Let’s Make a Pact: Making the Time to Write #amwriting
Confession time.
It’s been about a month since I sent in my most recent story submission to a publisher and I haven’t written a single word of fiction since that day. I can make a bunch of excuses, like I’ve been working on edits for three different stories, or I wrote a non-fiction book during that time, or I was sick, or gone for a week at GRL.
The fact is they are just excuses. I’m shocked how many days go by without sitting down to focus on writing a story I love and can’t wait to put down on paper. And there are plenty of stories acting themselves out in my head at any moment in time. That may be a scary thought, but for me it’s comforting.
How many stories are in your head trying to get your attention? Have you also been promising yourself you’ll get some words down and you’re also falling short of your goals?
So, I’m going to stop making excuses for myself and I’m making a pact with you that I’m going to get at least 500 words down every day on fiction. No matter how many edits I have or financial articles I write, I promise to spend some time writing something I love every day. I’d love for you to join me in that goal. I’ll do a post a week with how I measured up, and I would love for you to stop by and let me know how you did. Maybe we can get an active group together, just like I did when I tried to lose weight.
It worked for weight loss, so it can work for writing too.
November is NaNoWriMo, and I plan to participate. I can sit down and crank out my 2000 words per day and finish a novel. But why stop there? After November 30 I still want to keep my promise to myself—and to you—that I’ll keep writing at least those 500 words every day.
500 words doesn’t sound like much, but I know it adds up. If you only get 500 words a day, you’ll have 15,000 at the end of a month, and that’s a novella, or a big chunk of a novel. If you’re like me, just sitting down and starting gets the words flowing and I sail right past 500 to 750 or 1000 without noticing. That’s the beauty of writing regularly. It becomes second nature and ideas form without conscious thought. It’s a beautiful thing. It awes and inspires me every time it happens.
But it doesn’t happen unless we sit down and start with that very first word each day. Every day.
Who wants to sign up for the 500 words a day pact? Let’s try to do it until the end of the year. I know holidays are coming and family commitments, but if we stand together, we can find ways to cram in a few words here and there. I promise to share some of my own tips to find time to write and I want to hear yours. I’ll put them all down in a special post and link to it from every weekly posting.
Ready. Set. Write 500 words with me.
2 Responses to “Let’s Make a Pact: Making the Time to Write #amwriting”
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I wrote 1K-2K a day for nearly the entire summer. I’m looking to get back into that routine again. 500 words is a great goal, especially when life gets so busy!
That’s great, Tricia! I also try for 2k a day when I’m on a project. The problem is when the story is subbed and edits start coming for other things I somehow lose that great momentum. Let’s all try to encourage each other and not make excuses 😀 I’m the worst at it!