Started a writing class this

Started a writing class this week -- a 10-week nonfiction course. Just when there's a lot of uncertainty at work and there are several projects that could very easily go into backlog -- hey, I know, spend some cash and commit to something new!

So the discussion inevitably turns to the dialogue between the inner "critic" and the inner "creative." Somebody brought up The Artist's Way and morning pages as a way to get through that. I think the morning pages are a great tool. Sadly, I was never a morning person.

One key that, I think, goes right along with the morning pages concept is to just sit down and develop a steady practice. Natalie Goldberg talks about that in Wild Mind. Another key is to follow Anne Lammott's advice and give yourself permission to “write shitty first drafts.”

That's a hard one ... my inner censor has quite a bit of the perfectionist in him.

Memo to self: a third key is to quit reading all these books on writing and just sit down and keep writing.