Status Report: Under Two Weeks

There's less than two weeks left in 31 Plays 31 Days left. I've actually been able to complete a play each day and am really surprised and amazed that I have been. I've always struggled with finding daily time for writing. How could I possibly find time in between the job and trying to decompress from the day job and dinner time and bath time and story time and my own bedtime and then it all starts again. I relied heavily on "Writing Days," those days that I was off from work, when my wife was at work, and my son Jack was at daycare. Then it was off to Starbucks or some other coffee shop and I would write. It worked.

But it didn't work.

There was a lot of pressure that I had placed on myself as I worried, "This is my one day to get writing done! If I don't get the writing done, I'm a failure! I'll never have another day! It'll be a month before I get to write again!"

Often I was able to push some words onto the page and was happy with it, but there were a lot of times when the pressure (self-inflicted) really got to me and I froze. I became stressed and angry with myself.

Here's what I've learned from my experience so far:

1. I like the way it feels to write each day
2. I can write some real crap and feel good about it
3. I can write some real gems and feel great about it
4. I can find time to write after bedtime and after playing one or two iPad games to relax
5. If I really want to, I can stay up until 11pm or 12am to find writing time and still get up early (I don't want to make this a habit; a Daddy needs sleep. And I get sick.)

I'm planning on continuing this momentum when this month is over. I have 12 days in which to further solidify this new habit.

How are you all doing with this?