A Trip Around the Sun

365 days times 5 minutes. 1825 minutes. Over 30 hours. That's just the lower bound. There have been plenty of days I've written for 10 minutes or more.

Today marks the one year anniversary of Five Minutes a Day. It has been both a joy and a struggle at times, but I have managed to not skip a single day. Certainly, some days have been half-hearted or downright resentful, but I still wrote.

I have learned many things over the past year. How to seek inspiration when none was apparent. How to push through the intimidation of a blank page. How to give in and just try my best on days when things just weren't gelling. Most importantly: how to enjoy writing again.

When I started this project, I had forgotten why I liked to write. I was so wrapped up in all the things I was stuck on - plot and characterization, to name a few - that I had given up on putting the words down on the page. I had it in my head that I needed to wait until everything was in place before I started the first chapter.

I've taught myself to start with nothing and create something, no preparation needed. Sometimes I've planned, sometimes I just wing it with a random first sentence, sometimes I just rant about my day. In any of those cases, at the end of those five minutes, there was a work of writing that was new to the world. In many cases, it was something I could feel proud of having made.

I'm not planning on giving up now. There's still a lot more than can be created. I would still love to piece together a novel someday, but if I do it will be on the back of the discipline and hope I am developing here.

Here's to 1825 minutes and counting.