Lessons at the half

Wow; I'm really doing it. I'm writing a book. Amazingly I'm meeting the goals. That makes me more than a little proud of myself. I have now passed the half-way point, which it a pretty cool milestone. I've noticed that I am learning little lessons along the way - lessons about writing that might just as well apply to life.

1. The darn daily-ness of it is a pretty big deal.
We probably all understand the power of doing something every day - the building of a habit, but also the accumulation of the work being done - whittling away at a big project. When you are committed to doing something every day, that means sometimes you can fly with the inspiration, but other days you have to plow through the sludge.

2. Even a little bit extra every day counts up quickly
Because I knew I'd need to take a couple days off for special events - and because I'm afraid of getting behind - I decided to pad my daily goals a bit. Consequently, I've been steadily climbing ahead of the bar - almost surprising myself. I'm glad about that cushion because being ahead of the game motivates me whereas falling behind can cause panic in me.

3. Public accountability can be rather helpful
My first thought about writing this book was to keep it a big fat secret. I thought I'd feel a little silly telling people about it. But in some of the WriMo tips, we were told to tell everybody - because it makes you more accountable. I knew that was true and so I did. The deal is not only the accountability, but also the gift of encouragement that I've been offered. That's bonus.

I'm thankful for these lessons that seem to be helping me to reach this heretofore unimaginable writing goal. I am also trying to notice ways that these principles can help me reach other goals in life. Small lessons really, but with significant results: one day at a time, a little extra push each day, and let somebody know what you're doing.