Write everyday. Seems pretty easy right?
What about write 500 words everyday. Does that change your tune?
Back in August I told you all that I was doing a 500 words a day writing challenge in hopes of bringing back a consistent writing practice for myself while also trying to carry on a routine that I started while in Hawaii and absolutely loved. (Obviously minus the long quiet walks on the beach watching the sunrise after, of course.)
It’s officially been a month and I wanted to check back in with everyone and let you know how it went and what I learned.
- First and foremost, I loved this challenge! There were days when the last thing I wanted to do was write but I remembered I was doing this for myself and how good it makes me feel when I write consistently so I’d break out my computer and start typing away. Those were usually the days when the 500 words came the easiest. Ironic, really.
- I have to admit that I didn’t follow the daily prompts. This challenge was through Jeff Goins and every day they send you a writing prompt via email. I love that they do this but I have to be honest, I would read them every day, delete the email, and then write about whatever I wanted to. I tried to follow a few of the prompts or suggestions that came in the emails (using less “fill” words one day, for example) but ultimately I followed my heart and where it was guiding my writing that day. I still stand by that decision.
- I didn’t hit 500 words a day. In fact, some days I didn’t write at all. I still consider this a challenge. The idea isn’t after one day of failing to write, it means you failed the entire month. One day failing to write or one day failing to write the full 500, makes you human. And human, I am. It provides the opportunity to get back to it the next day and try again. Some days life gets in the way. Some days our own heads get in the way. Whatever the reason, those days happened but I got back to it and that’s what counts in my book.
- I wasn’t writing for any particular purpose. i.e. I wasn’t working on a book or story or anything like that. My writing was a mix of blog posts and personal journaling. It was entirely for me. I have ideas for other projects and books but this first month wasn’t about those ideas, it was about me and the practice.
- Over the course of the last month, I wrote 11,688 words! (And that doesn’t include all the cover letter writing that was going along with it all – ha!) How can I look at that number and feel anything other than proud? If I wrote 500 words a day for the last month, it would have been over 15,500 words but writing over 11,000 words is nothing to feel bad about. That’s amazing!
All in all, this was a great practice for me and definitely something that I want to keep up. It may not be 500 words exactly, but there’s more writing and journaling that needs to happen on a consistent basis and this was just the challenge I needed to get back on that track.
What’s a challenge you’ve done where you didn’t quite reach the goal but are happy with your results?
Nice work!!! I never train for races perfectly, so I’m sure if I set out on a 500 word writing challenge that wouldn’t be all perfect 500’s either. But what a cool way to keep your brain engaged while also letting yourself free form!
It was really interesting and they actually have a Facebook group with daily writing prompts to keep the whole thing going for those who want to. I kind of let myself fall off the bandwagon once my month was over but I do want to get back into the habit, maybe even with a goal in mind… 😉