Writing Daily

It's taken me a long time, but I'm finally, finally getting into the habit of writing every day. This summer I wanted to write an easy thousand words every day. It totally didn't happen. During my internet hiatus I wrote like a champ, but I'd missed so many days before that (and have missed a few after) that it still didn't stick.

Somethings been different in the past week or two, though. Even though I missed two days last week because I was sick, I really feel like I'm now getting into the groove of writing every day. Even when I'm tired. Even when I put it off until 10:00 at night.

There have been so many benefits of finally getting into this habit. For one thing, I'm actually seeing myself getting closer to the end! I've been writing about 2,000 words a day trying to meet my end-of-August goal, which used to feel like so much work, but now doesn't feel so bad. I think that I'm actually one of those writers that needs to write more words every day, simply because it helps me stay in the story a little more, and my mind usually opens up a lot in the last half of the writing session.

Another good thing about this is I actually feel like a writer! I've felt like a total faker all summer. "So, you're writing a book?" "Yeah... but it's been going kind of slow..." *mumbles*. Not super great for feeling like a writer when I haven't worked on my book for two weeks. Now, though, it's nice to feel like, even when I totally resent my writing sessions, I'm at least moving forward.

The most amazing thing that has happened, though, has taken place in just the last few days. I'm starting to think about my story outside of writing! I've been getting ideas about how to make it better, I've been thinking about my characters and my plot, and I've been interested and even -gasp- excited about writing some days. I haven't been this interested in my story since I first started it, and I'm definitely seeing improvements in my writing as my attitude has changed.

My best tip if you're struggling with writing every day (which is so often a problem for me) is to just not make it optional. You must write before you can do such and such thing. For me, it's sleep. And I love my sleep, so there's definitely some motivation there. What helps you to write?

Source: http://debbiebarr.blogspot.com/2010/08/writing-daily.html