8 Ways to Build Self-Discipline in Writing, or in Anything
Writing requires self-discipline. If you lack that, can you develop it? Let’s find out.
I’ve blogged about discipline before, but that post discussed its importance. Today, I’ll tell you how to increase your self-discipline.
Definition
For this blogpost, self-discipline means your ability to control your behavior and actions to achieve your writing goals. This requires you to suppress immediate desires and ignore distractions, to make conscious choices to do what is necessary, even when that’s difficult.
Eight Skills
I found inspiration from this post by Zen advocate and blogger Leo Babauta. However, I’ve reworded his points and focused on their application to writing. Even so, if you practice these skills, you’ll strengthen your self-discipline in general, not just as a writer.
1. Write regardless of your mood
If you wait until you’re in the mood to write, you’ll wait forever. We find it easier to procrastinate than to do what we need to do. Gain mastery over this tendency. Sit in the chair and write.
2. Make time to exercise
Being a sedentary activity, writing for long periods without exercise can weaken your body. In the long run, you’ll write many more years if you keep in shape. You might find it beneficial to set a timer, take a break from writing, and perform light exercises before writing again. Try the Pomodoro technique: twenty-five minutes of focused writing and five minutes of mild exercise.
3. Write hungry
Break or avoid starting the habit of eating while writing. Write first, eat later. Let your stomach grumble awhile. It’s not your boss. Food will wait for you.
4. Have the difficult conversations
Many people, even writers, avoid or put off disagreeable confrontations. Don’t stew in solitude, harboring a grudge over some slight. Deal with the person in a direct way, while being pleasant and understanding. Learn to think about problems from the other point of view. Not only will this help to prevent or resolve misunderstandings, but the practice will help your writing. Readers cheer for characters who don’t shy away from the tough talks. The best fiction writers take us into the minds of disagreeable characters in a convincing way.
5. Form and stick with good habits, break bad ones
Ah, human nature. So easy to break good habits and to start bad ones. I’ve blogged on this topic, too, and I still advocate a system of cues to trigger a good writing habit, and little self-bestowed rewards for completing the action.
6. Tackle that problem you’re putting off
We tend to ignore the elephant looming over us in the room. When a problem appears too difficult, we turn from it, fail to face it, hope it goes away. When it doesn’t go away, we make up reasons to neglect it. Then it nags us, causing guilt and more procrastination. Instead, face it and work the problem. If you can break it into parts, work on the biggest part first. That way, you’ll be closer to done than if you’d started small.
7. Seek joy in work, not external rewards
Why do you write? If you write for fame, fortune, or awards, then what will you do if those things elude you? Give up writing? Consider shifting your focus and find enjoyment in the act of writing itself. That source of joy will never desert you. It blazes from an internal fire, not an unreliable, external source like the other rewards.
8. Meditate
Leo Babauta recommends daily meditation. Set a quiet timer for two minutes or longer. Sit without moving while focusing on your breath. When thoughts wander away, bring your mind back to your breathing. This practice can calm your mood and strengthen your mental discipline.
Putting it all together
The word discipline comes from the Latin disciplina, meaning training, and from discipulus, meaning student. In the case of self-discipline, you’re the student and the teacher, and you’re training yourself.
What’s that I hear? The sound of one hand clapping for—
Poseidon’s Scribe
What Was I Doing at ICON 49.5?
Last Saturday, I had a wonderful time at ICON 49.5. Most often held in Cedar Rapids, the Iowa Scifi Conference, or ICON, took place in Iowa City this year. Poised to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary in 2026, they decided to hold a one-day mini-conference this time, hence 49.5.
Book Signing
Conference organizers allowed me to set up at a table in the Iowa City Book Fair taking place the same day. For six hours, people stopped by to talk, look over my books, and buy some. I enjoyed sharing the table with Tricia Andersen, Darby Harn, and, later, Bree Moore. By watching these experienced authors, I learned more about how to do book signing events.
Indie Publishing Panel
To cap off the mini-conference, I spoke on the subject of Indie Publishing on a panel. Pictured from left to right are Tricia Andersen, Darby Harn, Bree Moore, me, and Rachel Aukes. By rights, I should have sat in the audience, because the other panelists seemed to have graduated summa cum laude from Indie Publishing University where I’d just enrolled as a freshman.
Gratitude
Still, I enjoyed the day’s experience and would like to thank not only the conference programming staff for allowing me to attend, but also my sister for accompanying me and helping me sell books. If there’s one writer who could really use the help, it’s—
Poseidon’s Scribe
How to Bargain with Your Inner Critic
Have you held a sit-down with your inner critic? You know, that voice inside that’s always telling you you’re no good, that you shouldn’t raise your hand in class, that it’s safer to stand near the wall than to get out on the dance floor. Writers call that voice their “inner editor,” because it questions everything they write—the style, the organization, the spelling. The voice tells writers nobody will buy their stories and they should give up and pursue something else.
Pros and Cons
I’ve portrayed the inner critic as bad, but it helps at times. An inner critic warned our ancient ancestors not to try befriending the saber-toothed tiger. Those who listened to their inner critic survived to pass it down to us as a useful survival trait. Today, the inner critic screams at you to stop when, while drunk, you tell your buddy, “Hold my beer and watch this.”
Though sometimes your inner critic prevents disaster, most of the time it urges against any action at all. It tells you you’re hopeless, useless, and unworthy.
Inner Critic vs. the First Draft
Writers who obey their inner critic without question never write anything.
However motivated the writer, however enthused about the project, the writer cannot get far if an inside voice declares the writing drivel, points out every missing comma, and lambasts the whole manuscript.
While creating a first draft, writers need freedom and confidence, not haranguing from a Debbie Downer. Nothing at this early point should hinder the flow or halt the momentum. Later, in subsequent drafts, the inner critic can prove its worth and let its editing prowess shine. If only you could give your inner critic a “time out” and banish it to its room. Hmm. Maybe you can.
By Name
Perhaps you can establish some control over this nagging inside voice. You could start by personalizing it. Give it a name. Activist Erin Brockovich calls hers “Negative Nancy.” I’ve heard Author Ines Johnson calls hers KeeKee.
I shall call mine Scoff McGrouser. What name will you give yours?
Now that you’ve humanized it, your inner critic now stands on your level, not like some mystical, all-powerful entity. You can talk to it. You can bargain on equal terms.
The Bargain
You’re writing a first draft and that familiar whiny voice pipes up, shattering your concentration and shaking your confidence. What can you do?
Address your inner critic by name, out loud if necessary (and if you’re alone). Be respectful and understanding. That critic, a permanent part of you, isn’t leaving your head. Tell it to take a break now. Be kind, but firm. Say you’ll be grateful for its help later. In subsequent drafts, it can critique to its heart’s content.
Evolving Relationship
Bargaining may not work the first time. You’re trying to break one habit and form another, and that requires persistence and patience. In time, you should find it easier to send the critic to a corner for a while.
In my case, I’ve learned to push Scoff McGrouser away long enough so I can write like—
Poseidon’s Scribe
Author Panel at Leaves Bakery and Books
On Sunday, I participated in an author discussion panel at Leaves Bakery and Books in Fort Worth, Texas. What it lacked in audience size it made up for in lively conversation about books with like-minded writers.
Josh Hickman
Author Josh Hickman talked about his recent book Forgetting, The Trials and Triumphs of Caregiving for a Difficult Parent with Dementia. It details his struggles as a caregiver for his mother during her decline, and their ultimate reconciliation.
Scott Finley
Next, we heard from Scott Finley, who conducted exhaustive research for the writing of his Voyages of the Queen series. The first in the series, Shadow of the Queen, involves a murder on an ocean liner in 1929.
Craig Shaneck
After that, Craig Shaneck talked about his novel Athens Shrugged, a murder mystery set in Greece. He described it as James Bond on a budget, a nice tagline.
Me
Oh, yeah. I might have yakked a bit about The Seastead Chronicles. Regular readers of this blog might have heard of it.
Many thanks to Challyn Hartogh and the rest of the staff at Leaves Bakery and Books for hosting the event. Several customers did stop by for their wonderful baked goods and tea, but not so much to hear—
Poseidon’s Scribe
Love the Book, Forgive the Author?
Do you refuse to read books written by authors who’ve held offensive beliefs or committed objectionable acts? Are their books, however well written, tainted by the author’s extra-literary reputation?
Controversial Authors
Rather than provide a complete list, I’ll mention a few, having found several discussed on this Reddit post. My beloved Jules Verne held racist and antisemitic views. Knut Hamsun supported fascists and Nazis. Ezra Pound was a fascist, racist, and antisemite. H.P. Lovecraft was a racist and Nazi sympathizer. Ernest Hemingway was a bully, alcoholic, racist, and antisemite. Ayn Rand had an extramarital affair and opposed altruism and religion. Isaac Asimov groped women. Marion Zimmer Bradley may have abused her child and tolerated her husband’s child abuse. Alice Munro defended her husband’s alleged sexual abuse of their daughter. This article about that last revelation prompted me to think about this post’s topic.
3 Degrees of Bad
We could divide our reasons for hating authors into three categories.
- Those who held and stated abhorrent beliefs that don’t appear, or barely appear, in their fiction,
- Those who held and stated abhorrent beliefs that are obvious in their fiction, and
- Those who performed objectionable actions, whether they wrote about them or not.
Any of these might cause you to refrain from reading books by that author. On the other hand, you might forgive an author for any of these reasons and choose instead to enjoy their books for the literary value.
Noncontroversial Authors
The world includes plenty of books. You could avoid books by troublesome authors and just read works written by saints. However, you may find saintly authors in short supply. Every author is, or was, human, and therefore burdened with faults and failings, just like non-writers.
Even those not known for offensive actions often wrote about their private beliefs. Today, many authors use social media to express opinions on news of the day. Fiction writers spend a lot of time musing about the human condition. They’re bound to form and express strong opinions on various topics, and some of those stances might offend you. The contemporary author whose works you most cherish might get toppled off the pedestal you’ve erected, after a single tweet or post.
Different Places and Times
Although plenty of today’s authors have said or done questionable things, I only included deceased authors in my list above. When judging author behaviors and beliefs, remember that we’re all victims, to some extent, of the culture we live in or grew up in. In various past societies, racism, sexism, and antisemitism once prevailed as normal. Phrases and character types that readers of those times and places accepted with little notice cause us to cringe today.
Is it fair to judge a past author’s work by today’s standards? Sure. You can judge, by any criteria you want, whether you like a book or not. Is it fair to blame a past author for not living up to our modern sensibilities? No. The author could not predict how society would change.
Authors Aren’t Their Characters
Though some do, I urge you not to judge authors by their characters. Some authors excel at showing us convincing evil characters. As readers, we might wonder how the author can get inside a twisted mind so well, and we might suspect the author of sympathizing with the bad guy.
In his novel Next, Michael Crichton portrayed a character named Brad Gordon as a creepy pedophile. I felt myself transported into the sick mind of this perverted character. Though Crichton managed the description well, I would never accuse him of pedophilia.
Your Choice
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, though many do. Is it fair to make your decision about what to read based on the author’s personal life or beliefs? Of course, but you might be denying yourself a pleasurable reading experience. What I’m saying is, you be you and I’ll be—
Poseidon’s Scribe
You’ll Never Sell Books in a Bakery, They Said
Thank you to Challyn Hartogh and her staff at Leaves Bakery and Tea Shop in Fort Worth, Texas. My book signing event there last Sunday went well.
Located in an eclectic neighborhood of old buildings redone as trendy shops, Leaves Bakery and Tea Shop emphasizes muffins and tea, but caters to authors as well. After all, once you buy your scone and hot drink, you feel the urge to read a book, right?
And, yes, we all get the clever pun—leaves…books and tea. Nice.
Paired with Galen Steele, an up-and-coming poet, I set up my table and greeted everyone that came in. Accepting my prior invitation, some friends dropped by and chatted with me.
My new book, The Seastead Chronicles, received a prime spot near the center of my table, but I brought others to sell also.
As you can see by visiting the Appearances tab on this website, I’ll return to Leaves Bakery and Tea Shop later this month to conduct a Writers Workshop. I’ve titled it “Writing Drunk – Imbibing Passion for More Creative Binging.” If you’re in the area that day, please stop by.
Thanks to my appearance last Sunday, we now know the answer to how an author stays and Leaves at the same time! Thanks again to the staff there, from—
Poseidon’s Scribe
The Island’s Still Mysterious After 150 Years
This month marks a century and a half since the publication of Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island. Maybe you think you don’t care, but read on. That novel changed a genre forever, and pointed readers toward new ways to think about survival.
Partial Summary
Near the end of the American Civil War, five Union prisoners escape a Confederate camp by balloon. Swept away by a storm, they must, at last, abandon their balloon and jump into the sea. They crawl ashore and identify the landmass as an island. With ingenuity and determination, they survive four years there despite suffering numerous misfortunes. In time, they cultivate crops and raise animals, build a pottery kiln, a metal forge, and even a telegraph.
As a Sequel
The novel attempts to serve as a sequel to two earlier books—In Search of the Castaways and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. Though Verne connected the novels with some dramatic skill, he botched the timelines. He wrote a footnote attempting to explain the date discrepancies, but it did little more than inform readers of his awareness of the problem.
As a Robinsonade
Something about island castaway stories touch us. Could we, too, endure in a remote locale, out of contact with friends and family, deprived of the comforts of civilized life? We take nature walks and go on camping trips, but do so while clutching smartphones, knowing we’ll soon return to our big-screen TV, while our door camera monitors the outside world.
In 1719, Daniel Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe, igniting an explosion of marooned-on-an-island stories, now called Robinsonades. Verne loved islands and had read both Robinson Crusoe and Johann David Wyss’ The Swiss Family Robinson. However, he deplored those authors’ choice to maroon their castaways along with survival equipment, the very tools and artifacts of civilization they needed. By contrast, Verne dropped his characters on an island with two watches, a match, a grain of wheat, and a metal dog collar.
This denial of resources became the standard for later Robinsonades, forcing characters to innovate and use available raw materials. No author or scriptwriter since Verne would dare equip their characters with large quantities of helpful supplies.
As a Comment on Civilization
Verne’s marooned characters don’t just scrape by. Bit by bit, they morph from castaways to colonists. In effect, they don’t separate from civilization—they restart civilization in a new place. In four years, they retrace the technological advances of twelve thousand years of human history. From Stone Age to Iron Age to Electrical Age, they recreate mankind’s major innovations. Perhaps this shines new light on the saying, “you can take the man out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the man.”
As a Bromance
The novel’s themes of survival, innovation, and perseverance stand out. But Nick DiMartino, in his book The Amputee’s Guide to Jules Verne, also detects a theme of male bonding. The castaways don’t argue, complain, or fight. They work together to survive. After they return to civilization at the end, they elect to live the rest of their lives together in the “wilderness” of Iowa.
With a Deus ex Machina
I suppose I can still call this a spoiler alert, even for a book 150 years old. What makes the island so mysterious? Peculiar things happen on occasion, aiding the castaways just when hope appears lost. Near the end they discover Captain Nemo, sole remaining member of the submarine Nautilus, has helped them when necessary. Not a deus (god), but he owns one heck of a machina.
As an Enduring Tale
The Mysterious Island still captivates today, in its sesquicentennial. Readers will enjoy the novel 150 years from now and beyond, because it asks a question applicable in any age. Could we, too, could endure if marooned on a remote island without our modern toys? Go ahead and read it. Explore Lincoln Island and imagine yourself being there. Accept this invitation to adventure, extended to you by—
Poseidon’s Scribe
Fanfiction—A Great Way to Start
Writers start as readers. We fall in love with stories written by favorite authors. Often, we seek to write like them. Some of us invent new stories involving favorite characters and settings. That is, we write fanfiction.
Types
Many varieties of fanfiction exist. You could write new adventures, where you take the original work’s characters on fresh escapades within their world. In Fix-it Fic, you write a tale correcting what you see as a flaw in the original work. Author Katie Redefer, for example, wrote Harry Potter fanfiction which depicted a romantic relationship never envisioned by J.K. Rowling. You might consider an update, where many years have elapsed since the original novel and you show older characters, or their descendants, dealing with a new adventure.
Reason
People write fanfiction because they love the original work. They seek to honor it in their own way. Perhaps they feel they lack the literary skills to create their own original story with fresh characters in a setting they invent. Fanfiction requires less creativity, because beloved characters already “exist,” and the world of the story sits ready-made.
Risks
If you write fanfiction for your own private enjoyment, or if you share it with other fans and don’t charge them money, you run no adverse risk.
However, if you write fanfiction based on a work still under copyright protection, and you hope to sell your work, be careful. Some authors allow and even encourage fanfiction. Others sue for copyright infringement.
My Fanfiction
Like many, I started with fanfiction. Years ago, I wrote the first draft of a sequel to Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas. I intended to title it 20,000 Leagues Farther. In it, a descendant of Captain Nemo salvages the Nautilus (in modern time) and brings unwitting guests on an adventure-filled voyage. Though embarrassing to recall now, that amateurish novel helped me grow as a writer.
Since then, I’ve written several publishable stories of fanfiction. “The Steam Elephant” honors Verne’s The Steam House by taking his characters aboard their marvelous vehicle to Africa. This story appears in The Gallery of Curiosities #3.
“The Six Hundred Dollar Man” puts an Old West steampunk twist on the TV show “The Six Million Dollar Man.”
In “A Tale More True,” a rival of Baron Munchausen (the fictional character created by German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe) takes a clockpunk trip to the Moon.
My story “Rallying Cry” honors both Verne’s The Steam House and Robur the Conqueror by portraying a secret World War I regiment using two of Verne’s vehicles—-the steam elephant and the aeronef.
In “The Cometeers,” I used the cannon and projectile from Verne’s novel From the Earth to the Moon. My story’s characters must save the Earth from a comet impact…in 1897.
My story “After the Martians” shows the aftermath of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, but WW I occurs using Martian technology.
In “The Unparalleled Attempt to Rescue One Hans Pfaall,” (included in the anthology Quoth the Raven) I depict adventurers from Rotterdam flying to the Moon, by balloon, to save a man whom Edgar Allan Poe left stranded there in his The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall.
“Reconnaissance Mission” honors Poe again, making him a character as a young Army soldier who undertakes a mission that would inspire his later stories and poems. This story appears in the anthology Not Far From Roswell.
My story 80 Hours updates Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days by sending a woman to circumnavigate the globe in just over three days.
I may well write more fanfiction in the future, but I feel more confident than I did before about creating my own characters and worlds.
I co-edited two anthologies of other writers’ fanfiction as well. 20,000 Leagues Remembered honors Verne’s undersea masterwork with fan fiction written by today’s authors. The book appeared on the 150th anniversary of Verne’s epic novel.
The North American Jules Verne Society (of which I’m a member) sponsored its own Verne tribute anthology with Extraordinary Visions: Stories Inspired by Jules Verne. This includes recently written short stories honoring many of Verne’s fantastic novels. It’s available in ebook, print, and audiobook versions.
Your Fanfiction
If you haven’t written fanfiction, I bet you’ve been tempted. For people who hope to write fiction someday, fanfiction might serve as a great place to start. The ready-made characters and story “world” simplify the process. Even if you write just for yourself or to give away stories free to fellow fans, fanfiction could provide good practice and a chance to learn the craft and hone your skills.
Get to it. Write! Be like—
Poseidon’s Scribe
8 Rules for Writing Better
An article written by speaker, writer, and life coach Brad Stulberg caught my eye. It bore the grandiose title “8 Rules to do Everything Better.” Really? Everything?
I’d love to do everything better. At the moment, I stink at mountain-climbing, neurosurgery, trombone-playing, the decathlon, and a couple of other activities. However, I’d settle for writing better, so I figured I’d see if the eight rules applied to fiction writing. What follows are Mr. Stulberg’s rules, and my assessment of how they apply to authors.
1. Stress + Rest = Growth
This one makes sense. Writers can overdo things, typing until late at night, going without sleep. Everyone needs recharging time. Besides, the unconscious mind often mulls over problems and finds solutions.
2. Focus on the Process, Not Results
I might have stated it a different way, but I agree with the intent. Writers shouldn’t compare themselves to famous authors, or anyone else. Rather than aiming for the best-seller list, seek to write as well as you can.
3. Stay Humble
This rings true. I imagine some best-selling authors lose some humility when they reach the pinnacle. They might imagine they’ve learned all they need to learn. If they step past confidence to arrogance, they risk going stale.
4. Build Your Tribe
Readers might think this couldn’t apply to writing—a solitary activity. It does, in some measure. Even the most introverted writers benefit from surrounding themselves with like-minded supporters. These take the form of critique group partners, beta readers, and eventually reader-fans.
5. Take Small, Consistent Steps to Achieve Big Gains
Any big job, like writing a novel, seems daunting before you start. Beginning with a small step helps in at least two ways. First, you’re less likely to abandon an effort you’ve started. Second, what you found difficult today, you’ll find easier tomorrow. That’s a corollary to the adage about eating an elephant. Thanks to the learning curve, you can take bigger bites each day.
6. Be a Minimalist to Be a Maximalist
Though I’d quibble with the phrasing, I agree with the meaning. If you say yes to fiction writing, you need to say no to some other fun activities of life. Focus on learning to write better. Put in the time.
7. Make the Hard Thing Easier
By this, Mr. Stulberg means to design your life around doing what you value, and make the tempting disruption thing harder. Don’t count on your willpower to avoid distractions or to prevent falling back into bad habits—remove the lures. Engineers call it the poka-yoke concept, or mistake-proofing. Example: if you tend to plunge into the rabbit-hole of fun research while writing, then write with a device disconnected from the internet.
8. Remember to Experience Joy
Like all people doing what they love, writers can turn into workaholics. Take time to celebrate the achievements, to delight in the other aspects of life. This goes beyond the rest and recharging of point 1 above. It means to allow a happy pause for reveling in small victories and to be fully present for the others you love.
Summing Up
Overall, Brad Stulberg has provided eight helpful pieces of advice, as applicable to writers as to anyone else. Though the rules may seem trite and obvious, don’t we all need a reminder every now and then? Among the writers who needed this refresher, I’d count—
Poseidon’s Scribe