100 words is easy

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I love reading “days in the life” of writers by trade, how they break up their hours and days to maximize their time. Just recently, I read an article from a novelist who writes three books a year in three different genres, just by putting out between 20-30 edited pages per book, per month.

As I am in the midst of training for my first half-marathon, I am currently living in awe of some marathon and ultra-marathon runners that surround me (shout out #TeamBlackDog). I know that to some people, writing a book, much less books, seems just as daunting. But 60-90 edited pages a month isn’t that much, if you break it down. Three pages a day for a writer is like five miles a day for a marathon runner.

So why am I not writing three books a year?

Maybe because I want to be a writer and a runner, and possibly also because I have a marriage and three (plus two) kids and two jobs and and a podcast. I tell you, going for goals outside of those seems almost ridiculous at times.

Except those goals are so worth it, to me.

A writer/runner friend of mine, who has a demanding career and is turning out multiple chapters a week, recently told me to try writing 100 words a day.

This is a game changer!

I can’t say that I write 100 words every day, but when I do sit down to write, 100 words is surpassed almost instantly. So I try to meet at least 700 words a week, which, in my current project, is almost a chapter. This is doable, attainable, encouraging.

What goals seem like fantasies to you? Can you break them up? Can you take a step toward the finish line, in hopes of actually being able to see it before long?

This is my pep talk to you:

Break the journey down into the smallest steps you need. And then start walking.

As a bonus, here are a few of my 100 word exerpts:

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