Achievement Unlocked: 200 Consecutive Days of Writing

I managed to sneak in about 250 words before dinner this evening, and while I’ll likely add to that total later, it means that I have now officially written for 200 consecutive days, and for 343 out of the 345 days. My daily average has been down slightly lately because I’ve been so busy. My 7-day rolling average is just under 700 words/day, which is roughly about half an hours worth of work every day. I mention this fact because it helps illustrate that with very little time in the day, I’ve amassed 192,000 word of fiction in the last 200 days. If you only have 20 minutes a day, you can still write a lot, if you do it every day.

The last day on which I did no writing was July 21, 2013, which also happened to be the last day of the Launch Pad astronomy workshop–the day we all traveled home.

If we count the larger numbers–that I have written 343 out of the last 345 days, then I’ve written a total of 302,000 words since February 27, 2013. That’s about 880 words/day.

But 200 consecutive days really feels like an achievement. Regardless of circumstance, whether I’ve been traveling, extremely busy, sick, I’ve managed to squeeze in a little time to write every day. I think–and I’m not certain of this, but close enough–that I’ve written more in the last 200 days than I have in the entire 20 years prior to this that I have been writing and submitting stories.

I go through a lot of drafts. I have false starts and dead ends. But I keep at it. I’ve sold some of what I’ve written in the last 200 days. And the practice is making me better. I can see it.

So any way, I’m celebrating this evening, quietly, and mostly to myself, but celebrating nonetheless. 200 consecutive days of writing is an achievement to be proud of