Is This Cheating?

My month of writing is beginning to face some challenges.  Yes, that's right.  On November 1, I challenged myself to commit to writing something every day for the next thirty days.   And, by golly, I have done so. The writing may not be good, it Might not even be decent, but it exists.  And that is really the only goal I was pursuing.

Husband and I were listening to NPR Sunday morning, and they did a piece about a weekly online song writing challenge.  The members have to write a song a week.  It doesn't have to be great, it just needs to be a song.

Jason Mraz--successful musician/recording artist who has been addicted to the game since2006--makes the point that "anything you want to be great at, you have to practice."  And the little cartoon lightbulb went on above my head:  That is exactly what I am doing with my "write something every day" 30-day challenge. 

I don't know why we writers seem to think that the talent is just there, and all we ever have to do is sit down and turn it on, like a faucet.  When I go back and look at my best essays, I find they are usually produced during my most fertile periods, when I write daily, or at least several times a week.  Around about the end of summer this year, I took a look at the few posts I had made between June and September, and realized they were crap.  Got really discouraged for a time...and then decided to get off my ass and write.  Can't say I'm entirely displeased with the results...

This weekend is going to prove a challenge, though, since I'm down in Eugene for the holiday, in a home without wi-if.  I'm determined to keep the faith, though....  It's just going to take some creative thinking.

Anyway, for anyone who might have been wondering about my sudden flurry of activity here and at "Women On," my secret's out.