The first week was really hard. Even though I had a list of topics for the whole month and I had written 3 blogs beforehand to give me a head start, I still found it really difficult to write every day.

I hit my writing stride in the second week. I was euphoric about the ease of writing. Reflecting back I uncovered a few things that made it easier to write every day.

• I planned the blog topics first. Then I put it away. I focussed on each day/each blog and forget about writing the rest of blogs. Anne Lamott’s book, Bird by Bird. Instructions on Writing and Life, is right on the mark. She recommends breaking down the work you need to do and then write it one brick at a time, so you won’t be overwhelmed.

 

• Writing from my own experiences made it easier to write.

 

• The topic had to jazz me that day. I couldn’t plan what I would be thrilled about a month in advance. The planning schedule was only a guide. After sticking to the scheduled topics for the first hard week, I veered from the plan and writing became more joyful.

 

• Not giving myself too much time to second guess myself was helpful to me. Having too much time on my hands usually leads to procrastination.

 

• I needed to relax and trust that I capable of writing every day.

 

• Not worrying about the blog being perfect or interesting.  Anne Lamott says, “Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist’s true friend. What people somehow forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here.”

 

• Accepting that some blogs would seem worse to me than others.

Basically writing every day forced me to get out of my own way. Once I did that, the words and ideas just flowed. Thank you National Blog Posting Month.