To make his point he compared the definitions of the two words. Jeff Goins shared this thought in one of his emails during this 30 day challenge. ItвЂ™s good to think of writing as a habit instead of a discipline. That way he could just continue where he left off and not have to feel like he had to вЂњget started.вЂќ I read somewhere that heвЂ™d purposely stop writing in the middle of a sentence or before whatever he was working on was finished, so that he could just continue with it the next time he wrote. This reminds me of a technique that Hemingway used when he wrote. There have been days when IвЂ™ve been low on energy and too exhausted to write, but I still did, even though I wrote less than 500 words. If you just commit to doing something every day (no matter how much or how long) and still do a little bit on the days you donвЂ™t feel like it, like writing a few sentences, this will build momentum and combat resistance. The importance of momentum and consistency. IвЂ™m also going to try to take advantage of opportunities to write in other places (like libraries or public spaces) if I have my journal with me. The desk where I write at has gotten really cluttered, so I started cleaning it up.

Having a comfortable, inviting space for writing also helps. In order to write IвЂ™ve go to clear some headspace. So IвЂ™ve either got to take care of the things that are truly time sensitive and essential before writing, or learn to put some of the things IвЂ™m preoccupied with on hold temporarily, and give myself permission to write for a block of time. If there are things on my mind, things left undone, or that I know I need to take care of, itвЂ™s hard for me to get in the right frame of mind to write. IвЂ™ve turned writing into a chore when it is usually something enjoyable and that helps me to sort through my thoughts. By then IвЂ™m so exhausted that I donвЂ™t feel like writing in my journal because it feels like a chore that is keeping me from going to bed. I need to make writing more of a priority.ДЄll too often, I busy myself with whatever needs to be done or taken care of and leave writing in my journal as an afterthought at the end of the day. ItвЂ™s been harder than I thought to write 500 words a day, but what did I expect? I was struggling just to write daily in my journal so this is definitely an improvement. ItвЂ™s been a week and a half since I started this challenge. This challenge had come around at just the right time, so I simply decided to commit to writing 500 words a day of something, anything. I needed to re-establish a daily writing practice. How could I pick just one thing to focus on for the 30 days? Deep down inside I knew that something had to change. I knew that I needed to get back to my long term book project, but I also have a few other book ideas brewing, blog posts that need to be written, and so on and so on. JeffвЂ™s email invited people to work toward their goal of writing a book by writing at least 500 words a day for 30 days.

The timing of JeffвЂ™s email couldnвЂ™t have been better. I knew that it was time for me to get my priorities straight on this. For me journaling is therapeutic, and at times itвЂ™s like a form of meditation on the page. I have simply let other things take precedence. For quite some time, IвЂ™ve been saying to myself that IвЂ™ve got to get back into the regular habit of writing, which at a minimum would be writing something in my journal on a daily basis. I am вЂњworking on a book.вЂќ I put this in quotes because I do have a long term book project that I need to move forward, but if IвЂ™m honest with myself, I havenвЂ™t been doing nearly enough work or writing to move it along. All of this was precipitated by an email I received from author Jeff Goins, with the subject line вЂњAre you working on a book?вЂќ Having said all this, it was only a few days into the new year when I decided to taking on this challenge to write 500 words a day for 30 days.

IвЂ™m not one to make New YearвЂ™s resolutions because I think that if you want to make a change, break a habit or try something new, you can do that any time of the year.

Journal 30 day writing challenge