The Write Life: Writing Is Struggle

Writing has been extremely difficult this month. I’m sure many writers are feeling the same way I am. It’s been hard to focus and harder not to despair. And as the month wore on—and maybe you started processing your grief and frustration—here come the holidays to serve up more distraction and stress! But the thing is it’s not actually too different from other writing times because, as we all know, writing is struggle.

Writing Is Struggle

Getting your thoughts on the page can be a struggle. Telling a coherent story that entertains others can be a struggle. Writing a character who is likeable but flawed can be a struggle. Creating characters who don’t all sound the same or are propped up by cliches can be a struggle. Building a rich world without info dumping can be a struggle. Writing beautiful sentences with engaging images and varied syntax can be a struggle. Using correct grammar can be a struggle!

Finding time to write can be a struggle. Building motivation and momentum in your writing life can be a struggle. Focusing during your writing sessions can be a struggle. Drafting a work to its end can be a struggle. Keeping your attention on a single work can be a struggle. Dealing with your technology and computers and lost data can be a struggle. Organizing your notes and research can be a struggle. Fact checking your real-world details can be a struggle. Writing to your market or your genre can be a struggle.

Finding an agent can be a struggle. Pitching your story can be a struggle. Designing covers, or even just inspiration mood boards can be a struggle! Marketing yourself can be a struggle. Finding readers can be a struggle. Posting to social media to build a platform can be a struggle.

And that’s just the writing process! Struggle is built into fiction: conflicts between characters, between your characters and their society or environment, between nations, ideologies, and technologies. The obstacles characters face are what stories are about. Even the coziest books contain problems and struggle, though they might be as simple as running out of an ingredient and needing to take a trip to the market, or being worried about how a requited crush will react to a kiss.

Writing is inherently struggle. It’s baked into the finished product, so it’s no wonder we face so much struggle to write our stories. And maybe—just this once—we can view all that struggle as a good thing. We writers know what struggle is. We know what it means and how to deal with it (even if dealing with it includes a good cry or a frustrated scream). We are experienced strugglers and we still manage to write.

So, while you are mired in the struggle, know that writing is struggle and that it’s something you can deal with. I believe in writing, and I believe in you.

 

 

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The Write Life: Writing With Distractions

I doubt I’m the only writer who’s been feeling a little distracted this month. It can be difficult to keep writing with distractions. Writing requires a lot of energy, focus, and motivation to both tap into your creativity and then translate your ideas into words other people will understand (and enjoy). So when distractions pop up—especially when they’re on a grand scale—it can be almost impossible to write.

Almost.

If you want to keep writing with distractions, here are three things I’ve done in the past month to shove distractions aside and get some writing done.

Three Tips for Writing with Distractions

Exit Your Normal World

Just as a character exits their normal world and enters the special world of a story, so too can you leave your normal writing setting behind and find a new place to write, at least for an afternoon.

After several days of feeling extremely distracted (and anxious) and failing to fully focus, I cleared an afternoon for an outing. I ran some errands and then swung by a bookstore. After wandering the shelves to settle my nerves (and uh, buying a couple books), I grabbed a table in the café and sat down to write.

Going somewhere different—and especially giving myself a relaxing activity beforehand—helped me feel ready to transition into my fictional world and get some work done. I felt great writing, and I still feel good about the work I did that day. Other outings with my writing group have been effective this month as well, so just get out and write somewhere else for a bit and see if relocating helps you find your focus, too.

Fun & Games

The middle part of a novel is all about the promise of the premise—it’s the fun and games that are the real draw of the story, the thing that gets readers to pick up the novel in the first place. Just like how you have to fill your novel with that kind of promise, you can find focus by filling your life with that kind of fun, too.

I started using a new tracking app for my to-do list and putting “write 250 words” on my list encouraged me to clear space in my brain so I could mark the task as completed and earn rewards. Rewards! Fun! Also cute little outfits for my to-do list character.

I’ve also been working jigsaw puzzles with my mom which has been a great way to get my brain to focus on something other than the chaos of the world. Once I was fully focused on the puzzle (and then frustrated by not figuring out where several pieces went), I could shift that focus to my writing. Stealing my focus from a fun task has has been a great way to keep writing with distractions.

Allies

Anyone embarking on an epic quest (writing included) needs to surround themself with allies. This can be a posse, a tribe, a gang, a trio, or whatever other moniker you want to give to your writing buds. But those pals are going to be the companions that help you reach your goals and beat back the distractions so you can triumph!

Writing with friends has always been one of my greatest tools for finding focus. Physically (or virtually) sitting with other writers who are writing encourages me to set aside my distractions and get work done. Okay, sometimes we chat more than we write, but then we’ve relaxed, had a nice time, and all feel guilty together before refocusing on our work.

 

The distractions and frustrations will sadly still be there once you’ve finished your writing session. But if you can find a way to silence their power for a little bit, you are most definitely a writer-hero.

 

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The Write Life: Accepting Defeat

Much of the writing life is about acceptance. We have to accept rejections and passes on our work. We also get to accept publications and contracts! We have to accept our physical and skill limitations. We also have to accept admiration and gratitude. But the thing I unfortunately have to accept right now is that my writing life is not going as planned and therefore, it is time for accepting defeat.

This defeat isn’t about giving up, though. This defeat is about reorganizing my priorities and admitting that while I made a good decision in January to shift my goals, that decision is no longer working for me and it’s time to change the plan.

Accepting Defeat

Two roads diverging in front of a mountain that might symbolize a writer accepting defeat and taking a different path to their chosen goal.

Photo by pine watt on Unsplash

Back in January I was struggling to motivate myself to put time into my novel. My goal in 2023 had been to write at least 250 words a day. Because writing the novel was hard, I was avoiding it, and then slapping 250 words on to something in a rush at the end of the day. That’s not the kind of writing life I want to have, so I made a change. I changed my minimum 250-words-a-day goal into writing 10 minutes on my novel every day. It helped! Suddenly I didn’t feel as much pressure to write a lot on my novel, and I could put in a little time every day and make progress until I felt comfortable. It was a success! I won!

But as the year’s continued, my overall word count has diminished, and I’ve felt less worried about putting in those 10 minutes every day because I’m:

  • busy with other things
  • tired
  • hurting
  • distracted
  • not in the right mindset

I’ve been avoiding my novel AND have started putting words into things just to mark off that I wrote for the day (without any regard for quantity or project). Again, that’s not the writing life I want to have.

So now it’s time to shift. I’m going back to a daily word count. After a few months I may find my footing and decide to change course again, but the relief I feel just from writing this post tells me this is the right thing to do. I am accepting defeat and moving forward so my writing life can be the one I want to have.

 

 

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The Write Life: The Physical Needs of a Writing Space

One of my goals this year was to reclaim and refresh my home office and writing space. I’m privileged to have a whole room available for this, so I wanted to make sure I made the most of my space by making it functional, efficient, and inspiring. I needed to not only ask what makes a home office, but what makes a writing space?

A writing space is most easily defined by its purpose, which means a writing space needs a desk, a chair, and tools for writing. But what else can motivate a writer, encourage them to work for long periods, and support their physical bodies? When we consider our senses and the physical needs of our bodies, we start to create a list of things we require when writing.

Touch/Comfort

Consider:

  • Do you have a desk and chair that properly accommodates your body and posture?
  • What do you need to adjust yourself to the temperature of the room?
  • What can you do to alleviate stresses on your body as you write?

Ergonomics are a concern for anyone performing long repetitive tasks, like sitting and typing. If you don’t have the budget for a fancy expensive chair that beautifully molds to your spine and cushions your booty, you may need to invest in some inexpensive supportive tools like a footrest or posture pillow. To aid your wrists, you might need a wrist rest or a brace. You should also consider looking up stretches for office workers and keep them pinned or tabbed in your workspace along with a plan for when you’ll stretch during writing sessions.

Also consider the placement of your desk. I find it more distracting to have my back to a door, so even though it means I can’t look out a window, I position my chair so I’m facing the door. Where are you most comfortable sitting in your room?

Speaking of comfort, don’t forget what you can do to regulate your temperature. That may include getting a small desk fan, a blanket or hoodie, or maybe even a heating pad if your room gets really cold.

Sight

Consider:

  • What images inspire you?
  • What things distract you?
  • How can you decorate to engage your mind and organize your space to eliminate distractions?

You can decorate your space with pictures or inspiration boards to focus your creativity, but also consider what visuals break your focus. Keeping your creative area organized and orderly may help you avoid distraction. If you can see chores that need doing, will that prevent you from writing? Do you spend time clearing your desk or looking for your notes and writing tools? How can you order your space to reduce visual distraction and focus on writing?

Organization isn’t the same thing as being neat. You may thrive with controlled chaos! But consider how it might help you to have a specific place to keep your writing notes, or a plan for how to quickly clear your line of sight to focus on the writing task at hand.

Sound

Consider:

  • What sounds motivate you?
  • What sounds distract you?
  • How can you encourage one and prevent the other?

Playlists for projects or ambient noises selected to bring you deeper into the scene can connect you to your characters and world—and help drown out any unwanted sounds.

Even if your writing space has a door, thin walls can still contribute to sound disruptions. Noise-cancelling headphones are usually the only way to exert full control over the sounds you hear. And, if you prefer to write in total silence, they’re a better way to achieve that than kicking everyone who lives with you out of the house.

Taste

Consider:

  • What snacks and beverages can keep you writing or be used as rewards and encouragement?

I make a cup of tea before writing most days. If I’m struggling, I spend more time clutching my mug and soaking in the steam, but the tactile connection helps me stay in the moment and focused on trying to write.

Snacks are a great way to reward and encourage you to sit down and write that hard scene. You can give yourself a piece of chocolate just for getting out your writing supplies, and then reward yourself after sprints or for hitting word count landmarks or anything else. Some of my favorite writing snacks are mini-chocolates, cheese, and crackers and hummus.

Smell

Consider:

  • What smells can entice you into a writing mindset?

A scented candle or some incense can help signal your brain that it’s time to write. If that scent is somehow associated with your story world, the immersive experience can make it even easier to fall into your project and stay grounded with your work. Think about the smells from your story and see if you can recreate any of them in your writing space to use as inspiration and signal that it’s time to write.

 

I used all my senses to help make decisions about my writing space and what I need. Having the opportunity to redefine this space has been really wonderful. I hope you can use some of my thoughts to help define your own writing space, even if it’s a temporary table at a coffee shop.

 

 

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The Write Life: A Necessary Pause

Every now and then life throws a curve ball that causes you to pause everything. This month I got to field two curve balls. The first was a week-long absence of my computer while I had the battery replaced. The second came the same day I picked up my computer, when I started getting sick and tested positive for covid! Even “little” illnesses affect me quite severely, so covid had me in bed for multiple hours every day with extreme fatigue, dictating a necessary pause to my writing and editing life.

Giving up my computer for a week wound up being refreshing. I spent more time working on my novel (on the iPad) and less time spinning my wheels on the internet. I also made a lot of progress on my office clean-up. Not to mention, my computer is running much more efficiently now!

I was looking forward to catching up on work and obligations I had to put aside while I didn’t have my main work device but getting sick threw my remaining plans for June out the window. As of writing, I’ve had severe fatigue for two weeks, requiring me to spend a lot of time lying down and resting. (Who knew you could get so exhausted sitting up and watching TV?)

There are many things I didn’t do in June that were on my to-do list. I’m hoping to get caught up quickly in July (like editorial pages—first priority!), but I request patience from everyone while I’m still recovering.

I feel like there’s a sunny side to this—something about reassessing priorities or the benefits of narrowing your focus—but I’m still too deep in the covid fog to uncover it. Maybe I’ll have it worked out by next month.

 

 

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The Write Life: Writing Habits Take Time

Remember at the beginning of the year when I changed some of my daily goals to better align with my writing priorities? Yeah, that was a rough transition. I spent a lot of January ducking my head and saying, “what daily writing goals?” But I’m happy to report that in May, I wrote something on my novel every day. The moral of the story is: writing habits take time.

Two hands holding up an orange alarm clock while demonstrating that writing habits take time to build!

Photo by Malvestida on Unsplash

Lots of people expect that once they decide to do a thing—write a novel, write every day, write 1K words every time they sit down— they’ll be able to just do it. But making the plan is not the same thing as executing the plan. Building a regular writing habit (no matter what it is) can be a struggle and take time to develop. But you can make it easier if you keep a few things in mind.

Acknowledge the Struggle

The first thing you need to do is appreciate that building a writing habit can be hard. Even if it starts as a breeze, it’s easy to hit a wall once life gets more complicated, or you have a day in which you struggle to motivate or create. The habit part of a writing habit comes when you can work around most obstacles and still do the work you intend to do.

(Skipping a day on purpose is not a failure. Skipping a day on accident likely means you still have habit building to do. Which is respectable! Just keep at it.)

Reward Hard Work

Reward yourself when you follow through with your plan. Check it off on a to-do list, give yourself a sticker, tell a friend or social media—just reward yourself and celebrate every time you perform the task you planned.

You may think, “all I did was write 100 words on my novel, lots of writers do that.” Yes, but lots of writers DON’T. Lots of writers let other things stand in the way of their words, and you didn’t today. YOU wrote and did the writing you intended. That deserves more acknowledgement than you think.

Stay Flexible

You may find the habit you planned doesn’t fit your life and you need to make adjustments—or make adjustments for now and build the more time-consuming habit in a year when other responsibilities shift.

Stay flexible with yourself and be ready to change your plan with grace. Remember, the writing habit has to fit your life, not the other way around.

Writing Habits Take Time

Building writing habits take time, so give yourself the grace to build at your own pace. There’s no one timeline; there’s no expectation of results. There is you and the habit you want to build. You can make changes to your plan, give yourself days off, or do whatever else you need to make a writing habit that sticks. But trust that it takes time and it’s not all or nothing.

 

Habits, not heartbreak. That’s the main thing you should remember while you build writing habits. It’s going to take time, it’s sometimes going to be hard, but it shouldn’t break your heart. If it is: adjust! You’re doing this for yourself and while it might not be easy, it shouldn’t be painful.

 

 

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The Write Life: Write at Your Own Pace

I have been writing every day for over 8 years. When I first started that daily journey, I thought it would be a road to creating a massive daily output. My goal was to write 1,000 words every day. But here we are, 8 years later, and my daily word count for the last month has been around 300 words per day—which suits me just fine. One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from daily writing is that you must write at your own pace.

Hypothesis: Writing More & Writing Faster Is Better, Right?

I didn’t have a big picture idea of why I wanted to write 1,000 words every day. I didn’t really know what that would look like or do for my writing life other than allow me to write more books faster.

I knew authors like John Scalzi and Stephen King write over 1,000 words a day and I felt like that was The Bar. If you wanted to be a pro writer, that’s what you need to do. Write 1,000 words every day. (Write more if you can.) But consistency over 1,000 words is the only way to do it.

(That is a lie, if it needs to be said at this point.)

Experiment: Toxic Thinking Discovered

I knew I’d have to work my way up to writing 1,000 words daily, so I started with a low bar. Each year I raised the bar for the minimum number of words I would write daily. After four years I was up to writing at least 250 words every day, with 500 words met most days. You want to know how many days I wrote over 1,000 words that year? 46. My most productive year, I only managed to write over 1K on 71 days. You know what I learned from this? I can’t write 1,000 words every day!

You know what else I learned from this? Over those eight years I’ve written almost two million words. I don’t need to write 1K every day to be productive.

Thinking you must write any specific number of words (or any specific number of days) to be a “real” writer is simply toxic thinking. If you’re fitting writing in when you can, placing writing somewhere in your priority list, and getting writing done, you are a real writer. There are no other caveats that must be met.

Conclusion: Write at Your Own Pace

Every writer has to figure out what works best for them. Some writers write every day. Some writers spend months thinking and planning without writing a word. Some writers spew forth 6,000 words on vibes.

When you write at your own pace, you can find a natural rhythm that allows you to do the work of writing with as little stress as possible. (I do not say no stress, but less stress, because you’re following your natural flow.) Writing as many words as makes sense to you, saving your energy, devoting your time to other priorities, or generally having a life beyond writing is very necessary! Just because many writers find success using a specific method does not mean you’ll find success from that same method. You have to find the pace and process that works for you.

 

I definitely understood this lesson somewhere around year four of my daily-writing journey, but it’s really hit home recently as I very slowly work on drafting my next novel. Other important things are taking my time and energy, which means I can’t put even 250 words into the novel every day. But I’m getting words on the page when I can and every day I can get 500 or even just 250 words written, I know I’m writing at a pace I can manage.

 

 

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The Write Life: Upcoming Events

This month has been chaotic and exhausting! Even though that’s part of the write life, it isn’t the part I feel like commemorating and discussing this month. Instead, let’s talk about upcoming events and where you can find me and my advice in the near future!

Upcoming Workshops

Writing Advice You Can Ignore

Virtual Workshop — Thursday, June 6 at 7pm ET (click to register)

Orange background with squiggly lines and confetti around the text "Writing Advice You CAN Ignore by Alli Martin," one of two upcoming events available online.I’m teaching a new workshop this June called Writing Advice You Can Ignore. Most writing advice is well-meaning but not one-size-fits-all. Because of that less-than-universal quality, some advice can do damage to writers who try to follow it or make those writers feel like “they’ll never be a real writer.” I’ll be covering several common pieces of writing advice to break down why the advice is given, when you should ignore it, and when it might actually help you.

If you’re struggling to feel like a Real Writer because you can’t follow some advice you’ve been given, check out this free workshop to discover it’s not you, it’s the advice.

Time Management for Writers

Virtual Workshop — Tuesday, July 2 at 7pm ET (click to register)

Dark blue background with organized boxes framing the text "Time Management for Writers by Alli Martin," one of two upcoming events available online.About a month later I’ll be sharing one of my newer workshops, Time Management for Writers. This workshop steps you through how to make the most of your writing time and how to prioritize your writing to actually finish projects.

This workshop is great for writers who are struggling when they sit down to write and for writers who are struggling to find any time to write.

 

Both virtual workshops are being hosted by the Orange County Library but are open to anyone from anywhere. When you register at the workshop links above, if you don’t hold an OCLS library card, just skip that part of the registration and know you are very welcome to attend!

Book Launch

But before those other upcoming events, I’ll help helping my friend José with the book launch for his middle grade book Benny Ramirez and the Nearly Departed.

I’m very excited to support my friend who has been an amazing contributor to the writing community. This is truly an occasion to celebrate!

If you’re local to Central Florida, join us in Orlando at the Dr. Phillips Barnes & Noble on Saturday, May 4. The festivities (including a reading and signing by José Pablo Iriarte) begin at 2pm.

 

 

For full access to The Write Life and more about what I’ve done to assist with my creative life, sign up on Patreon for $1 or more per month. You’ll also receive a personalized thank you in a future edition of The Write Life.

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The Write Life: Create Writing Motivation

Starting a new writing project can be overwhelming. Even when I’m excited, there’s so much ahead. There’s words, time, decisions, commitment—and when I think about how many words it takes to draft and revise a novel or how many things are still undecided or how many hours (and then days, weeks, and months) are between me and the end of my book, it can stall my momentum. So, it’s important for writers to have some idea of how to create writing motivation.

Lack of motivation isn’t the same thing as a lack of desire. I wanted to dive into my novel back in November, but I only managed to work on it for 15 days before the end of 2023. (Which for some of you probably sounds amazing, but as a daily writer, it’s much less so.) Some of those distractions were related to life—the holiday season, illness, commitments to friends and family—but some of it was from a lack of motivation. Luckily, writers can create writing motivation, it just requires some ingenuity, a toolkit, and knowing yourself really, really well.

Create Writing Motivation

Identify the Easiest Goal

Start by identifying the easiest goal that will also make you feel good about your progress. There are three rules to follow when identifying this easiest goal:

  • Choose something you can achieve every time you sit down to write.
  • Choose something that also gives you room to exceed your goal.
  • Choose something that will feel like progress.

For example, if you usually write 250–300 words when you sit down to write, your easiest goal might be to write 100 words on your novel every time you write. 100 words is less than you normally write, so you know it’s achievable, and since you normally write more, you have room to exceed your goal and feel great about your progress. And just imagine the day you write 500 words. That’s five times your usual goal! Now that’s a lot of progress.

Goals you might consider include:

  • word count
  • time spent writing
  • completing scenes or beats

Track Your Habit

Record each time you meet your writing session goal. You can use any kind of tracker you like but use something that will create writing motivation.

Physical or visual trackers can be good for seeing how small progress grows. You can mark days on a calendar, fill in blocks on a bullet journal, award yourself stickers, or use an app with a visual component (various graphs and chains are common in tracker apps).

It can also be helpful to have a tracker that automatically accumulates your progress. Like, a word count tracker where you fill in daily word counts, but the tracker informs you of how many total words you wrote and on how many days you worked. That data can help motivate you on future weeks and months to challenge yourself to reach a little further—or it can let you off the hook, so you know you’ve got padding for any rough days ahead.

Break Your Plan into Manageable Chunks

Stop looking at your novel as writing and polishing 100,000 words, or even as writing 30 chapters. Don’t think about working on your novel for three hours every day for eight months (or the end math on that being 720 hours).

Start with that big picture, and then break it into smaller and smaller chunks until you find the chunk that sits comfortably in your head and motivates you to write.

You might need to break your novel into:

  • which chapters you’ll write each quarter of the year
  • which chapters you’ll write each month
  • how many scenes you’ll write each month (or week)
  • how many words or hours you’ll write each week (or day)

How you divide your plan into chunks doesn’t have to match your easiest goal—and may help if it doesn’t! Keeping an eye on time for your easiest goal and word count for your plan can provide multiple ways to create writing motivation. If you don’t have twenty minutes to write today, but you can quickly slap together your planned landmark of 200 words, you’re more likely to write than assume it’s a wasted writing day.

The Key to Motivation

The real key to learning how to create writing motivation is to give yourself as many motivators as you can. Word count goals, time goals, scene or chapter or date goals can all help move you forward—as long as they speak to you.

You might rely on a few rewards or prizes along the way, too. Some days that negotiation for a hot chocolate if I write 500 words is the thing that gets me from 437 words to over 500.

Accountability buddies, social media check-ins, and other ways of reporting your progress to someone can also create writing motivation. Knowing yourself, knowing what motivates you, and adapting other people’s suggestions to what you know will help YOU create writing motivation is the difference between starting your project and finishing it.

 

 

For full access to The Write Life and more about what I’ve done to assist with my creative life, sign up on Patreon for $1 or more per month. You’ll also receive a personalized thank you in a future edition of The Write Life.

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The Write Life: Break the Chain

I made a difficult decision this month to break the chain. After struggling to find the time and energy to work on my novel in any kind of meaningful way, I took a hard look at my writing life. I assessed what my days were like, what my stress levels were like, and why I kept putting off writing. I looked at my motivations and distractions and my goals. My precious, precious goals.

I’ve been writing at least 250 words every day, and after five years I decided it was time to break the chain.

Evolution of a Goal

When I first set the goal of writing 250 words every day, it was a path to a specific end goal. I wanted to move from being a daily writer to someone who writes 1,000 words every day.

I got it in my head from reading the habits of prolific and successful authors that the only way to “Make It” was to write 1K–2K every day. Which I was not doing. (Which I currently have no hope of growing into either, but we’ll get to that.)

My first steps on this path had gone well. I transformed myself first into someone who wrote daily, and then into someone who wrote at least 100 words a day, and then into someone who wrote at least 250 words a day. And most days I wrote more than that!

The original plan was to continue to up that goal every year—or whenever the minimum word count seemed “too easy”—but then I had a reality check.

Reality Check: Getting Intentional

So, like, writing a minimum of 250 words every day is fine. I was able to write 250 words when I was distracted by DragonCon, sick with covid, depressed, throwing up from a food allergy, and in many other really sucky situations.

But many of those times when I was writing those 250 words under less-than-ideal circumstances, I was also not writing intentionally.

I had fallen into the trap of writing literally anything to not break the chain—and then amassing starts of projects I was never planning to continue (mostly because they were babbling for the sake of word count).

I made the decision to write from a project list or with a specific project series in mind (like Writer Resources posts). And things got better. For a year or two. But I still had a problem.

Break the Chain (When It Binds You)

Whenever time was short, my stress was high, my mental health was low, my exhaustion had a vice grip on my brain—I wanted to write the easy words and keep putting links in the chain of 250 words a day.

“Easy” writing for me often equates to nonfiction posts or presentations about writing. In the last year, while I’ve been suffering another round of severe depression and heightened anxiety, I have written way, way more blog posts than fiction.

I have a specific end goal in mind again—a different goal than trying to write 1,000 words a day (which I have also given up as crazy-pants-thinking I don’t need in my life)—that goal is to write a draft of a novel. While writing 250 words a day would help that goal, it’s too much pressure right now.

At the start of a project, while I’m hemming and hawing, questioning my decisions and direction, and just figuring it all out, I don’t need the added pressure of making sure I’m hitting a daily word count. And trying to hit that daily word count was preventing me from putting time into my novel because I knew those weren’t easy words, I wouldn’t hit my 250 goal, and stress! Not writing! Ahhh!

And that, my friends, is why it’s time to break the chain. I have moved away from the original goal, the revised goal is no longer serving me, and it’s time to find some new habits to help support the writer I am today.

(But, uh, still a daily writer… FOR NOW.)

 

 

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