Day 50

Day 50:

Fifty days. Fifty days is a long time, I think. Certainly, in this modern world, fifty days seems like an age. I don't really remember exactly what things were like when I started this, but I know that they are a lot different now. 

If you live in the UK, as I do, things really have changed a lot. I started writing these two chancellors ago. That must be a long time. Yet it hardly feels like any time at all. If I'd have done nothing but write and come up with ideas all day at the start of this, I could probably have gotten to fifty entries within a few days (these average out at around 20 to 30 minutes each, which is probably a long time for what it is). Yet, I feel like the gaps between the pieces are part of what makes them feel special to me.

It has become a total habit, a ritual, if you like, to write every single day. Sure, I have had a couple of days where it's been 11pm and I've realised, "Oh no, I still need to write today..." However, these days were mostly within the first month or so; I never forget about it now. It always has a place in my calendar, which I've started writing every morning. I didn't do that before I started this. It seems as though, in showing up each day to do this, I've proven to myself that I can actually do new things that I really commit to.

It is within that commitment, that public commitment, that the motivation to continue arises. If I was just writing these to myself, I think it would be too easy to say "Oh well, I'm sure it will be fine if I miss one day." But that way of thinking is a slippery slope. The building of strong habits comes from consistently showing up, to the point where you no longer need to think about it. Reading books every night, that's another thing I didn't really do until after starting this.

I believe that the length and varied nature of these pieces has been important too. If I had made the public commitment to write a novel, publishing one page each day, I likely would've frozen up and given up quickly. As Days 14, 16 and 22 taught us, I am not yet that good at the long-term planning side of stories. If I had to plan out and write a whole novel (without being able to go back and edit things that I'd already published), the result would've been a confusing, unengaging, and probably very short, mess. Having the freedom to write whatever I want each day has made this a much more relaxed activity, which is almost always enjoyable.

As an announcement I've been saving for a notable day, I have decided that I am going to turn these pages into a full book. I'll add my notes and thoughts about each of the days, possibly doing some marking of myself based on what I know now. I'm not sure what the cut-off point of days for the book is going to be (100 days sounds nice, but I shan't commit to that yet). What I will commit to is that I am going to publish them, and I will continue writing each day, even after publication. Even if it's an Amazon self-published e-book job, I will have published a book. 

That is something that a tiny, tiny percentage of people that think "I want to write a book" actually do. I think I'll be proud of myself. If you want to write a book, I would highly recommend using this method. It has broken down so many mental barriers, turning publishing a book from a wild dream, into something that I am actually a fair way towards doing.

Happy Day fifty everyone :)