Working through Elements of the Writing Craft has been challenging. Even though the lessons are short, I spend about an hour on each of them. In addition to the lessons on craft, I’m learning quite a bit about habit. I write in two blocks of time before and after my day job and force everything else to fall outside these times. I like to write in one session and revise in the other, ideally with a night’s rest in-between. It’s been a dramatic change in priority over these past few months.

My energy comes and goes, which causes the quality of work to fluctuate, but I allow myself that leniency as long as I show up and at least go through the motions and build the habit. A rule given to me by my cousin says don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day, but don’t miss two.

I started out doing one lesson every day and managed to get through seven days before deciding to take weekends off. Five lessons a week is doable and still significant progress. When I’m feeling particularly motivated, I’ll cache a lesson or two on the weekend to keep the post consistency through the week.