Rules are meant to be broken. Does that include your own rules? I would guess so. Or is that something people say when they can’t follow the rules they created for themselves in a moment of trying too hard? Let’s review the rules I made just over a week ago.
- Write everyday. No that’s not specific enough for me. I need structure. Write everyday at 7pm for no less than 30 minutes. That’s pretty specific.
Nope. I think I wrote a few days, but then disappeared in research and talking to myself. I’ve been talking to myself about the story for days now. No words to paper or screen.
- Research, organizing, and plotting count towards writing time.
This one I have in spades. I’ve researched Greek gods, demons and angels. I’ve researched a car I’m trying to remember from my teen years. My sister had it for a while. It was a “classic”, huge and faded olive green. The fact that it was a convertible made it even cooler. I named that car Consuela Juanita Vasquez. I don’t know why, but my sister loved the name. She’s no longer here, so I can’t ask her about the car. I digress. I’ve also plotted out a dream sequence (in my head) and had an epiphany about it just today.
- Limit social media time. Nope, needs more. During writing periods, no social media. Social media is for outside of writing periods. (Yes, this blog counts as social media.)
Nope. Social media has definitely been a distraction over the past week or so. There’s so much news lately. I’ve never felt FOMO until now. I’m constantly checking Twitter, FaceBook, and TikTok. I don’t want to miss anything.
- Block out distractions. No TV. No humans. Pets okay. If possible, get behind a closed door.
Not behind a closed door, but outside distractions have been few. I easily distract myself without any outside help.
- Allow for hiccups in the plan. Be open to moving the time of day – but get 30 minutes in daily.
Now, this rule I actually forgot I’d written. I could have saved myself a lot of guilt. Guilt that stopped me from writing at all that day. How does that even make sense? I feel so guilty for not writing when I was supposed to write that I can’t possibly write now!
- Get to bed by 10pm and asleep before 11pm. No social media in bed. For the love of all things, no TikTok! (If you haven’t installed TikTok, don’t! It’s the worst time trap ever! It’s too late for me, save yourself!)
I managed to do this one a few times and get some good sleep, but I also had a few long nights watching video after video. Just one more. Just one more. And 3 hours later… ugh.
Why can’t I get serious about writing? Why can’t I make time for writing? Why is my writing not as important to me as I want it to be. When I think of having a quiet weekend to write, I get excited about the possibilities. When Friday comes, I say I’ll write for hours Saturday and Sunday. Saturday comes and I do everything under the sun, but write. None, absolutely none of the things I did yesterday (Saturday) needed to be done.
Today, Sunday, this is the first I am sitting down to acknowledge the lack of writing. Will I write after I post this? My brain right now says, of course I will, but will I? Maybe I will. Maybe. I’ll keep working on my goals and getting writing into my every day habits.
Wendy Crafton Writes 
I feel this! I break my own rules all the time, too. I make beautiful weekly writing goals and then only partly follow through. And tik tok is my favorite time suck! Haha! Oh well. Small progress is still progress. I hope it's gotten better for you since you wrote this post! 🤞🏻🤞🏻
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Writing has gotten better for me. Not so much with the following the rules part, but I'm closer to goal than I was when I wrote this blog post. Thanks for the comments!
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I hate to be pedantic … no, that’s not true …. I love to be pedantic (and that may be why my writing is so dull) ….. but …. rules are NOT meant to be broken. Rules are meant to be followed, for that is the very nature of rules – making a rule that is meant to be broken is like making a circle that’s meant to be square – its self-contradictory.
But here’s the thing. Breaking rules (that are meant to be followed) is terrific fun. It makes you feel young and powerful and daring and rebellious.
There is a limit, of course, to the thrill one can get from breaking the same rule over and over again.
I made a rule, for example, that required me to write something (even if only one sentence … just a few words) half-decent every day.
After about 30 years of unrelenting disobedience I admit that the novelty is wearing thin.
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