I’ve been trying to fit my characters into an already-written outline for a novel I started a few years ago. It hasn’t been working. I’ve been extremely frustrated and discouraged because of it. I’ve been doing this daily writing thing, but it has felt like slogging through mud. I almost gave up yesterday when it got to be 10 p.m. and I hadn’t written a single word.  One more time I had to force myself to sit down at the computer and write. It was more about knowing that if I slack off for even one day during November, it will be that much easier to slack off for two days..or three days..And ya’ll know where that leads.  I wound up journaling - which counts as writing, and which is something that a lot of writers have used successfully. Julie Cameron’s insistence upon morning pages comes to mind.

Slogging or not, I’m pleased with myself today. I have now written something for five days - in a row!!  And it’s beginning to pay off. I woke up this morning with a new focus for my WIP.  I have a new idea for the title and some new paths for my three main characters. Somewhere along the line, I must have unconsciously given myself permission to let go of the old and invite in the new.  I’m five days into the 21 days needed to build a new habit, and I’m excited about the new direction my WIP is taking.

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