Listen to what Nudge you to write

Tomorrow I am taking the train to Stockholm from Copenhagen. It is a five-hour-long trip. It is not often that we are given five hours of uninterrupted time.

I will use this gift of time to wrap in my ears with an audiobook. I love podcasts and audiobooks but often I find it difficult to concentrate if I am occupied with other stuff or I get restless if I am at home sitting on the sofa listening, feeling I should be doing something else. The train is a perfect place to be seduced by a story.

In Stockholm, my NEW writing project is waiting to take its beginning. I am so excited. To be sure that I do not hit a roadblock the first day of outlining I am going to choose an audiobook about writing as a reward for any done writing.

My library of audiobooks about writing (audible)

• The Modern Scholar: The author at Work: The Art of Writing Fiction by Jenna Blum
• If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence, and Spirit by Brenda Ueland
• The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
• Complete Creative Writing Course by Chris Sykes
• Word by Word by Anne Lamott
• Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
• Writing the Landscape of your Mind by Natalie Goldberg
• The Art of Writing Memoir: Finding the Past in the Present by Natalie Goldberg

If you had five hours to your disposal what would you love to relish in?

There is a time for Lighthouses and Candlelights

A trip like this is, of course, a blessing only happening on rare occasions. But when I make a plan for the year it is a lighthouse shining in the calendar. When I plan for the month I make sure to make an appointment with myself that shines and flickers like candlelight. It can be a visit to a café, a trip to the local library, a youtube video about writing or a walk in a new place.

Now it is your turn

1. Make a list of things you know will inspire you
2. Allocate a time slot during the month. You can use this undated monthly calendar.
3. Use the time slot to plot in one thing from your list

And if you come up with a big idea for next year take a note of it. You have the rest of the year to make it possible.

You would not cancel a promise to a child about a playdate or field trip – don’t let yourself down either.

When you have planned out the month honor this date with yourself by looking forward to it, set a reminder, and celebrate that you have scheduled from a place of inspiration and not just listed another to-do.

The weather forecast is predicting snow. I love walking about in the city but this time I will cozy up in the hotel room watching the snow outside and let the words fall soft on the page like the snowdrops on the ground.

What did you come up with? Did you pick a date and a time for your next writing session? Please feel free to share in the comments