You know the old adage, "taking things one day at a time"? I'm trying to apply that to my writing.
I've got ideas. Tons of them. Millions of characters caterwauling around in my mind each with a personality and a story to tell. I'm a chronic project-jumper and as a result, I have many an unfinished story. I'm sure the rubble of previous plots lie within the notebooks of other writers, people and places just stalled in time. This bothers me.
Since graduating college in 2010, I've been struggling to find the discipline for writing that I was forced to have in my undergraduate days. I kept trying to carve out time where I would sit and write, just an hour or so every day but I found I spent more time checking my clock to note the time than I did actually writing. I tried to meet a specific word count but that suffered the same fate as timing myself, where I would break every now and again to count the words. It's distracting.
Just like taking it one day at a time, I'm taking it one page at a time. Every day, I write one page worth of story. Since I'm a notebook and pen kind of gal, this is really not too much to ask for. This eliminates the need to count words and however long it takes me to write one page is however long it takes me. I've scheduled Saturday as a free day and Thursday is my day to spend some time reading other lit mags and submitting finished pieces. Just so we're all clear on the rules here.
I'm choosing to blog about this process for two reasons. First, as a means to make sure I stick with my schedule. I need to be held accountable, or at least feel like I am. Secondly, I think it will be a good exercise in seeing what I learn from each page. A way to reflect on my writing and hopefully develop stories further, one day at a time, one page at a time.
