Coffee Klatch

I took a hiatus from my 75 Day Writing Challenge. I made it eight straight days without missing any of the tasks I had set for myself. I wrote every day for 30 minutes. I read a book on writing for 30 minutes. I wrote my blog post, and I read another 30 minutes. Then, Day 9 hit. On Day 9, I had my last formal observation for the year. I spent three hours that morning preparing. By the time my lunch break rolled around, I was spent. As I started to reach for my notebook and journal, my brain rebelled. It just wanted to rest. I thought to myself, What’s the harm in taking a lunch break? I’ll do my writing routine tonight when I get home. When I got home, however, my son needed help with his homework, and, by the time I could sit down to write, it was already after 8:00. I was exhausted, so I thought to myself, What’s the harm in taking an evening off?

Here I am after my 21-day break. I think to myself, What do I do now? Do I give up and just quit? Do I start my challenge again? Do I have to start over at Day 1? What are the rules for this? A soft voice replied, You make the rules. Do whatever the hell you want. So that’s what I am going to do. I decided that five tasks every day maybe too much while I am teaching full time. Yesterday, I sat down and wrote for 30 minutes and then read my book on writing for 30 minutes. I read a novel for another 30 minutes. Today, I am using my lunch break to write this post. Tonight, I will try to write for 30 minutes or read a few more chapters of the novel I am revising, but I also need to help my son build a cross-staff. That may take some time. I’ve decided that yesterday was Day 9 and today is Day 10. It’s my challenge and I don’t want to deny what I did accomplish by starting over. In fact, my little hiatus did me some good. I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to take the novel I’m writing and the hiatus gave me some time to mull it over. I now have a direction that I think is better for my story than the original idea. So, I am not starting over but merely beginning again. Here’s to Day 12.