Writing Persistently

So I recently came across this video on Youtube and I thought it was great. I've always been a fan of Ray Bradbury,but I had no idea how he started off!



I think there's something to be said for the fact that he wrote an entire short story every week, and after three years of doing just that, he got better and better, until he was selling stories almost every week. It speaks to the effectiveness of persistence.

I want to do something like this, but I feel like it necessitates far more self control than it did before the days of the internet, if I'm not just going to write out the story. With a typewriter, there are no distractions save those of real life. With a computer, having internet access and a latent addiction to all things social media make it really,really hard to focus. So I think that achieving a feat like Bradbury's would be extremely impressive, and a sign of great prioritizing.

It's what is my biggest struggle, because unless I have a deadline, I often put things off. It's one of the reasons NaNoWriMo and taking a poetry class worked for me as a way of getting the creative flow running. It forces me to do something.

But this inspired me, I have to say. Even if I have ten million distractions and absolutely no obligation to finish anything, why not write a story a week? There's nothing holding me back. I mean, sure, there will be homework and lots of reading, but when isn't there? It's not really a solid excuse, is it? Later there will be work, adult obligations, and all that fun stuff. And I only have a year before all of those responsibilities start piling up on me. So I'm going to try and start. I'm going to try to at least write one story every two weeks, if not one every week. Let's see where it takes me!

How about you guys? Do you think that writing a story every/every other week is something that could work for you?