Tuesday the 11th was the first day of my Stephen King Writing Challenge.
For seven days I’m challenging myself to:
- Write 2,000 ‘fairly clean’ words for a creative work each day. (i.e.: Not blog writing or promotional writing.)
- Work on one creative story/piece at a time. (No hopping between stories – we face our writer’s block like men!)
- Get 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day.
- Read a book for at least 30 minutes a day.
So how did day one go? Let’s find out.
Tuesday
5:05 – Finally got up and sat down at my desk
5:06 – My stomach is apparently just now telling me, ‘remember that squash casserole you baked last night? Well I didn’t the the squash you used. Or the onions. Or the bread crumbs. And I’m going to make your life hell for the next 30 minutes.‘
5:40 – Finally sat back down at my desk.
5:41 – Decided to use my 2,000 word block for the day on a creative client project. Because in this house we multitask.
6:43 – Paused for half a second to do some research on bird watching.
6:44 – Why does the Kirtland’s Warbler look so adorably fat and angry?
7:07 – 1629 words. And I’ve run out of time. Damn.
7:15 – Start getting ready for the rest of my day.
8:30 – Out the door with my stomach still screaming how much it hates me.
4:00 – Finally get back home and decide I’m going to use my 30 minutes of exercise for the day on trimming up some bushes.
4:31 – The bushes are trimmed. Also, I’m covered in sap, I forgot to change out of my work clothes, and I’m pretty sure the grapevines next door have damaged my fence. Did I mention that I hate EVERYTHING?
5:00 – After an extensive cleaning and decontamination process, I decide to get something to eat.
5:30 – I really should get to finishing those last 371 words. In a minute.
5:40 – Another minute.
5:45 – Sure, the client appointment is at 6:30, but I could wait another minute. Right?
5:50 – OK, the computer’s up and I definitely need to start working.
6:15 – Booyah!

7:45 – The client meeting is wrapped up, writing is wrapped up, exercise is wrapped up. I just need to read a book for 30 minutes.
9:10 – ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
9:13 – Decide it’s necessary to complain to my BFF over What’sApp about how I’ve lost my passion for reading.
9:13 – She recommends The Stone Sky.
9:14 – It sounds like a great book, but it’s not like it’s going to be on Libby or – wait a minute.
9:15 – Got it!
9:20 – Time?
9:30 – Time?
9:40 – Ooo… this is starting to get good.
9:45 – I wonder why our main character was unresponsive, and why his arm turned into – wait, time! TIME!
10:00 – Well, that was a bit tricky to get done, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. On to day two!
10:05 – … wait, did I forget to put those blog posts up?