Jeremy C Kester

The streak stands at 18 days as of the writing of this. That’s 18 straight days of writing. It’s not the longest I’ve had since 2018, but it is notable. Within that, 16 days straight were spent building back up my fiction writing, and the last 7 of those days were over 1,000 words each. In other words, I am working back into the daily habit of writing.

There’s a number of things that have aided the march back to regular writing. Of those, a mindset was taken that many ascribe in that hippy-dippy, self-help style thinking: living in the present.

Yes, there is only today. If I zoom out too much, thinking of how I am going to be still writing by next December, or in 2025, or 2050, etc and all days in between, the volume of work can become far too overwhelming. Zooming back in eliminates those thinking. I am not thinking that I am trying to make 2021 a repeat of 2018. No, I am focusing on only today. What do I have to do today? Write. That’s it.

It has helped. I have been active in my avoidance to think of what will happen tomorrow. Or next week. Or later. Will the streak last? Who knows? That is no longer a concern of mine. Yes, it is a goal, but like for this, I am only occasionally going to take the time to stop and look back at what I have accomplished. Then, I am turning back to focus on what is only write in front of me (pun intended).

Write today and only today; worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Repeat as needed.