what I did that was different than every other day, even its only one thing. And I can go back and look over the journal too to remind myself and find stories. We are writing anyway, right? If you don't currently write in a journal, try out just one sentence a day and see what it does for you.

2. Take one picture. Okay, so we already know I'm a bit of a social media nut, but Instagram is my newest obsession. (I go through phases). Don't worry, I'm not here to suggest that every writer use Instagram. My point is that increasing my activity with it has forced me to look for unique and beautiful images throughout my day. It's forced me to take notice of my day, even in the things I do all the time like drive to work or go grocery shopping. In other words, taking pictures has made me open my eyes a little more and be more observant. These little moments of discovery or interest that we all have throughout our days, if we notice them, and even if they're not major events, are exactly the types of moments we use in all kinds of writing. And even if you're not one who likes sharing pictures everywhere, try it out for your own sake. Make a goal to just take one picture a day and see what happens.

3. Call someone. Now that my family is a little more grown up and a little more spread out, I have to make a conscious effort to keep in touch. We call each other a lot. And when you talk to someone on the phone, it not only forces you to go over your day and find the stories, you get to listen to someone else do that for their day too. And I think both are incredibly valuable. We've already talked about how going over our days can be a great help, but going over another persons day adds that extra layer, that extra depth. You get to hear the unique differences and stories from other peoples day-to-day lives too. This is exactly how we train our inner eye to notice those daily things that are beautiful and unique and that matter. Plus, talking with the people in this world that you love just makes you feel happy. And that's a good thing.

So why take the effort of recording and going over and analyzing our days? Because it helps us live in the moment and find the stories that are already there, and that already have meaning. And meaningful stories is exactly what writing is all about. So try writing in a journal and taking pictures and calling someone up every once in a while. Gather these stories, and maybe next time you start a project, whether its a novel or a blog post, your bout of writers block won't be quite as bad.

Write on!

Sarah Allen

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SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITIES:

• Writer's Digest Short Short Story Competition: We’re looking for short stories! Think you can write a winning story in less than 1,500 words? Enter the 15th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition for your chance to win $3,000 in cash, get published in Writer’s Digest magazine, and a paid trip to our ever-popular Writer’s Digest Conference! Due Nov. 17.
• Humber Literary Review: The Humber Literary Review is seeking submissions of prose, poetry, artwork, and comics for their third issue, scheduled for release in Spring 2015. Pays $60 per poem, and $100 each for essays, fiction, and reviews. Due Dec. 8.
• Workers Write!: Issue eleven of Workers Write! will be Tales from the Coliseum and will contain stories and poems from workers in the sports industry. We're looking for fiction from sportscasters, scouts, referees and umpires, agents, front office employees, vendors, groundskeepers, trainers, and even athletes—as long as the tale is about the "job" of sports. Due Dec. 31.
• Infinite Acacia: Infinite Acacia is now accepting urban fantasy submissions for our Infinite Urban Fantasy One anthology. Due Dec. 31.
• Microfiction Monday Magazine: Microfiction Monday Magazine is seeking exceptional stories told in 100 words or less for publication every Monday. There are no restrictions on genre or content, just punch us in the chest with characters we can feel, images we can't get out of our heads, and stories that are complete despite their brevity. Rolling.

SPOTLIGHT:

• Short Stories As A Path To Literary Success (Ploughshares)
• How To Make the Most of Any Writer's Conference (Writers Digest)
• Take Your Writing Seriously (Writing Forward)
• How To Blog Like A Pro (Social Media Just For Writers)
• Why Worrying About Genre Is Holding You Back (Nick Stephenson)