Habit of Mind: Engagement by Bailey Lang
Let’s welcome back Bailey Lang as she shares with us “Habit of Mind: Engagement.” Enjoy!
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Our habits of mind — the thinking patterns we’re focusing on in this article series — affect our writing process in surprising and powerful ways.
So far, we’ve talked about curiosity and openness, and the roles those mental habits play in building a successful writing practice.
In today’s post, we’ll focus on engagement.
What is Engagement?
The Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing, a primary resource for learning about habits of mind, describes engagement as “a sense of investment and involvement in learning.”
Your writing practice isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it kind of thing — it requires you to put in the time and effort required for growth.
Engagement encourages us to seek out new information and examine it in light of what we already know and believe.
Staying engaged helps us integrate what we’re learning and, most importantly, put it into practice in our own writing.
You can think of your writing practice like a houseplant.
It needs the right soil, nutrients, light, and water if it’s going to flourish and grow.
Engagement is what keeps you from neglecting the houseplant until it withers away and then wondering what went wrong.
How do Writers Practice Engagement?
A houseplant needs regular care if it’s going to thrive.
So does your writing practice.
Engagement is a habit of mind that lends itself to taking external action quickly, which can lead to powerful results.
You can start getting more engaged by reflecting on what and how you want to learn.
Simply checking in with yourself about this aspect of your writing practice on a weekly or monthly basis is a great beginning step.
Some questions to ask yourself:
- Have you actively invested in learning a new writing technique, deepening your knowledge of the publishing process, or exploring your genre?
- What did you learn, and how are you applying it?
You might decide that investing in your learning as a writer looks like hiring a book coach and reading widely in your genre.
Researching book coaches and getting up-to-date on recent releases in science fiction, fantasy, romance, and mystery is a great way to keep yourself engaged with your writing practice.
Engagement often begins with reflection and ends in taking action.
For writers, active engagement might look like:
- Developing a strong foundation of reading widely in your genre
- Seeking out or building a writing community, online or in person
- Taking writing classes or working with a coach
- Getting feedback on your drafts
- Looking for publishing opportunities
Engaging Activities for Writers
Getting engaged isn’t about leaping into action.
It’s about taking thoughtful, considered next steps that you think will have the greatest impact on your writing.
Here are a couple of activities you can try to start practicing engagement as a habit of mind.
The Weekly Engagement Check-In
Establish a weekly reflective check-in.
This could be a few minutes of journaling on some basic questions, or an elaborate spreadsheet where you track different topics you want to learn about and what steps you’re taking — the sky’s the limit.
If you’re just starting to think about engagement as a habit of mind, I’d begin with something simple, like the following questions:
- What do I want to learn about writing as a craft?
- What do I want to learn about writing as a career?
- What have I done over the past week to explore the craft, my preferred genre(s), and my professional development as a writer?
- What would I like to do over the next week?
The DIY Writing Curriculum
If you really want to make engagement an active part of your writing practice, you could create a mini-curriculum for yourself (or work with a writing coach to build one and offer some accountability!).
- Choose a specific topic you want to learn more about. Get specific: “writing fantasy flash fiction” or “self-publishing for first-time authors” is better than “writing fantasy” or “publishing.”
- Establish a time-frame for your curriculum. Aim for a minimum of a month so you can do a deep dive into a topic.
- Gather resources on the topic you chose. Search for a reasonable collection of books, articles, podcasts, videos, and other materials. Start sorting them into loose topic categories.
- Design a course based on your resources and the topics you identified, complete with weekly reading and assignments.
- Crack those books and get to learning!
Reading Recommendations
- Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning (Affiliate link)
- The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery (Affiliate link)
- Find Your Unicorn Space (Affiliate link)
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About the Author
Dr. Bailey Lang is a book coach, writer, and editor.
At The Writing Desk, she helps authors build sustainable, enjoyable writing practices that take their books from draft to done.
Bailey has a PhD in rhetoric and writing studies and loves geeking out about writing.
You can sign up for Bailey’s free newsletter, Word to the Wise, for more writing advice and regular author interviews.
