I can’t believe it’s been a month and a half since I started my Year of Writing project. I’ve never ever written this many days in a row before, and it feels awesome! I’m almost done my latest work in progress, which will be my 8th completed novel.
8! Holy guacamole.
Over the past month and a half, I’ve had a fair chunk of bad days. It was due to anything from stress from work, stress from things outside of work, getting a bad night’s sleep, having a migraine, etc.
Before Nov 1st, I’d 100% use a bad day as an excuse to not write. I’d tell myself things like:
I’m not in the mood to write.
I only have enough energy to lounge on the couch.
Get me away from any and all computers.
I ain’t writing words today. I’m drinking wine. Lots of wine!
But with my Year of Writing project, I have to write every singly day, including on the bad ones. So when my first bad day rolled around, I begrudgingly grabbed my laptop and sat down to write. I figured I’d write the bare minimum — one paragraph — then call it quits.
I wrote one paragraph. Then another. And another. By the time I ended my mini writing session 10-ish minutes later, my mood had shifted from bleh to good.
Huh, strange. I thought it might’ve been a fluke. I mean, I was real irritated before writing, and to have such a mood swing after only 10 minutes seemed impossible.
Then a few days later, I had another bad day, and the same thing happened. I angrily grabbed my laptop, wrote more than I planned, and ended up feeling cheerful in the end. My writing changed my mood.
Doing what I love made me happy.
Okay, I know, I know. That’s the most obvious statement in the world. Duh, of course doing what you love makes you happy. That, I know.
What I didn’t realize was just how powerful writing was.
Since I’d previously used bad days as an excuse not to write, that meant I only did what I loved (aka wrote) on my good days. So of course writing made me happy those days, because I already was happy. I had attributed my good feelings to the day as a whole and weirdly not to writing.
I wasn’t giving writing as much credit as it deserved.
Now I think of writing a little bit like it’s exercising. When you exercise, you get endorphins, which gives you positive feelings. When I write, it’s like I’m getting an endorphin boost of positivity.
Instead of avoiding writing on my bad days, I’m now going to run to my laptop and write away!
My mood regarding the past week: Contented
My mood for this coming week: AH! I’m almost done. This is so exciting!
Other insights: I’ve slipped into an odd habit this week where I write in the morning and then have zero desire to write in the evening, even though I have plenty of free time. I’m not sure what that’s about… We’ll see if that persists.
That's it for now. Til next week!