Enthusiasm!

I've been participating in a writing challenge this month. I challenged myself to write a hundred pages in the March. Not an easy task! Last week I failed miserably. I wrote only nine pages! I felt bad at failing yet again, but I decided to keep trying. I figured if I could write five every day (except Sunday), I could still make the goal.

You know what? I have totally shocked myself by writing five pages every day this week! Yesterday, I did it in spite of the fact that I didn't start at all until about 10:30pm. And I still got to bed before midnight! It feels like some sort of miracle. Like I'm Peter walking on the water and any minute I'm going to start doubting I can write five pages a day, and I'll start sinking. But no. I can do this. I have faith.

A couple things I think have made a difference for me this week. The first is that when I sit down to write, I leave my iPad in another room. This has made a HUGE difference.

Second, I have been working on the enthusiasm side of Rachel Aaron's writing triangle. Not only my enthusiasm for writing itself, but my enthusiasm for the scenes I am writing. Take yesterday. I had come to a new scene and I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted to go. I kept trying to make the character fit into the plan I had made for him. Wasn't working. Finally, I just let my imagination wander. What else might he do? I hit on a possibility that took him in the exact opposite direction I intended. It totally worked. I was excited about it. And bingo! I got my five pages in just over an hour.

I think we all need to write what we are excited about. What we can get enthusiastic over. Because, after all, if we don't love it, neither will anyone else!

Here's hoping for some more enthusiasm today!