Writers Book of Days - January catchup

January Success rate:  11/31 = 35%

I'm a little dismayed at the start I've made with this challenge. I started out well, the best intentions of a fresh New Year start I suppose, but once I was back at work I seemed to run out of time during the day again.

I tried having some catch up sessions, but the purpose of doing the exerise is lost then really. All I'm doing is trying to get my word count up and check off another couple of days on the list.

So, I have missed out rather a few days in the first month, but I'm going to pick it up again this month doing the right prompts on the right days. If I get some spare time now and again I'll try and go back and fill in the gaps but I'm not going to make it into a chore.

When I have found the time to sit down and do it, I set my timer for 20 minutes and just type until the alarm goes. Each time I'm pleasantly surprised at what I can produce in response to the prompt. Sometimes the final entry only loosely relates to the initial thought, evolving as it does as the words appear on the screen. The mood just seems to take me and the entry takes on a life of its own. This is both fascinating and a little spooky.

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A Writer's Book of Days - Judy Reeves

When asked by my husband what I'd like for Christmas there wasn't really many things that I could think of. I think we've got to that point now that I don't really want all that much. However, one thing that had been on my wish list for a little while was A Writer's Book of Days by Judy Reeve, so I thought 'why not?' and suggested it to him.

I first became aware of this book through Vicki Thompson's blog, The View Outside. She spent all of last year working through it and posting about her progress on her blog pages. It seemed like a great idea to help me get kick-started with a proper writing routine so wanted to give it a go.
I thought about it a lot in the build up to Christmas and was getting excited at starting the challenge on 1st January, but then I started to worry that he may not have ordered it for me. And what if he hadn't? It was going to be too late to order it in time to start on the first day of the year. And you can't really ask someone whether they have or haven't got you something, can you?
Anyway, Christmas arrived and he had indeed got me this little gem so I was ready to go once 2012 had disappeared.

                                                                                      
                                                                                                             Photo courtesy of http://judyreeveswriter.com/

This book is full of tips and encouragement to help writers keep going with their writing practice. The chapters are divided into each month of the year and within them is a different prompt for every single day. It is supposed to help writers get used to scheduling time into each of their days to write something, however little.
I've been doing it every day so far, spending at least 20 minutes writing to the prompts. In the book it says you're supposed to just sit down with your notebook, write the date and the prompt at the top of the page and then launch straight into it. Don't give any time for contemplation or planning, just go with whatever comes into your mind when you write down the prompt. This isn't always easy though. Often only a couple of thoughts pop into my mind, which I write down and then try to weave them into something that makes sense.
My first couple of entries turned out to be more reflective musings on how I think and feel about my writing, but I want to try and write short pieces of fiction or even (eek!) some poetry maybe.                         

I also have to start telling myself that not every prompt I write about is going to be brilliant. I mean, that would be great, obviously, but it's not going to happen at this early stage of my journey. Some have been alright, they have potential for something more later on, but some have been a bit of a ramble. But, the important thing is I'm getting words down on the page and practicing my writing.

I'll post an update at the end of the month to let you know how I'm getting on with this, but in the meantime writing prompts await ...

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