Another Challenge with a 100% Chance of Failure: 300 Words a Day


That's right. I know this challenge will fail even before I start it. But it's just not fun to challenge myself to writing "most days". So I hereby challenge myself, and some of you must be sick of reading the words "challenge" and "challenge failed", I hereby challenge myself to write 300 words a day. That is, 30 minutes of focused writing plus however long it takes me to edit it.

How hard can it possibly be to find 30 minutes a day?

Now, for this challenge I would like to take something I learned from Habitual January. Creating a habit and teaching consistency is NOT about making up for words when you miss a day. In the end, you write much more if you just jump back on the horse and write 300 words the next day. Don't let yourself think the words are accumulating and suddenly you have to write 1,000 words. No. Don't do it.

The most productive way is to NOT make up for missed words. Be consistent. You missed a day. Get over it. Tomorrow is a new day. Write those 300 words tomorrow.

How do I know I'll fail? It's not just that I usually fail, because I do, but it's because I have some very time-consuming activities in my life currently. My final school year takes precedence over all. Footloose is showing at the end of the month, and rehearsals are in full swing. LIFE CONQUERS ALL. But when I can, I will find that measley 30 minutes, and I will write those grand 300 words.

And then, one day, I will stop and have a break from writing for around half a month, as I have for the past two weeks. I will find my way again. I always will. And hopefully I can return myself to this challenge, because what's 30 minutes in a day of 960 (assuming I'm awake for 16 hours)?

This could be a key factor if I want to finish my first draft by the end of the year. And if it isn't finished by the end of the year, that's okay, because after this all-important final year of school, I have a single year to focus on writing and working before I go on to further education.

Before I know it, I'll have a book in my hands. Hopefully, it'll also be in other people's hands.

A fantasy for the new age.

Aundes Aura.

1 comments:

Jean Davis said...

Good luck. :)

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Welcome to The Dark Corner of the Mind. My name is Ryan Sullivan and my aim with this blog is to help others with their own writing, as well as to make note of some of my own writing endeavours.

Here at The Dark Corner, Real Life is both our best friend and our worst enemy. Look to him for inspiration, but don't let him get in the way too much.

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