Fatigue

Okay, fourth week, and I admit it…I’m beginning to feel a little fatigue setting in.

If this were NaNoWriMo, it would be relatively easy to push through. I mean, if you make it to the fourth week in NaNo, you’re ¾ of the way done. It would feel like a waste to stop there and you have the benefit of knowing that you’re very close to done. Soon you can rest. Soon it will be Christmas!

Not so with Milwordy.

A year is a long time to do a challenge like this. I am not even a twelfth of the way through and already I’m tired? Not a good sign.

The thing is, this is actually a good challenge for testing how serious I am about writing, or rather how serious I am about wanting to be a full-time author. That is what I want and though I may never actually be able to achieve that dream, it is what I’m striving for. What’s great about Milwordy is that it gives me a peek into what that would actually be like. What would it be like to have to write, rather than to do it because I want to?

Yes, I’m doing Milwordy because I want to. No one’s forcing me. I’m not earning a paycheck here. But because I’ve announced it to the world, I do feel some obligation to keep going with it. And now I know what it would be like to write every day—to write a lot every day—without an end lurking around the corner of the next month. Is this something that I really want to spend my life doing?

Yes.

Or rather, sort of.

The thing is, if I were a full-time writer, I wouldn’t be trying to do this AND go to a full-time job as well. Writing would be the full-time job. It’s hard to wake up early, write, go to work all day, come home, write, go to bed. Repeat. And do that every day. It’s not impossible, but if I had to do this every day, not just for the next year, but for the rest of my life, could I do it? Probably not.

But one thing that I am figuring out during this process is what would be a totally doable amount of writing to expect from myself while also holding down a full-time day job. A 1k minimum would be pretty easy for me to adhere to. Even 2k—especially if I was giving myself breaks for outlining and revision—would also be pretty doable.

I think that I can make it to the year mark doing 3-4k daily, but I’m not going to lie, if there wasn’t a finish line waiting for me, I’d probably have given it up already. If you’re a writer who is regularly writing a ton of words on top of holding down a full-time job, or taking care of your kids or aging parents or all of the above and more besides, I don’t know how you do it, but you’re amazing. Keep up the good work! But also, make sure you give yourself a break once in a while. You deserve it!

If you’re doing Milwordy, how has it been treating you? Do you find it easy to hit your word target or are you struggling? Do you think you could keep this up forever or do you think having that finish line ahead of you helps keep you focused? Do you have a lot of other obligations in your life, or are you able to devote yourself entirely to your writing?

Feel free to like, share, and follow this blog if you’re enjoying it. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more updates on my Milwordy progress. And don’t be shy about comments! I’d love to hear from you!

-Robin