30 Things To Do Before You Sit Down To Write

lizshine74by lizshine74

In Listicle.

30 Things To Do Before You Sit Down To Write

  1. Re-read old stories you wrote years ago and consider fixing them.
  2. Organize all the pens on your desk by color or type of pen and then fan them out into a pen rainbow.
  3. Answer the phone call from your mother.
  4. Decide to call a family meeting about the pressing issue of the dishwasher not being emptied or filled at a suitable pace.
  5. Ponder this question: Do I even have what it takes to be a writer?
  6. Decide now is the time to intervene about your child or spouse’s social media addiction.
  7. Go on Amazon. You just can’t write until you have a new notebook/binder/purse.
  8. Patch all the nail holes in your walls.
  9. Deep clean anything. Some ideas: the washing machine, the bathtub, the kitchen counters.
  10. Try a new recipe that requires an ingredient you have to go to the store to find.
  11. Clip your toenails. You’ve been putting it off way too long.
  12. Then pull every random facial hair you can find.
  13. Check your email. Be sure to fill out the customer survey you find there for a chance to win a $100 gift card. You never know!
  14. Google dog training services in your area. You’ve been meaning to sign up for years. You really can’t put it off another day.
  15. While you’re at it, give the dogs a bath.
  16. Make a sandwich you can barely get your mouth around because all work requires fuel, even typing. Eat it, then take a nap.
  17. Edge-clean the floors.
  18. Decide that now is the time to talk to your teenager about the importance of having a plan for the future.
  19. Download an app to help you get focused when you write and learn how to use it.
  20. Make a list of books you need to read for research.
  21. Organize your desk and sharpen every pencil so that it is ready to use when you need it.
  22. Read some blogs about effective outlining techniques or how to write stories that have tension.
  23. DM your best friend that you are about to start writing! Preferably through Snapchat so you can use an animal ears filter or start a game of blow the bubbles.
  24. Dress up your pets and have your own pet parade.
  25. Decide on paint colors for your bathroom, because certain colors inspire creativity and you need that before you write.
  26. Ask your spouse/ significant other/ friend to read what you’ve written so far and give you feedback so you know what a reader might think about your work before you move forward.
  27. Read that article that just came through your feed about the latest Trump-fail.
  28. Paint your nails your main character’s favorite color to get in the spirit.
  29. Write a blog list of Things To Do Before You Sit Down To Write.
  30. Check your retirement account and shift some things around.
lizshine74

lizshine74

Liz Shine teaches high school English, writes, edits, and coaches other writers from her home in Olympia, WA. When she begins to feel overwhelmed by it all, she simply looks up at Mount Rainier in the distance and gets back to work. If that fails, she heads to the ocean. She is a founding editor at Red Dress Press. Her Substack Make Time is her gift to writers, like her, trying to magic time in this crazy, busy world. All of those posts are cross-posted on the blog here. You can see more of her writing at lizshine.com and find her on Instagram {@lizshine.writer} cooking, traveling, and in other ways seeking moments of awe. She has been an active participant in communities of writers since the early 1990s. She’s learned that two things feel truly purpose-driven in life: writing and coaching other writers. In the in between (because one cannot be driving for a purpose every moment), she enjoys looking for wonder and connection. She is a lifelong yoga student, an enthusiastic walker along streets and trails, and an amateur gardener and vegetarian cook. She lives in Olympia, WA in the USA. She believes in the power of practice and has been practicing writing since some time in the early 90s when she became an adult in the rain-soaked city of Aberdeen. Writing began with journaling, as a way to understand a confusing, sometimes violent coming-of-age. She writes mostly fiction, some nonfiction, and poetry, and holds an MFA from Pacific Lutheran University’s Rainier Writers Workshop. She has published in Shark Reef, Dual Coast, and Blue Crow Magazine. She is a founding editor at Red Dress Press.

5 comments

  1. Kefi says:

    Constructive things:
    Read the last paragraph from yesterday
    Review timeline flow
    Turn off distractions
    Definitely eat the sandwich

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