Chances For A Writer

I should have used this poster on New Year's Day but it still works today if you subtract 10. Consider that you have 355 more new days in this year of 2019 with 355 new chances to enrich your writing life and to move rapidly along your writing journey's path.

Think about one of those children's board games where you toss the dice, then move your marker the same number of squares or spaces. If that is your writing path, how quickly have you been moving? Are you moving at all or do you find yourself stuck in one spot slowly sinking into the mire?

Long lulls without writing can dull the passion and motivation. The longer you do not write, the easier it is to continue in that vein. It's why writing book upon writing book will urge you to write on a daily basis. I concur wholeheartedly.

You don't have to write an entirely new story or poem every day. Just write something! Do a writing exercise. They are easy to find through a search engine or on blogs like mine or in a reference book about writing. Even ten minutes of freewriting counts as writing. Revise something already written. Work on editing a first draft. You could also write a full story or the first draft of a poem. It doesn't matter what you write, only that you write.

Every new day of 2019 offers you a new chance to write something. Writing in a journal counts. So does writing the Morning Pages that Julia Cameron suggests. (She says that they are not even considered 'writing' but I disagree. Write 3 pages in longhand about anything and that's writing.) 

When the morning dawns, you have a choice. You can either allot some of your day to writing or you can push that thought aside and do everything but writing. But be aware that if you do that one day, it is easier to do it the next day and the next and... 

Am I being unreasonable? I am well aware that there are days in our lives when we absolutely cannot write. Illness, family problems, trips and more can hinder our writing daily. The main thing is to get back to daily writing as soon as the situation allows. Create a habit. Once you do, writing every day is not so difficult. 

You have 355 chances to write in this year. Just for fun, you might keep track of what days you write. I have a calendar on my desk with all my appointments, engagements etc. All I'd have to do is place a check mark on the square for the days I write. Or a big W. It would be easy to see at a glance by month's end how well you did. 

One way I am assured of writing almost every day is by posting on this blog five days a week. Do I manage to write something every single day? No, but it's pretty close. 

Write daily to keep your skills sharp and to move regularly on your writing journey's path.