I am in the middle of a challenge of 7000 words in 7 days. Yesterday I wrote 1011. In total, I have written 3087 in three days.
At first, I thought this would be easy. I love my YA story and the world I’ve created. I love the idea and the challenge. But through the first few days I’ve lost the love a bit. Does this mean I should wait to get inspired or is this the stretched place I intended to reach?
Whenever I get here I read My Why and the joy returns.
My Why reminds me why I am doing this work in the first place. The goal is to finish another book not to feel good every time I write.
I want to be consistent at putting words on the page, this much I know. Since the start of the challenge I have been able to get 1000 words or more written and put together a blog post every day.
All in all, I’ve written about 4000 words in three days. To some, that may be nothing to write home about, but that has been quite a feat for me.
I don’t write this post to brag but to share that the act of writing may not always be incredibly inspiring and joyful. But maybe writing is not about what satisfies now. Maybe finding joy in our work is a combination of the work of writing (filling the quota) and knowing how far we’ve come. From idea, to planning, to writing, to finishing.
And the truest part of all of this? No one will ever know what parts I wrote while uninspired. They will just know I’ve finished my book.
I hope that when you read this you know that anyone who has a full time job, three kids (soon to be four) can write on the side. That sometimes writing can feel like filling a quota and other times be the most thrilling thing in the world but you must keep going either way.
I hope you find joy in your work today or joy in knowing how far you’ve come.
PART-TIME NOVEL 
As you intimate in the post, the love of writing is just like any other long term relationship… early on, it’s exciting & new, you think about it all the time and you cannot wait to be with it again. After a while, it can get to be a drudge and you can even start to hate it if you aren’t actively working at it to make it worthwhile.
Great post, very motivational.
Totally agree Rob! Fantastic comment.
I think writing 7000 words in 7 days is a great idea. At my best, I wrote 1200 words per day. But, after taking quite a bit of time of of my book this summer, I am totally out of practise!
This week I decided to try hitting that 1200 word mark again, but, no matter how hard I tried I just could make my brain formulate the words.
I did get 800 out though. And, that’s 800 more than the day before. Hopefully, it won’t be long before I’m back on track!
Good luck getting back on track. Do you write only when you get up? Or do you have a few different writing times throughout the day?
I am trying to get back in the habit of early morning writing. That way, if I don’t reach my goal I have all day to pick away at it, between work and activities with the kids. And, if I do reach my goal I can use that extra time to check out Twitter and read my favourite blogs or work on my own.
1200 is a an admirable word count especially considering everything that competes for your time.
I gave some tips to speed up blogging a while back. If you have any about speeding up novel writing, let me know :). Best of luck getting back on track!
I’ll check out your link. Thanks for sharing. Good grief, tips for faster writing . . . from me? My book has taken my six years, so far. Even my 12oo words per day are cheating, I already completed a rough draft.
I can barely squeeze my 1000 in with my blog each day. You should be proud. 1200 words a day on a novel is amazing whether you are published or not!
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