Day 28 and I’m feeling fine!

Actually, I’m tired from working yesterday, but when it comes to the February challenge I’m feeling good about it. Making time to write every day wasn’t easy at first, but just like journaling every day it did become a habit. 

Something that I’ve learned over the past two months/challenges is that I work well when I have structure. Also, I am more energetic and feel more creative in the morning until about 2 p.m.. I don’t necessarily crash in the afternoons, but if I put a lot of brainwork into the morning hours then by the time I leave work all I want to do is either get outside for a walk or veg on the couch.

I used to be a night owl. I stayed up until the wee hours writing or reading and would get up for work with no problem. Of course, my mornings were a rush to get ready and be out the door on time, and I ate at my desk or on the road depending on the job, but it worked for me at the time.

During the early days of the pandemic I was working from home, and since I didn’t have a 35-45 minute commute each morning, I would have breakfast and coffee before I sat at my desk to start the work day. Using that time to just eat and not be rushing around was really nice. When it was time to go back to work, I let it go because otherwise I would have needed to wake up earlier. I’d been waking up at the same time for over 10 years, why change now?

A new job and a shorter commute allowed me to keep to my regular wake-up time but then I had time to enjoy 30 minutes of calm before I left for work. When I realized that journaling in the morning was the best time for me, it only made sense that morning would be the best writing time, and since I was unwilling to give up my breakfast half-hour, I needed to wake up earlier.

The result of that is almost 3700 words being written over the course of February. I’m so proud of myself for pushing to make a change and get the job done. I really don’t like waking up at 5 a.m. and yet it doesn’t take long before I am ready to write and journal. When I’m finished, and it’s time to make coffee and have breakfast, I feel like I’ve accomplished something big already that day.

I love that feeling. I love that I have a really, really, really rough and unfinished draft of a story. And I love that I am ready to keep waking up early to write and journal in the morning, and that I’m ready for the next challenge – which I’ve changed from my original idea.

When I started these challenges in January I was going to write a short story in March. Since I wrote more, and along a continuous plotline, in February than I’d originally set out to do, I thought I’d kick it up a notch. Or maybe just kick it sideways.

For March, I will continue on with my new morning routine, but now add a night one. Or at least a two part night routine. I will: go to bed a half hour earlier than my usual time, but before that I will spend a half hour reading either Writing & Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron or A Most Curious Murder by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli. Basically, I want to read the how-to book while reading a cozy mystery as the example. So the new habit is to read before bed, rather than watching television or Youtube, and to keep my body going I need to make more of an effort to get more sleep.

If anyone is wondering about how the language studying is going, I’m still using Duolingo every day, but only for review. I’m spending a chunk of time actually studying on the weekends. If I try to fit it in on weekdays then I end up not giving it the attention it deserves. 

Looking ahead, for April I will participate in Camp NaNo and use what I’ve learned from the how-to and example to write my own mystery short story! 

But first, I need to keep on keeping on with my old routines and the March challenge.

February challenge is done and won!