I just started reading a book for writers that I think may be a bit different from the usual. It is called "The Writer's Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life" by Priscilla Long.

The first chapter advises us to write daily. Certainly something I've heard before, but I am actually more excited about the way she said this than I have been with past writing books. If any of you have read Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way", she recommends writing daily. But it is more to get rid of the annoying voice in your head that spills its guts into your brain and blocks the creative you. Her advice is to write and write and never go back to read it, just forget it since it is sewage. I did it for awhile (I read "The Artist's Way" in a group setting, twice) but didn't feel like it helped me.

 But with Priscilla's book, I am keeping track of what I'm writing. I may be writing ideas down for a story that I want to continue working on (which she highly recommends) or something else that I consider valuable to my progress as a writer. And to remember what I've written, I even give the piece a title (I'm also giving dates to everything I write – this took a long time before it finally became a habit for me).

Since I'm only a short way into the book, I'm not ready to recommend it. But it is off to a good start.

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