The challenge!

I have accepted an issued challenge. The challenge you ask? What could it possibly be? I have challenged myself to write at least an hour a day every day for the month of July on my book. Now this includes the days we go caving, my husband tells me I have enough battery power on my lap top to fulfill it, even at camp. It will be fun to see how that turns out.

So far after picking up the gauntlet, I have been able to swing it with full force everyday this month. I have even exceeded my expectations and been able to write more than anticipated. I love being able to let my creativity flow and being able to bring what I see and hear so vividly inside my head to flowing script on the page before me. And yes, I do hear voices talking to me in my head. Doesn't every body?

Extra time on the computer without kids demanding a turn is mine! YES! But admittedly, this extra time comes at a price. My husband is out of town this entire week as are my three boys. They are off exploring the wilds of the mountains in the guise of scout camp. Fantastic! you might say. Less interruptions, and you would be right but . . . I have a terrible time getting to sleep at night when my husband is gone, and so I have found my self up through the wee hours of the morning typing away, with a terrible case of insomnia. It happens every time he leaves town. So I make the best of it by letting my characters out to play, and letting those voices in my head take over . . . again, I am not completely crazy, its just that I see great scenes in full technicolor playing out in my head and I work to capture it with words.

Now for a warning . . .

Even though at the last and only writing conference I have been to so far, David Farland said that our creative minds wake up at 5 pm and stays up until really late at night, I am thinking that perhaps he didn't mean until 4 am . I found my self working on my book enjoying the silence of my three girls sleeping peacefully in their beds, except for when they shouted out in their sleep about someone doing whatever to you know who . Smiling to myself, I wondered why I felt so tired, to look down at the clock on the computer and see 4 am staring wickedly back at me. OH WOW! It was not really that late . . . er. . . I mean early was it? That is how the first night my husband was gone played out , but I have to admit, I was able to write creatively for most of the time my insomnia was in full force. Eventually (4 am) the word began to blur, and I was finally able to sleep.

I looked back the next day, worried about the blathering gibberish I might find to see that what I wrote was actually pretty good and even made sense, which was a shocker to me. I expected nonsensical words to appear in place of the wondrous prose of the night before. I was happy this was not the case. Actually I was ecstatic. However, I don't recommend doing this, at least not very often, because its not the day after that you feel like you were hit by a semi because of a lack of sleep, but the day after that.

But the writing challenge has helped me focus in and forced me to carve out time every day to write and move my story forward to completion instead of jumping around with portions, I am now focusing on start to finish, with some editing along the way. I love the challenge, I feel excited when I sit down and easily lose myself in the world of my creation. It has sparked new imagination, and a little thrill of anticipation each time I write.

So now I pass my gauntlet to you, will you pick it up and rise to the challenge as well? Will you choose to write everyday something that releases the creativity within you? Answer the call, don't be afraid, prepare your self for the journey, you may just find yourself entering into a wondrous new world.