1000 words & a victory

A little over a week into the new year, I started writing 1000 words a day after binge-reading a book by Jami Attenberg about her own 1000 words challenge. To no surprise, it’s been quite difficult. 

For the first few days, I counted my words every few sentences, wondering how I would ever get to the end. I felt like I was in school again, desperately trying to reach some arbitrary word count without paying much attention to the content of what I was writing. Sometimes, I felt like I was cheating the challenge by writing whatever stray thought flew through my head instead of writing my novel, but I constantly repeated to myself that no word was wasted and each one was a step towards building a more consistent writing practice.

It was necessary to not hold on dearly to each word or sentence in order to simply move forward. And, as the days went by, the challenge became exceedingly less dreadful. I knew what 1000 words looked like on the page and I knew that with enough time I would eventually surpass the finish line. The best days were ones where the words seemed to write themselves  or when a new character or relationship would come alive on the page.

When I started this challenge, I decided that if I wrote 1000 words a day for two weeks, I would have enough material to submit a novel excerpt to a writing workshop I’ve always wanted to attend. In the past, I’ve always stopped myself from even applying because I felt like it was never the right time. There was always an excuse — not having a concrete enough idea for a project, not feeling confident enough in my own writing voice, or not having enough time to assemble the materials for an application. When the deadline inevitably passed, I assuaged my own guilt by telling myself I would apply next time when I was more ready. The cycle repeated itself for years.

Just yesterday, on the last day of January, I finally submitted an application. It is far from perfect, but it is done. 

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P.S. Many friends lately have been telling me how they want to write. It brings me a lot of joy to hear this because I truly believe everyone can write. And because I love all my friends dearly, it also brings me excitement to read their work. If you are someone who is writing or wants to start, please reach out to me. I am always looking for more people to commiserate over how hard it can be yet how wonderful it is nonetheless.