"If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write."
- Somerset Maugham
Congratulations! If you are reading this blog post, odds are YOU DID THE THING! You forged ahead when it was difficult! You prioritized yourself and your writing! You WROTE, and wrote and wrote some more! Amazing! Stupendous! Incredible!
But... Now what?
Well, this is not where your story ends. This is where your story as a writer BEGINS - or continues, or does end because you learned in the past 28 days that writing really isn't for you and you would rather go flyfishing, or learn the trapeze or breakdance!... I digress...
"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."
– Jim Ryun
Our goal here was to build the foundation for a habit - the powerfully creative habit of writing daily. Now, you get to choose - is this a habit that serves you, or is this a habit you no longer need?
Neither answer is inherently right or wrong - but one or the other is right for you.
If this is the end of your writing journey, I wish you all the very best! Thank you for riding this rollercoaster with me. Bye!
***
.. You're still here! Great! that must mean you want to foster and nurture your new writing habit into the future. Welcome, my friend, to the life of an author, a writer and a creative! Next - How do you foster a life long habit?
Two words: Keep Going.
Keep practicing. Keep setting your timer. Keep dedicating time to your new habit. Practice will make writing a permanent - and essentially automatic - part of your life. Then you will write like you brush your teeth, or lock the door, or double check the fridge when you are snacky even though you know DAMN well there are no good snacks in there. It will become part of who you are and what you do and thus easier. But this may take more time.
Neville Goddard said "if you do something for 90 days, you'll probably do it for the rest of your life." I don't know if it is the same timeline for everyone, but there is a ton of research marking the beginning or formation of a habit between 30 and 90 days... in a row! This is what stumped me for a long time - I took weekends "off" and it would be enough to kick me off my new habit. Now, when I am working on incorporating a new habit into my life, I go straight through - usually for 75 days - and if I miss a day? I start over.
But you get to choose how you move forward. Here are some suggestions you might consider:
- Continue to write - however that works for you.
- Go back through what you wrote and pick one story to develop or
- Dig out a WIP and dig in! NANOWRIMO has proved many times that a novel can be written in a single month.
- Expand. Write. Grow. Edit. Publish. Market. Or any combination of these steps.
- Enjoy! Your precious work, your words, your story are unique in all the universe. They matter.
Well, that's all the advice I have. I hope this challenge inspired you. I hope you found new yarns to spin, new people to love, new places to visit. I hope you felt relief as you emptied your soul and your brain onto the page. And I hope you enjoyed this month as much as I did.
I wish you all the best in the world, and hope you continue to share your words. Thank you for being a part of this. It means everything to me.
With Love,
Snow White and the Wicked Curse: Chapter 1
Snow White and the Vicious Curse: Chapter 2
Snow White and the Seven Thieves: Chapter 3
The final chapter, Snow White and the Poisoned Apple.
Prefer to read the whole story at once? Grab your copy of Snow: The Complete Erotic Series now! All five books are coming soon in Paperback.
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With Love,
Check out her books:
Snow White and the Wicked Queen: Chapter 1
Snow White and the Vicious Curse: Chapter 2
Snow White and the Seven Thieves: Chapter 3
Snow White and the Poisoned Apple: The Final Chapter
Prefer to read the whole story at once? Grab your copy of Snow: The Complete Erotic Series now! All five books are available now as ebooks and paperbacks. Coming soon in Large Print format!
2nd edition coming 2025!
