What I Learned When I Wrote Every Day

When Randy and I decided to do the Whole30 last October, it also seemed like a good opportunity to become more disciplined about writing every day.

I didn’t have a specific topic to cover, although in retrospect, it would have been beneficial if I had come up with some categories in advance. My main goal was to form a habit, to get into the practice of sitting down at the desk in the kitchen and typing until I had strung several paragraphs together.

They didn’t even have to go together, those paragraphs. I just wanted words on a screen, every single day of October.

There were days when I wrote paragraphs that I used later in blog posts, and there were days when I basically recounted what had happened during the last 12 or 24 hours. Somewhere along the way, I realized that this practice I was developing was something I needed to continue in some form or fashion.

I adapted it to fit what seemed to work best for me, which meant not writing on weekends when I’m much more distracted. Some months since then, I’ve done well. Other months (like the whole summer) I didn’t even try.

I don’t know how all these dots connect, but here’s what I learned that first month—while I was writing every day (except for one Sunday when I forgot) and preparing meals within some very strict boundaries.

• Writing every day is helpful. Particularly if I do it in the morning, when my thoughts are more cogent, more meaningful and more likely to lead to something I can use somewhere else.

• Intentional writing breeds more (and possibly better) writing. It may not work this way for everyone, but when I sit down and start typing, words start flowing. There’s nothing sacred about it. For every five paragraphs, one sentence might be worth saving. But every now and then, there’s a chunk of something that captures exactly what’s swishing around in my head, and if I had jotted the idea down on paper and told myself I would come back to it later, it wouldn’t be the same.

• Reading books about writing also is helpful. I know other writers enjoy these types of books, but for some reason, I’ve never really gotten into them. Last fall, though, I read several that challenged and encouraged me to stop talking about writing and start doing it more often, and to pay attention to the worth and purpose of every word. (On Writing Well and Writing about Your Life by William Zinsser come to mind, as does Marion Roach Smith’s The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life.)

• What helps me, more than reading books about writing, is reading books that are really well written. I realize that what speaks to me is not necessarily what speaks to others. But when I hear a clear, concise voice in a book, it triggers better words in my own mind.

It seems like it’s been a long time coming, but it’s October again. Randy and I are five days into another round of the Whole30, and once again, I have another daily writing goal.

This time, it includes organizing about five months’ worth of writing on a topic close to my heart, in hopes that when I’m done it will resemble the beginnings of a book.

Neither process—giving up sugar, grains, dairy and peanut butter for a month or working on this deeply personal book project—promises to be easy. But I’ve done hard things before, same as you.

One day at a time, one meal at a time, one word at a time.

Onward and upward.

♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with #tellhisstory, InstaEncouragements, Recharge Wednesday, Let’s Have Coffee, Inspire Me Monday, #HeartEncouragement and Grace & Truth.

Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash