Day thirty

Day Thirty... oh what a milestone! Who would have thought I would survive thirty days of consistent writing. I will tell you that it was not easy... not easy at all. Sometimes it was a chore and other times a pleasure. I suppose that's what writing really is. Today I felt unusually happy at work. Perhaps it was the absence of a particular co worker or the conversation I had with my favorite girl :). I suppose I found my rhythm today. I feel bursts of creativity, like bursts of energy after you've reached a certain painful point when running. Some people call it getting over a wall. I need to stop making excuses and start writing more. I'm not afraid of how terrible it will be. I know the majority of the stuff I write is pure crap, but maybe a sliver or a fragment of something good may come of it. I read a story in a book called "Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking" that compelled me to think about the writing process in a different way. In the book (I'm paraphrasing deeply of course) there's a story of a college pottery class. The professor divided the classroom in half. One half of the classroom had a single semester long project. Create the "perfect" piece of pottery by the end of the semester. The other half of the classroom was assigned the task of creating as many pieces of pottery it could during the entire semester. Well it turns out that the quality and the style of those students assigned the task of making as many pieces of pottery as they could, was much better than those students who had a singular piece to turn in. So if I keep writing I suppose I'll get better. I suppose 30 days isn't a long enough period to critique myself. At the 60 day mark I'll have compiled enough writing to do a self assessment. I suppose I have some talent in writing, but Stephen King once said "Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful individual is a lot of hard work". Indeed I have a lot of handwork ahead if this experiment is to succeed. Fifteen minutes sometimes feels like a second, other times it feels like an eternity. What do I hope to gain from this project? I hope that something I write here, will eventually be edited and published in a journal or magazine. I hope to become a better writer in the process of writing everyday. I had no set expectations and will see where the river will take me. My fifteen minutes comes to an end, although I do not limit myself to only fifteen minutes, I try and come close to it as possible. It's just a box / barrier I've created to see what happens, to add a little pressure. I wish happiness to all who read this.

15:15