Sometimes you need to get away from it all in order to find it all. The stuff that’s really important anyway. Last week I thought it was just bad timing—starting my 52 Week Story Challenge in the same week I had scheduled to go backpacking . . . ? And in the same week I had a three day business trip . . . ?
It could have just been poor planning on my part. The business trip came without a whole lot of notice, so I couldn’t have done much about that even if I wanted to. But I had known about the backpacking trip for months. I say it was just pure excitement over finally getting SERIOUS about my writing. My birthday was coming up (Halloween—how creepy is that?) and when my family started asking me in September what I wanted, I told them I wanted to launch my official author website. That’s exactly what I did the first week in October.
Of course, the whole reason for this website was to show myself and the world that I was serious about my writing, but I also wanted a platform for documenting and publishing my 52 Week Challenge. We all have bridges in our lives that need to be crossed. I had been hanging out for far too long on the side that led nowhere. I started this whole writing gig more than seven years ago, and while I had written a dozen or so stories and sent them out in the publishing world to find a home, I still had nothing to show for it. And let’s face it—a dozen short stories in seven years is kind of pathetic. If they had been novels, okay, I could see that. But we’re talking about short stories here. In seven years, I should have written at least a hundred.
It was a bridge that had to be crossed. If I really wanted to be a professional writer—which for me means multiple publications in professional paying fiction markets—something big was going to have to change. For me, the path started with the launch of this website and a commitment to the Challenge.
So despite the business trip and the backpacking trip, which consumed six of the seven days in my week, I managed to get a story written, designed, and published on my website. Was it polished and publishable? No. It still needs at least a couple of rewrites and some buffing and shining before I’d feel comfortable sending it out into the world and sharing it with any flash fiction markets. But it’s something. And it’s one more story in my bibliography than I had the week before.
I needed the stress of the week to make me focus on my commitment. I think if I hadn’t had so much going on last week, I probably would have procrastinated writing the story and missed my deadline completely. It was also a testament to myself that, no matter how crazy my week gets or how much life throws at me, I’ve proven I can stick to this commitment and get it done.
Today is Tuesday, week # 2 of my 52 Week Story Challenge. I’m already deep into the drafting phase of my second story. Will things always go this well? I doubt it. I live a busy life and I’m sure there are more tough weeks ahead with crazy schedules and commitments. I already know I’ll be traveling again the first few days of November. This is a path I chose to take, on a bridge I built myself, into a territory that at times seems dark and scary and lonely. It’s my kind of adventure though, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride.
What paths are you forging for yourself? What obstacles are you building bridges over? Post a comment below and let me know about your life’s adventure.
I enjoy reading your writings!
Thank you, Rebecca. I sure love writing them. Thanks for stopping by!
You’re quickly finding out what I found out as well, Morgan–a deadline gets you moving. Without them, I would be procrastinating until the cows came home which would be long after I died since I’ve never had a cow.
For me, the interesting thing about this 52-week challenge is to realize that it all comes down to butt-in-chair. No one else really cares whether I write or do not, and that’s OK.
The obstacle I’m building bridges over is to notice the ‘story potential’ in my everyday life and activities. Perhaps weekly deadlines encourage that feet to the fire mode of thinking haha.