And not just that. I’ve finally started editing and polishing my chapters before releasing them. I’m proud of my achievements, but you have to keep in mind that they are just that, achievements.
It didn’t happen overnight or by accident. In fact, on my awful previous blog, I had been going daily or weekly or something. Either way, it was consistent and I was writing… The horrid first draft of the Solune Prince. Please don’t go looking, it is still live.
Well what happened?
I got a new job and lost the free time. My last post on that blog was something along the lines of “I’ll be back in a few weeks once I adjust!”
Yeah right. I never did get back. That’s right, my first try I failed. But I learned something huge.
Your commitment is defined by whether or not you work on your most difficult days.
So when I was tired or when I switched jobs again, I still wrote, even if it was 500 words.
And it got easier. I no longer had to dangle the carrot. (Never take the carrot before you’re done. Never.) I didn’t have to force the 1000+ words out. Other things got in the way of my writing! No time for league, I’ve got a chapter to finish!
Now I go 1500-2000 words nearly every night. It’s become second nature. And, since I have started in April I have only missed 3 days.
The Trick
I realized that saying no to yourself doesn’t work. If you just give up all your hobbies and hope you’ll write, you know what’ll happen instead? You’ll lose motivation and do nothing all day. Instead, you have to write to a quota. Mine was one post per day. No word limit, just one piece that my reader(s) would enjoy. And that’s all I did.
After about three months, I didn’t want to stop anymore, I didn’t want to play League of Legends during my breaks from writing because they took too long, I wanted to get back to work asap.
I’m actually in worse condition than I was back then. I play League again, and find it kind of boring. I don’t write as much, and I don’t have as much motivation for it. I have no idea why, probably the stress of collage starting up soon. (If you want to support me, follow my Patreon!) I still do one post a day, and usually cap 1.5k, so overall it’s an improvement, but still I feel really off. I hope it doesn’t affect the quality of my work.