Day One: Starting

The Year of Writing Challenge is exactly what it sounds like:
1. Every day, you have to write.
2. Every day, you have to blog about what you wrote and your struggles of the day.
3. You have to do this for 365 days consecutively.

So let's get this going.

For those of you who have been to this site before, you know it is originally called Ramblings of a Madwoman. It was just a weekly blog I tried to keep up with writing advice and my own struggles as a writer and a student. I got a little bored with it. Work threw me curve ball after curve ball. And so then when I knew I was going to quit my job so I could focus on my school and my writing, I started hatching a plan.

Before I get into the challenge and what it is, let's cover what brought me to a year of being able to write. We're not rich, which is something a lot of my ex-coworkers thought to themselves. I worked hard for five years and kept a sizable amount of my paycheck into a nest egg while Alex went to his own school. We've been planning this for years. And I'll be doing odd jobs throughout the year in order to help pay rent. This includes teaching and even trying my hand at a travel agent part-time. So before you start getting these grandiose images of me sitting on a velvet chez lounge eating chocolates from a heart-shaped box and Alex in a fancy suit taking his town car downtown, please understand we're two partially starving twentysomethings who are just really stubborn and possibly really stupid.

The other reason why I tell you this is because I know how it feels to be stuck. I know how it feels to think there's no way to make it work. There is a way. You just have to sacrifice and plan for years to make it work. Even if the only way you can make this challenge work is to work twelve hours and then come home and write for twenty minutes, that's still making it work. I've been there. Believe me. I know it's hard, but if you're serious about writing, you'll figure it out.

Okay. The challenge.

The Year of Writing Challenge is exactly what it sounds like:

1. Every day, you have to write.
2. Every day, you have to blog about what you wrote and your struggles of the day.
3. You have to do this for 365 days consecutively.

That's honestly it. It is a lot harder than it sounds, but easier than you're thinking. I know it's going to take a while to build this, get everything looking pretty, etc. But that's the thing about writing. Not all of it is going to be easy or pretty or perfect or popular. Some of it is just going to be a really awkward, really disjointed first blog.

So here are my goals for just today:

I need to read Ender's Game for my packet due on Monday.

I need to go to my writing group with my writing buddy, Kate.

I'm hoping through this challenge, I'll meet people, I'll keep myself on track, and hopefully help you out as well. I have a good feeling about this year.

What are your goals today? What are you hoping to get out of this lovely Thursday? Comment below with your own blog link or just a check-in as to what you're doing today.

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