Kicking Myself in the Writer's Block: 10 Day Letter Challenge

And none will hear the postman's knock

Without a quickening of the heart.

For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

~W.H. Auden

Beginning in January, I am participating in the One Page a Day Challenge.  Hopefully by the end of the year, I'll have 365 pages worth editing.

G

ood thing I chose Flexibility as my word for 2014: I journaled for six days straight and then stopped for eight.  I posted only two blogposts this month.  And I haven’t detoxed at all.

So much for the grand plan.

But January is all about letting go, so I’m releasing all the self-criticism and focusing on journaling today, writing a blogpost for today.  And detoxing tomorrow.

But how can I get back into the daily writing habit?

Begin at the Beginning

My fear of being late borders on the pathological.

Image credit: Green Like Bathwater

It must have been that day in first grade when I was late and was convinced that I had neglected to put my uniform on.  Hence I always check to make sure I have on bottoms (trousers for the Brits out there).

Related to this fear is my refusal to come late to a movie (must see the previews!) and my insistence that I start a TV series from Season 1.  Even if that means I miss the current season.

When I looked back on 2013, I was surprised and elated to see that I had one hundred and sixty-seven blogposts.  That is almost sixty more posts since 2012.  This jump was due almost entirely to the number of blogging/writing challenges I participated in.  And while blogging every day can be daunting, it is apparently the only way to jump start my ink pen. 

However, today is the fifteenth ~ and as you may have already guessed ~ I hate beginning in the middle.

What to do?

Ten Days, Ten Letters

You write for ten days instead of thirty.  Or in this case, you write ten letters in ten days.  This challenge is posted over at Tumblr ~ that black hole of random fandoms.  I would never have joined up if not for being a proud member of the most insane fandom in the history of British telly. (Hint: check out my Anglophile Board.)

There aren’t any instructions, so if you would like to join me, you can take this challenge in any direction. 

Write longhand or on the computer.

Post it on your blog.

Tear it up and throw it away.

Paste it in your journal.

Mail it to the person you’re addressing it to (yes, even yourself).

Tumblr

Day One is a doozy, so I’ll think about what I would want to say to the younger me and post it later.

Right after I journal.

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

What about you?  Have you joined any challenges this month?