Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Page A Day: It's scientifically proven to work

I am now half-way through the page-a-day challenge and I'm so excited about how far I've come. In the last 16 days I've added 39 pages and 11,000 words!!  I've discovered that the crazy scientist I had to learn about in middle school was right: an object in motion stays in motion. Or in writer's terms, a writer in momentum stays in momentum.

The more I write, the more I want to write.

On the other hand, the blogging has suffered. One can't conquer in all arenas at the same time.

If you've been with me on this blog longer than a few months, you might remember that I started a story well over a year ago... one that I struggled with on and off for a year until finally, in March, giving up and diving into the one I'm writing now.

The thing was, I couldn't get all the pieces of the story to fit. I had these characters, great, fantastic characters that I totally and completely knew and loved. But I didn't have a story for them. I tried. I tried hard to get them a decent plot. But every part felt forced.

Today, suddenly, having not thought of these characters in a long while, the plot fell into place. The entire, whole of it. And suddenly now I am anxious to start that story all over.

But first I need to give my current characters an end, and instead of wanting to rush over and change allegiances, I actually want to stick it out and finish this one before starting the other.  I take that as a good sign.

This past year and a half has been rough, writing-wise. Of course, I did sell my book, go through edits and revisions, and get it published, but there was plenty of time in there to get another one written, and I didn't. Not for lack of trying, but somehow I just struggled settling into a new story. And I think part of that was the pressure to write a lot. Every day. 1,000 words or 1,800 words. 2,000 if I thought I had nothing else to do during the school hours.

This page-a-day challenge has been freeing. A page isn't always easy, but it's not overwhelming by any stretch, and when I feel like going to bed or clicking to check my social media friends, I think, "Just one page. That's it." And when I do it, it feels triumphant.

I've stopped beating myself up over small successes and started saying, "A small success is a success no matter."  The little things really do add up to something big.

It took 3 months to get 15,000 words down. Painful months. If you'd have told me in March that I would've reached 40,000 by May, and 60,000 by June, I would have laughed at you.

The bucket is filling. Little by little word, it's filling. And it feels good.

14 comments:

  1. so it's true - Floods follow droughts?

    Glad that things are flowing for you again!!!

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  2. A small success is a success! Yes. Congratulations on writing on.
    ~ Wendy

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  3. Way to go! I am thrilled that you are finding the way that works for you and it works!

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  4. So true, that success is in the doing. It's moving when you don't want to. Congratulations on where you are at right now Heidi!

    I've listed your novel on my Goodreads, too.

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  5. I definitely agree--the more you write, the more you want to write! I'm glad things are flowing for you.

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  6. The page a day challenge sounds pretty good.

    Also, the book is much more important than the blog. We all understand that.

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  7. Slow and steady. Right now I'm functioning in small spurts with long periods of drought.

    Question: When you finish this one will you let it sit and go write another or keep editing it?

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  8. Congrats on your progress, Heidi! I'm taking it much slower than you, but still very happy to be involved in the challenge. ;-)

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  9. Good stuff, Heidi!

    I'm here for you, cheering in the background! You can do eet!

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  10. Great job, Heidi! This is really wonderful progress. :)

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  11. Congratulations! Hard work, consistent work brings success. :)

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  12. Congrats on your progress and figuring out the plot for the other one.

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  13. This is an awesome plan, Heidi. I think I'll try it, since I'm gripped with the "all or nothing" mentality right now. I go to bed every night thinking, Oh, I didn't write the entire first half of the book today, guess I'll give up altogether. Thanks for the inspiration!!

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  14. Thank you all for your encouragement!! I meant to get personal emails off to everyone and I've gotten behind, but I love that so many of you are sort of in it with me, too.

    And Patti's question was so good, I think I'll make a whole blog post out of it. :)

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