Don't break the chain!

Now that I have my wonderful office I have NO EXCUSES not to actually write. I was reading on Jake Bouma's blog the other day about a practice Jerry Sienfeld uses that I thought might help me write - it's called Don't Break the Chain - pick a goal, begin one day, mark your calendar with a big red X and continue to do so until you have accomplished your goal or you break the chain.

Sounds simple, eh? I have found much recovery living One Day At A Time and thought maybe linking together a bunch of red X's might give me what I dream of. I know that writing, whether blogging, journaling or REAL WRITING, gives me life, so choosing to do it each and every day is something that will add and not take away. As of yesterday I have begun my chain (I actually have written my first words (shitty first draft ala Anne Lamott who I just found out by googling "shitty first drafts" in the article I link to at 43 folders has the same birthday as my daughter Alinea - that just warms my heart!) of the novel that has been haunting me for years. Up to this point I have only jotted notes and done research. But it has begun and that gives me some satisfaction and joy.

I have broken through the fear (it hasn't gone anywhere, but I've decided I'm not going to let it control me) that I am not skilled enough to actually write the wonderful story that longs to be told. I know that if I don't begin it will never be told, and anything worth doing is worth doing badly, right?

I should be doing the 30 pages of reading a day chain that Jake is doing, but writing is way more fun than all of the reading I'm supposed to be doing for school... (I'm reading too, honest I am.)