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.

100 Days

A little over a week ago, I met a friend for a quick coffee on Saturday afternoon. As we caught up on what was going on in each other's lives, she happened to mention starting a new 100 day challenge the next day. In case you're like me and don't know what that is, it's where you challenge yourself to do something you want to make a habit for 100 consecutive days, or at least attempt to. When you miss a day, you have to start over from day 1. She said there's even an official website for it along with a bunch of other ones.

My friend's challenge is exercising for 30 minutes every day. When I asked her how well she did. She admitted this was her third attempt. The first time, she only made it 40 days, the second time 67 days. She said she's never felt like she failed because she's working out more than she was before and as long as she keeps getting closer to the 100 day mark, she's counting it was an accomplishment. She's also not giving up until she hits 100 days no matter how many times she has to start over.

I came home inspired. Wanting to increase my productivity on my current manuscript which is taking me much longer to write than it should, I started my own 100 day challenge last Monday. I have to write at least 125 words (about half a page) every day. So far, so good. I've written every day and over the required word count with the exception of yesterday. Yesterday I fought for nearly every one of those 125 words but when I finished, I was glad I stuck it out and didn't just put it aside thinking I'd write more the next day to make up for it (which isn't always the case).

What I know for sure...

I'd always believed I'm adaptable. I can go with the flow and not get too verklempt about it. I more or less have to be flexible in my day job because I never know what's going to take priority on any given day. But this past week, I found out I'm much more a creature of habit that I thought I was.

My morning routine has changed so I can sleep in a bit later and not have to get up at 5:15 every morning. I was thrilled I can now get up at 5:45. Yes, it's only a half hour later but let me tell you after years of getting up at 5:15, that extra thirty minutes seems like so much more. You'd think I would love the new wake up time. Nope. Not so much. Most mornings I've been awake before 5:15 any way so the extra sleeping time is wasted. I tried just staying in bed until 5:45 but then I found I was running late getting out of the house. I guess I was used to having a certain amount of time and getting up later cuts into that time and I can't seem to get everything I used to do before leaving for work done in the shorter span.

Sooo, guess who's still getting up at 5:15 every morning.