Since 2023 started, I have written something every single day. As of August 1st, I have almost 240K to show for it. This is not the longest streak of writing I’ve ever had, but I will say I have learned a lot.
Here are some of my biggest takeaways.
Have Multiple Projects…
In the past, I’ve liked to work on one project at a time. In the past few months however, I have learned multiple projects means multiple places to jump around and put words if I feel like working on something else. I usually have a few “main” projects I try and hit every day, and then a few “side” projects that I can hit every day, or I can go back to whenever I feel like it. A few sentences in each every day yields a larger word count than you expect. On the flip side, having too many projects can be tough too.
…But Not too many that it feels overwhelming
Over the last few years that I’ve been taking writing seriously, there have been a lot of projects that languish and grow dull and lose their spark. Some days, I feel like writing a little bit in everything. Other days, I feel like throwing the project in the garbage. On those days, I move past that project and hope I feel more inclined to work on it in a few days. There are so many new sparks of ideas that come to me, many of which are those projects that have languished. So I have learned that the idea can be as fun as it wants, but that doesn’t mean I have to start it right away. Adding more projects to the massive list I have (oh and homework for my bachelor’s too), would be too overwhelming.
A few sentences a day go a long way…
There have been several days when a few sentences in a few projects will give me anywhere between 500 and 1500 words. If I have a short amount of time (hello, busy work and school life), I’ll write a few sentences where I can in a few projects. I’ll usually keep that streak up for a few days, then get busy and focus on a large project (like editing), but it helps to keep the momentum going by coming back to a project every day or even ever other day.
…But Sometimes momentum feels stilted.
Sometimes, when I give myself what I have been calling “5 Sentences and a thought” (Cute, right? 😂), the action of the scene can feel stilted, or worse, it takes me a month to write one scene. Depending on the day, sometimes 5:AT feels like slogging through mud. “I want to say this, but that is 6 sentences!” Or I don’t know where I want to go so I spend 5 sentences describing something mundane or describing a character’s inner thoughts badly. It can get comical, and at least I’m making progress, but most days after those sentences I tend to berate myself. “Really me?! No direction for today?”
Overall, the most important thing for me, since so many of these projects are first drafts, is getting the words down on the page and working through the story. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to get done. These are things that I’ve learned over the last 180+ days, and maybe in the next 180, I’ll throw it all out the window.
I’m learning, and I am growing. Most importantly, I’m writing every day.
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