Two weeks ago, I launched a 100 day
challenge. So, by my calculations that
means I have 86 days to go. I’m not exactly
close to the home stretch, am I?
The experiment has already taught me a
few things or I’ve remembered them. The
first is that there is time for this. I’ve
always had the time; I just haven’t always had the perseverance. I’m working on that. My first step was to complete a workbook with
chapter by chapter assignments. Even
though some chapters were laden with additional assignments, and some assignments
really made me balk, (or almost puke) and I sincerely wished I could quit, I
went to the end. Writers persevere.
The second lesson is that I don’t have
the time. I know. I know. That’s the opposite of what I just said. I’ve found that I’m busier than I
realized. And I’m really, really good at
distractions. And at promises that say I
will do this later a.k.a. avoidance. I’m
working on this too. I repeat to myself – I will be glad later on
that I wrote, which handily outweighs the other mantra – I don’t want to. Writers are focused.
The third thing I’m learning is about
trust. Trust in the process – it might
look like I’m up against a brick wall, but I will write something. Write around it, or think about one sentence,
or write down the difficulty in colored font and go on. Or write what I think I need to do next. Or put the keyboard away and read, carefully,
watching for the way my words can come forth.
Or I can acknowledge that I’ve written enough for one day and I can wash
the damn windows. Go for a walk. Bake some muffins. There is always tomorrow when I will come
back to the page. In fact there are 86
more tomorrows. How much will I have discovered by the time my
100 day challenge is over? I want to
find out. Writers are curious.
