It’s hard putting the words down when you don’t know where you’re going. It’s hard if you’re not in the habit (like I’m not).
It’s harder still when you lose yourself among the trees of creativity when you lost sight of your forest called “why.”
This is the buzzword of today’s culture. Why.
Why are you doing this? Seriously? What caused you to want to write 50,000 words in 30 days?
Can I share three things that I’ve done that kept my lazy butt in that chair over the last 21 days? Here they are:
1) I compared the feeling that I had at the moment to “skip writing” to the potential feeling I would have of having “given up” on the novel. I think that motivated me a lot. I thought, “is getting up an hour or two later going to feel good on December 1 when I’ve spent another month of my life not being a novelist?”
That’s a pretty strong why for me. I’ve locked my inner novelist up for all my life. I’ve come to find it better to let him out, because he is me. I can’t separate myself from what I was created to be.
2) I really put emphasis in the process of writing over the product. I know that I’m going to try to get this book published. I know that it’s going to be a whole other thing. However, I’ve grown to love and desire that sacred time where my fingers become the conduit of the words that make worlds. I can’t quite describe it. And I know it’s not for everyone. But I know I’ve never experienced anything like it. Do you enjoy getting lost in that “hole in the paper?” Do you enjoy creating worlds? Focus on that when it hurts.
3) I thought about the first time I read a story and realized I wanted to write it. It happened in 4th grade and I always had that desire, even to this day. When did that happen for you? When did you realize you could write? When did you realize that you took a great joy out of reading a book on the beach than swimming in the ocean? Think about this and meditate on the idea that you get to create that experience for someone else.
But don’t stop. If you’re only 500 words in on Day 21, that’s okay. Remember, there is power in those words. Keep writing.