500 Word a Day Challenge

I have been issued a writing challenge: 500 words a day for a month.


I guess this will be my new habit. I started last week, and so far, so good. I am alternating fiction with non-fiction. Some of the fiction, I might post one day. Some of the non-fiction will be blog posts, some will be other things.


My biggest problem with writing has always been what to write. When I sit down to start, that’s when my demons come out. They say, “None of your ideas are original,” and, “That’s so cliche,” and “What are you thinking?!”

So I sit, and I stare at the page, and every word I’ve written sounds like vomit, and every blank page seems so full of possibilities, waiting for lovely words, flowing words, inspiring words. Words that never come.

I keep telling myself, I will write when something occurs to me to write about. Which is why my blog is empty a lot. But do I really encounter or think of nothing interesting in an entire month? I doubt that.

So how to get those fleeting, occasional moments of inspiration to come when I want them to?

Apparently, the key is to start writing anyway. It’s hard. I stumble, pause, and my demons start shouting. But I ignore them, and words come.

They are not inspiring words. They are not lovely, or flowing. But they fill up the blank pages all the same, and eventually, some of them will be good.

Later, I can go figure out which ones are good, and keep those. At first, I just start writing. It's easiest if I don’t even look at the page, just at my fingers on the keyboard. They move quickly, assuredly.

They are my inspiration. The sound of the keyboard - it’s wonderful.