Thursday, January 26, 2017

More Than Half-Way to That New Creative Habit



I blogged about the 21 days to establish a new creative habit back on January 10. 17 days ago. And I've managed to write for at least an hour every one of those 17 days.

The first week or so was hard. I set my timer, and kept checking it. Every ten or fifteen minutes. And I'd stop right when I reached an hour. But it started to get easier. About day 8 I got really excited about what I'd written. (And didn't check my timer even once!) And even though things got crazy (a flooding house) on days 11 and 12 I made getting that hour in my priority, my escape. And the last three days, 15, 16, and 17, have been great. (Dry house + creative time = happy me.) I feel like I have momentum in my story, and every time I sit down, what I did yesterday is fresh in my mind. I jump in, and move forward, and it's really cool. It's feeling like a habit that's taking hold, and I'm thinking, maybe this is the gift I give myself for this year. The gift of time to be creative, every day. Just an hour, if that's all I have. But I can find an hour every day. I have 17 days of proof. And tomorrow will be 18.

How about you? Are you on your way to a new creative habit? Do you need the jumpstart of a conference, like the upcoming SCBWI Winter Conference in New York city, or maybe you just need to tell yourself, "Today is the day I start." And give yourself the gift of time to be creative.

Wishing you great writing and illustrating ahead,
Lee

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