I read as many knitting blogs as I do writing ones. (Maybe more.) One I checked in on yesterday had some sage knitting advice that could easily apply to writing.
Over at Carole Knits, she listed some of her rules. One of them was to “always have a sock on the needles…” Lovely. If you’re not always engaged with your knitting—or your writing—you’ll find yourself drifting away. And we all know how quickly time and life fill in that space.
I think it’s safe to say most knitters, and most writers, keep several projects going. That’s fine. But the point here was to always have a sock on the needles—to always have that small, easy, less demanding project at hand. It works for keeping your creative joints moving at a nice constant pace. But go beyond that.
Carole also said to start the second sock as soon as the first is finished. So important. By keeping up your momentum, you’re not giving yourself any excuse to not knit—or write. Work is always at hand. It’s always there to turn to, even when a larger WIP has hit a snag. There’s always that backup sock—or outline, or character sketch.
Isn’t it nice that writers can learn from knitters? I think so.
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I just LOVE that idea! I usually have a backup project to work on, but from now on I’m going to call it my backup sock.
Anna, I love that! Anything that gets my knitting into my writing is just fine with me.
Love the title of your blog. And today’s entry: a veritable purl of wisdom.
Thanks, Anne–glad you stopped by!
Momentum is SO important. What a wonderful concept, that writing can be made as “pick-upable” as knitting.
Hi, Marcia! Isn’t that a good concept? And more helpful than ‘write every day’, too.
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