A New Routine

"Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition." ~ W.H. Auden.

I'm finding the more I make writing one of those non-negotiable things in my day (like going to the day job), the more I'm accomplishing. There have been a few days where I only managed to get half a page written, but for the most part, I do considerably more. The most I've done in one day is 8 pages. For me, that's a huge accomplishment for one day's writing.

Prior to May, I wrote sporadically - 3 days a week most of the time. Since I started making my writing a "must do," my manuscript has grown considerably. I also find myself looking forward to the time when I can sit down and work on it. Something that wasn't always the case before, especially if I was struggling with a particular scene. 

Making writing a non-negotiable thing that must be done before I go to bed each night has taught me that I can write almost anywhere. Before I always felt like I needed to be in my "writer space" in order to produce pages. Not so. I've written in the waiting room of the doctor's office, in my car while waiting for the boy child, and have even tapped a few sentences I didn't want to forget on to a memo app on my phone while standing in line at the grocery store. 

I read somewhere that the more consistent your writing habit is, the more secure your brain (or muse) will be to create the scenes and stories you feel compelled to tell. After two months of pretty consistent writing, I have to agree.