Monday, June 15, 2009

The Importance of a Streak

I've been working on a streak of writing 500 words a day. I sought to do it so that no matter how little I was able to get done on the writing front, I'd know I got at least something done on the writing front.

I'd kept the streak up for 48 days when today happened. It was one of those days where for a variety of reasons I had problems doing anything remotely productive. I was a mess mentally and emotionally.

I was tempted to not bother. No one else would care. Not doing those words wouldn't spell the end of my writing career. It's just a number.

But after you write 500 words a day for 48 days, it's really hard not to. It's hard to turn your back on.

And that's the value of a streak for me. It's what keeps me writing on a day like today, when I ask myself why I bother. When I don't feel like it. When I think I'm never going to succeed.

Tomorrow will hopefully be brighter. Tomorrow I hope to have my optimistic outlook and confidence back.

But today I wrote 544 words in spite of it all.

That's a good thing.

3 comments:

Jessa Slade said...

That's great! I read somewhere that it takes 21 days to make something a habit, and at that point it because (yeah, right) easier. What you've done is really powerful. Keep it up!

Laura Ware said...

Thanks! I'm hoping to keep going with it - would hate to break it now!

Unknown said...

A streak is more than a series of days ... it's the start of something that feels like, "Hey, I've found a new way of being. And it feels great."

Kudos!