Day Twenty-Two

Word count: 44,266

Quote:
Your mind has its own paths to travel. Just step out of its way.
- from Long Quiet Highway

Just squeezed in over a thousand words today. I showed up but nothing magical happened. I probably won't even use what I wrote today. It was all cheesey and trite. But at least I wrote it and got it out of the way so maybe something better will appear tomorrow. I think I am letting a certain idea I had influence the story. This particular plot line feels forced. Maybe I just need to let it go. Or as the quote says: step out of my own way.

Not sure where the day even went today. I did talk on the phone to my best friend from high school for an hour and a half, washed and changed all the sheets on the beds, did other laundry and even went Christmas shopping, bought two presents and wrapped them when I got home. So all in all a very productive and satisfying day.

Here's to the first day of the last week of this particular challenge but really, it's not the end. It's like a diet is never the true answer. There is no quick fix. Sure, I am writing this novel in thirty days but what really matters is what I do on the 31st day. And the day after that. And on and on. It's a matter of staying connected to my writing on a daily basis. It's a matter of showing up even when -or especially when- I have no idea what happens next. It means finishing this draft, putting it aside, revising an older story, getting some stories circulating out there again then going back to this novel and reading it with some clarity and distance and starting the process of writing it all over again. Each day I begin again. And again and again...