The thing about writing is that the only way out is through. The only person who can write that story is you, as long as you put one word in front of the next, day after day, week after week, month after month. You write for long enough…and poof, a story (or a chapter) appears.

Is it good? It’s too early to care. The important thing is that you have the holy of holies: A Draft.

Once you have a draft, anything is possible.

Once you have a draft, every subsequent draft is just a little better.

And once you have enough drafts, you just might have something good. Good enough, even, to share. Gain feedback. Inspire further edits.

Unfortunately, it all starts with a single word. Then another, and on and on…you get it. To have something good you have to do something hard, and do it consistently.

I’ve been pretty bad about that consistent part since the pandemic totally disrupted my daily office-bound writing routine. Something about turning 30 and seeing a friend in my writing group nab an agent for his speculative sci-fi book inspired me in January to codify my writing life more clearly.

Basically that inspired me to draw a dumb calendar on unused index cards and X out days I write any creative words at all.

Eventually this will be color coded to reflect finished drafts. Otherwise it’s use case is fairly small.

It is pinned on the corkboard directly adjacent to my desk, so I do have to see it each day. Otherwise, it’s just a small, personal reminder to write, while also visualizing the bigness of the year. I expect when the months start to roll by, all the missed days will become all the more grating.

But that’s just a good reminder to write.