GROUP WRITING
The single best solution to not getting writing done is writing with others--virtually. So, while they are not in front of you to charm you with their smiles, distract you with their jokes, and chuckle while remembering something goofy from class, they ARE there via Skype or Facebook--which you can choose to silence--and you know they are with you.
For me, writing virtually is knowing my peeps have my back. Together we are all struggling for an end goal--creating text--but our texts are each unique and different. There's probably some like in here to multiplicities and collective construction of knowledge, but that's not how I approach it.
I approach my work problems, specifically my writing problems, holistically and embed piles of emotion in it. Why? Because that actually works. I need to feel good at the end of the day. I want to feel good at the end of the day. I don't want to feel like a prick, and I certainly don't like realizing that I have been one. So, instead, I look for ways to feel good about myself, my work, and my friends.
Throwing down in a group write is one way to do this. If people slow or get unmotivated, someone or several people spike them up. If it feels like you are slowing down in your drive, you can find when friends are writing and commit to join them. It is a forward-moving momentum machine.
My writing people are not new to me. We've known each other for five years; all of us went through Tech's TechComm and Rhetoric program either online, on-site, or a blend of both. So, instead of trying to get a sense of people, we already know each other--we can slot into our relationships immediately. That is fulfilling in and of itself. So, we work towards keeping and supporting each other while, at the same time, we are all moving towards our own individual goals through the same core act: writing.
There's just something productive about knowing we are all working together for our own collective benefit. There's no final, shared deliverable outcome other than the group spirit, the esprit--but that's more than enough to want to participate. When the benefit of a deliverable is added, then of course it makes sense to participate and write.
Most of my colleagues are in the midst of high-stakes writing--completing their dissertations or chapters. This is grueling work as any of us who have or are writing a dissertation know. My writing is not as high-stakes: this blog post; drafting of other articles; research for articles to submit to peer reviewed journals.
As I mentioned in my last post, I needed something to drag me out of the spiral of low-motivated escapism. The Tomato Cafe writing group's really done that for me. They've helped me find a way to be productive and help people I care about while getting something done.