The writeathon — charging on ahead!

Two weeks into the Clarion West writeathon, and I’ve met my goal so far! Here are the daily counts:

• Day One: 403 words
• Day Two: 305 words
• Day Three: 388 words
• Day Four: 383 words
• Day Five: 288 words
• Day Six: 403 words
• Day Seven: 346 words
• Day Eight: 435 words
• Day Nine: 480 words
• Day Ten: 295 words

It doesn’t take long to get these words out. But it’s hard as anything! I’m always so certain that what I’m writing will never amount to much, that it will never be a story. Then, as I write, story emerges. Sentences come out of my fingers and surprise me. But self-doubt haunts me the whole way. Sure, things are happening, but there’s no way I can get to the ending! Once I do — sure, it’s a full story, but it’s bound to be no good!

So the writeathon is helping enormously. To be the writer I want to be, I have to write, and I have to do it daily and consistently. That’s the advice that’s always given to writers, and few of them actually manage it. For me it’s fear. There’s only a little bit of fear and anxiety, but it’s just enough to make me say, “Well, of course I’ll do it, but later.”

Well, with the writeathon, later is now.

– Kristin

By dotmatchbox at flickr [CC-BY-SA-2.0] , via Wikimedia Commons