I’m still recovering from last week’s backpacking trip, but that’s no excuse not to start up my writing challenge as planned. Monday night, after I had a chance to unwind a bit from work and eat dinner, I settled into my writing desk and stared for a few moments at the blank screen.

I had no idea what to write.

But I was determined, so it only took me a few minutes to remember that I had several story starts from the depth workshop that I could continue. I picked one at random, copied it into a new document and began to continue the story.

It did drag for a while, but by the time I had finished my 600, I actually wanted to keep going.

Tuesday I tried to think about getting started earlier, perhaps before work or during lunch, but that’s not quite as easy as it sounds for me. I tend to be distracted in the morning and lazy during my lunch hour at work.

And so I was working hard to get the words finished before my 8pm ‘get ready for bed’ time rolled around. I did it, but it wasn’t easy. I’m having to fight hard against critical voice on this story. I feel like I don’t know where it’s going or what it’s doing. But I’ll keep pushing and see what I can do with it today.

The start of a challenge is the hardest, because there’s no momentum built up. Skipping a day doesn’t feel like a big deal. Once I’ve got a few weeks under my belt, it will be easier to roll. And I’ve got a few more story starts to work with as well as the story that I had started just before the depth workshop to finish. I don’t lack things to write, and I don’t really lack time. I’m even ordering a new chair for my desk so I won’t have the excuse that sitting at the current one makes my butt go numb.

Writing is important to me. Now is the time to make it a priority again.

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