Screenshot from challies.com
Howdy,
Right off, I have to say I have MAD RESPECT!
And you ask, mad respect? For what?
My respect(!) — and whatever amount of jealousy I can entertain without coveting my neighbor’s oxen — targets Tim Challies’ consecutive days blogged.
Look at it (pictured above). It’s insane. Thousands of days. To be exact, 4,732 days of writing posted without a single omission, skip, or sick day. All in a row. Every day.
Let’s do some math today. *Rubbing hands together for comforting warmth to carry me through and wiggling fingers and thumbs for iPhone calculator readiness*, here we go. Let’s see, 4,732 divided by 365 is … 12.9643836! As in hold-your-breath-for-a-beat and it’ll be THIRTEEN YEARS!
I’m impressed. As a writer, and simply as a person who finds difficulty in doing enough anythings as consistently as I’d dream. And Tim Challies has good stuff at challies.com. Long posts. Wisdom. Words on words on words for days and days and days. Years, even. Thirteen of them. Way to go, sir.
Hard not to think that equals a head start.
It does.
That’s four years before I was married — and I’ve got three kids now. It’s a head start, and a long way downriver. But, well, not really. I mean, for him it is, but not me, and I won’t compare myself and billyhawes.com to prolific Mr. Tim Challies as a blogger because I’ve been on my own journey, done my own work, and done my own slacking and my own writing. Writing a novel. I will however take his impressive tally as a motivating challenge.
Writer and encourager of writers Jeff Goins communicates often about a daily writing habit of drafting 500 words and designs and promotes online aids for performing it individually and in community for support and celebration. He spurs us on with igniting sprints, prompts, and deadlines; the work published for accountability. Consistency for growth and sustainability. It’s practice and it’s publishing. It’s showing up and growing up. Striving faithfully toward mastery in a skill always still asking more of even its “masters” in the art and craft.
In this art of work and writing art, I want to be a sweating artist. Must be. With the world welcome to witness the drips and drops, glimpses and glops. Maybe someday enough to catch light in prism for even a shaky reflection of beauty blazing with grace like a rainbowed sky.
Looking to put in the work as well as create content with a clockwork consistency lacking at times in the past — most times — I’m planning to embark, to push away from resting inertia’s rotting dock, to hop on Huck Finn’s drifting barge, on a committed practice of writing that will take me to 200,000 words composed; to one MILLION words. Written.
Written.
Done.
As in “have written.” They say many who want to be writers don’t particularly want to apply the butt glue and write: we want to have written.
It feels so good to have written. Sitten and written.
Write. Write. Write.
Not wait. Wait. Wait.
Far too often fear, time, discipline, etc., etc., keep me and others from that writer’s high.
So, more math. Goal: 200K words by my next birthday. [Did I mention it was my birthday? 😉 ] Again, calculator ready: 200,000 divided by 365 is … 547.95. I’ll embrace overachiever and post 550+ words per day on average for, let’s see, 550 multiplied by 365 is … 200,750.
That would be fantastic! Will be fantastic. Five years of something each day equals my millions words written. Plus, working on books. Steps toward mastery.
Dovetailing the Ten Commandments allusion up top, my challenge comes in not making this whole thing, this beginning-energy-and-excitement post, a lie. I eagerly desire for this to not be a false testimony. But I confess I’ve fallen into that before — didn’t quite hit that New Year’s Resolution Resolve on Ostrich Eye — but here we go. And prescheduling posts will help me to remember the Sabbath day as a blessed day of rest. God is good.
Time flows whether I’ve written my raft each day or not. Aiming to stay afloat as we keep Reading Writing Living.
Fellow adventurers, you may know I smile when I sneak (sometimes smack) a little Nacho in when I can, so to the consecutive challies.com habit I say, “You gotta be kidding me. Everything you just said, is MY favorite thing to do, every day!”
EVERY day.
See you tomorrow!
—Billy
Reading. Writing. Living.
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