 |
| My writing space |
If you are like me you see the New Year as a blank sheet of
paper on which to write goals. The opportunity to make 2019 anything I want it
to be; to finally complete all the goals from last year and the year before
that. ( sigh) This is the year I am going to . . . and I really mean it this
time. This year, like no other before, I am thinking about writing. Here lies
my problem. I think about writing. I read about writing. I read what I want to
write. But, I don’t write. It’s the 3rd already and I am just now
writing. Not the cozy mystery that is stalled at 10,147 words. I am writing,
you guessed it, about writing.
Months ago I signed up for NaNoWriMo, the annual November
challenge where people worldwide commit to writing 50,000 words in 30 days. I
wrote and recorded my word count, for one day. I had great hopes of getting my
cozy down on paper, then starting the New Year rewriting it. Life happened and
I abandoned the plan. My writing coach, my daughter, advised me to choose
another month and commit to it. January seemed the logical choice. It’s that
whole New Year idea, a clean slate, the renewed energy of knowing you have a
whole year in front of you. And I will
be in Hawaii for 10 days. Could there be a better time?
 |
| Ready to start the 31-day challenge |
Today is the day I finally start, not the 1st as
it should have been, but close enough that I feel good about it. I started by
signing up for Jeff Goins31-day challenge. I need to write 500 words a day. It is a
respectable goal, not overwhelming. I linked my blog to the other 3600 whose
writers have also signed up for the challenge. I did this because it felt like
it gave me accountability. Do you find you need that too? When I clicked that
submit button it was like standing up in front of a group of my peers. I
committed to write 500 words a day for 31 days. I won’t let you down. If I
stick with this and do the minimum I will have 15,500 words at the end of the
month. When I add those to what I already have it will be 25,000 words, 1/3 of
my book. For me the good news is once I sit down and start writing I really enjoy
it and I can make serious progress. The challenge for me is seat time, to make
writing a high priority every day. According to the experts, if I stick to the
31 day challenge I will have developed a habit. It is something I want to do
and something I need to do if I am to become a Cozy Mystery writer. 2019. This is my year.
Do you have writing goals for the New Year? How are you
going to hold yourself accountable? Please share.
No comments:
Post a Comment