Write Fifteen Minutes A Day (WFMAD) – Day 1

Start your engines!! Write Fifteen Minutes A Day© is here!

Get ready to scribble!

The rules are simple. In fact, they aren’t even rules. They’re more like guidelines, the Pirate Code of Writing.

1. Commit to write for 15 minutes a day for the entire month of August.
2. Just do it.

Seriously. That’s all there is to it. You don’t have to sign up anywhere, or meet minimum word count goals or complete a whole freaking novel in 30 days. You can write fiction, non-fiction, memoir or poetry. Personally, I don’t think blog writing should count because that is immediately published and you always have your audience in mind. I think this month should be a chance for you to go deeper inside yourself. But if blog writing makes you happy, go for it.

Just. Write. Every Day. This. Month.
15 Minutes.

This is not the time for editing or outlining. Just keep your pen, pencil, crayon, or fingers on the keyboard moving for 15 minutes. You can use the entire time to write “I don’t know what to write and LHA is crazy” the whole time if you want.

I’ll give a prompt a day for anyone who is feeling stuck. But you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.

I would love it if you guys checked in with me by posting in the comments section. There will be a prize each week for the person who wrote the most intriguing or funniest or most moving comment. Be shameless. (I will disclose the prize in a day or so.) Tell me where you wrote today or for how long, or what you were working on. Tell me what kind of resistance thoughts cropped up as you were writing, or trying to start writing. Tell me what it felt like when the 15 minutes were up.

OK, that’s enough blathering.

Ready….
Disconnect from the Internet.

Set…
Turn off your phone.

Today’s prompt*** Give yourself permission. Write yourself an excuse note that gives you permission to not do something else in your life for fifteen minutes a day for the next 31 days. Be specific and clear about when you are going to write. Bonus points for writing about what might get in the way of your WFMAD writing, and how you are going to combat it.

Scribble…Scribble….Scribble!

***LEGAL STUFF: These prompts, like all the rest of the stuff I write for WFMAD and my blog entries, are my material and, thus, under my copyright. You have permission to reproduce them for classroom use only. Yes, you may link to these posts. Spread the word! The more the merrier!!

 

74 Replies to “Write Fifteen Minutes A Day (WFMAD) – Day 1”

  1. I’m so excited about this challenge. I’ve had a character rambling in my mind for months now; I’ve even been dreaming about her story. WFMAD has been announced to my family and I will have an uninterupted 15 minutes each day (that hopefully leads to much more) during which I will simply explore. Today I wrote poolside while my children played in the water!

  2. Wish I could participate! Unfortunately I’ve had issues with challenges like this — NaNoWriMo managed to trigger a manic phase and I don’t want to go through that again (though getting help for bipolar was needed and nice and would have taken longer otherwise). Still, I’m cheering on the sidelines, and will probably unofficially participate inadvertently in the normal course of my day. Writing + reading = breathing for me. 🙂

  3. I cheated and began yesterday. We had a family reunion in June and I want to write about it, make a record of the stories told and new memories made. Of course it will be from my perspective only, which might be a wee bit unfair to some of the participants. With this commitment, I should easily have the entire story written by the end of August. I hope for this to be a more literate version of events than the sketch I wrote for my blog.

  4. I’m deep in the middle of revision for my novel, so I’ll participate in a slightly modified way. I’ll call it RFMAD (Revise Fifteen Minutes a Day). I know of several scenes I’ll need to completely rewrite, so there will be plenty of writing going on too!

  5. Im definetly joining WFMAD! Because I think it’s a great idea and fun experience! I try to write everyday, but sometimes I dont get the chance! This month however, I’m going to be sure to set aside 15 minutes or more! To write my novel! That Im extremely excite for!

  6. Hooray, you read my mind! As a high school teacher, it is easy to find time in the summer to relax and write, but as the school year approaches. . . I can hear the theme song for JAWS riding on the breeze, and the I know the sharks are circling as each day we get closer and closer to the official END OF SUMMER- and the END OF FREE TIME FOR WRITING!

    I will keep you posted. Thanks again!

    amanda

    http://thenewbienovelist.blogspot.com/

  7. Thanks, Sarah, for this idea. I am revising my dissertation to make it much more reader-friendly, so I may accept the alternative challenge to RFMAD this month. Since I wrote my dissertation for a particular (academic, theory-driven) audience, I have plenty of opportunities to revise it for a different audience. I, too, will be doing lots of writing!

  8. I’ve been looking forward to your blog post all day. =] Thank you!

    Today I wrote about a character who has been inside me for a long time….just don’t truly know about her yet. I was inspired last October by a one-act play I saw, in which a goup of beautiful life-size dolls were controlled by a single person. A few of them tried to break free. It was so hard for them though. This reminded me of real life…..

    I want to know about their lives before becoming contolled dolls in their own prison, if they ever had their own lives. I want to know what happened when they became dolls, and how it felt.

    Laurie, there’s a question I’ve had for awhile that I’ve really wanted to know from you…. How do you find your character’s names? I am very intrigued with names. Do they just come to you? Or can you just hear them, are they stuck in your head repeating themselves over and over?
    I was just wondering how that happens with you. Thank you.
    <3

  9. Today I’m using my 15 minutes and more to write a column about being with our grandsons. Tough job because they tired me out 😉

    Need this prodding to remind me that every day counts, even if it’s only 15 minutes.

    Some days it will get me working on revisions on a novel and other days I just might drag out a fantasy that needs finishing.

    Keep prodding, Laurie, keep prodding and thanks.

  10. Laurie, I teared up when I read this post, so I spent today’s WFMAD free-writing in my journal about why on earth this blog post made me cry! And I figured it out. It’s been a challenging year health-wise and finance-wise, and then a big setback/disappointment in the business side of writing hit me, adding to the stress, and I couldn’t write. Instead of fighting it, I made a conscious decision to take time off to re-group, catch up on reading, and just enjoy family. That was a month ago, and I haven’t written a single word.

    Today, this post made me realize that I need to — and am ready to — rediscover the joy of writing for myself, without self-censoring, without worrying about publication. Just write. Fifteen minutes, every day, seems like the perfect, self-nurturing care my creative spirit needs. Thank you, Laurie. Count me in for the WFMAD challenge! 🙂

    Also, forgive me. I don’t usually bare my soul in the comments section of people’s blogs, lol. But I think I needed that! I feel better already.

  11. Hey there! I started writing a story/script a week or so ago and am determined to get through it. (Have had too many false starts lately…) So WFMAD couldn’t come at a more perfect time. xD Thanks so much for the putting together the WFMAD project, Laurie!

    This week, i’m writing the action scenes in my story, which i find very challenging to write. I have to work on that.

    Too, i owe you a letter. It’ll come soon. :]

  12. This is a great idea. Something I’ve been doing with 750words.com for a couple months, but I fell out of last month. I started in again yesterday and then came across this. I like it. Maybe I’ll get a memoir going finally. Thank you for the idea.

  13. So I just finished. I couldn’t actually write right through the fifteen minutes because I’m at work. (I’m a receptionist.) Therefore, I made sure to go an extra few minutes to make sure that all total I had 15. Because I’m at work and I knew I’d be getting interrupted, I just blogged. When I’m at home, though, I will definitely be able to do fifteen minutes right through, and maybe I can write fiction then instead.

  14. Thanks for doing this Laurie! I managed 409 words today in my 15 minutes on a totally new YA contemporary piece that was gnawing at my brain the other night! Glad to finally let it out and run around! I also made myself sit and write 30 minutes on a WIP I’m struggling with at the moment. At least I got a few more words out of it!

    Karly Kirkpatrick
    http://karlykirkpatrick.blogspot.com

  15. Thank you for helping me kick the monkeys out of the room!

    The most difficult thing I encounter about writing is, in fact, giving myself permission to devote time to writing, especially when the guilt monkeys are ordering me to do household chores. I followed you with this challenge last year, but did not keep it up beyond August. The guilt monkeys closed in on September 1 and told me to clean this and straighten that, to take out the recycling over here and organize the miscellanea over there… I’m not a neat freak, and according to the monkeys, that’s part of the problem. They wouldn’t be ‘guilt’ monkeys if everything was already in order. Unfortunately, since household chores are rarely complete for long, the monkeys arrive daily and pester me until long after I’ve crawled into bed each night. This challenge not only spurs me to follow my dream of becoming a published author, but it gives me a short respite from the vermin, since they are not permitted to bother me during the devoted writing time. I told them that Laurie ordered them OUT OF THE ROOM!

    Unfortunately, the Gorilla Chief sits outside the door and knocks, loudly, when the time is up. The moment I open the door, he cracks his whip and sends me back to ‘work’. Perhaps if I follow the cue from your photograph, the happy and sane writing schedule, he’ll use that whip to protect me from his long tailed minions rather than drive me away from my keyboard. Perhaps if I give myself a schedule, he’ll treat writing with the same gravity that he regards the kitchen and laundry.

  16. Thanks for doing this Laurie! I’m definitely IN!!! I really need something to help kick start my writing. I haven’t been able to stick to any kind of a schedule since March. Procrastination has been my middle name, and I hate, hate, hate it!

  17. I loved seeing the image of your door with the schedule on it. With my students I always emphasize the reading/writing connection. When we start up with classes again in about three weeks, I am planning on launching the year having a lot of discussions centered on the connection that will set the tone for the year of reading like writers and writing like readers. I had to smile when I saw that you start your day reading for an hour in your office before starting to write. I can picture you soaking in the words and the Lester Laminack quote comes to mind, “Reading is breathing in. Writing is breathing out.” I have images of you shutting out the world and just enjoying reading and writing.

    I am planning on Chains being our first read aloud of the year. It will be fun to show this picture from your blog to them so that they can see the writer behind the book that we are reading, as well as a connection to what we will be talking about in class.

    As for WFMAD… I just finished 3 intensive weeks of summer school for the doctoral program that I just started. I have not had as much time to just relax during school, and I considered whether or not I should skip WFMAD this year, but I just could not resist. I pulled up a document with my first attempt at a YA novel that I started last spring/summer but that did not resurface during the school year. I have decided to spend the 15 minutes a day working on it. The fifteen minutes came and went so fast as my thoughts were flying. I am looking forward for making time for writing in August, even though I will be busy completing my summer school classes and then getting my classroom ready and the first days of school. It is always such a good feeling to make time for writing! Naturally, it makes me a better writing teacher as well.

  18. I’m in! This is exactly what I needed, especially giving myself permission to take 15 minutes a day to write (and maybe I can stretch that a bit).

    Thank you, Laurie!

    Roxyanne Young

  19. Hooray! Third year in a row and I’m ready, once again. I think I’ve only missed two-three days each time before and I’m ready to make it 100% this year. I logged my fifteen minutes with journal writing, which is usually the only writing I do Sundays (except those few Sundays I get extra lazy…)
    I settled into the comfy wing chair by the window AC unit with a few loose pages from my Franklin-Covey planner and my favorite Papermate pen, only to have my little princess wake from her nap one sentence later. So, she sat crankily (is that a word?) on my lap while I scribbled until one of her older brothers came and engaged her in play.
    I wrote about the WFMAD challenge and a little snippet about each of my three darlings, skipping an entry about the man of the house because he’s in the doghouse right now. Something to do with him falling asleep while I was at my critque group yesterday and me coming home to a Lord of the Flies senerio, complete with marker war paint from nose to toes on the two youngest.

  20. Someone seriously needs to coin a word that is an incredibly gi-huge-o-rama-normously better than “thank you.” Think you’re up for that? Cause I need a better word. “Thank you” is so cliche and so vanilla and so small that it makes my right eyebrow twitch.

    It’s the perfect sentiment when someone opens a door for you or when you give a child a cookie. I’m not the least bit bothered by “thank you” when I hear if from the cashier at the grocery or from my husband when I remember to pick up the mail. “Thank you” is absolutely perfect for such sterile occasions.

    But it is in all ways insufficient when the gratitude within my soul sings out in a grand hallelujah chorus (which, by the way, is socially awkward, usually.) When someone, whether by happenstance or by intention, so completely moves the world that it forever orbits on a higher plane, I just need a bigger expression for my gratitude, reverence, appreciation, awe, and humility. That is what you have done–again–here for me. Clearly, I need a better word.

    So for now, until someone more brilliant that I can find me that word, I resignedly and unhappily settle for “thank you.” For creating the invitation and space for me and us to find the disquieting but grand place of disequilibrium, to live up to our privileges, and to discover the treasures of magnificence within the confines of our human frames.

    Now…off I go to write something…

  21. I’m in. I need this challenge to give myself permission to not fuss over every word.
    AND.
    I will NOT check my email, or facebook, or update my website, or read others. And I will NOT pick up a book, or get up to get a drink or food or any form of snack.
    I WILL make my fingers move and connect to my subconscious.
    AND.
    I will start my 15 minutes at 7pm tonight.

  22. I’m in! I started this morning with 15 minutes of writing about an encounter that I had yesterday. I was browsing at a bookstore and ran into the guy I had a massive, paralyzing crush on in 7th grade. 16 years later, just seeing him still makes my heart pound and my palms sweat. Believe me, I hid from him in the stacks of the bookstore and high-tailed it out of there before he could recognize me (or not recognize me… which would be worse? I don’t know!).

    I have no idea how I survived a whole year of feeling like that, but I wanted to capture how it felt, lest I forget.

    And now to choose a new bookstore…

  23. I spent this first fifteen minutes at my computer, with the internet turned off and my phone on alarm mode only. Truth be told, after I checked to see the prompt and what the un-rules were, I spent the day cleaning my apartment and doing everything I said I wouldn’t do in order to write for fifteen minutes. I wrote about my insecurities with writing and expressing myself – afraid of what others may think of what I write if/when I share it. I wrote about all of the daily life-stuff that gets in my way of writing and why I’m so scared to put myself out in the writing world.

    This is my first WFMAD and my first writing attempt for myself. I’ve purchased numerous journals to write in, but they sit blank on my bookshelf, waiting for the “perfect” time to write in them for fear of not giving them the appropriate words they are worthy of receiving…

    I have a lot to combat as a teacher and now aspiring writer. I hope that working slow and steady will win this race. 🙂

  24. I did it!
    The prompt inspired me, but not as intended. I don’t need permission to write. I need to be made to write, given no excuse NOT to.
    It’s not my job. No one is making me. I don’t have deadlines. I’m not at a loss for ideas. Now, you’re probably thinking: well, if you don’t like writing, why write? But that’s just it! I love to write! I think about writing all of the time, when I’m not reading that is. However, unlike reading, which I do when I should be doing other things, I just don’t write. I start something, but leave it after a short time.
    Today, I set my timer (then turned it so I couldn’t see it) and started writing. I wrote about not writing. I think I came to a conclusion – I don’t write because I’m scared I’ll be bad at it.
    So, instead of giving myself permission to write, I give my self a pass from judgment. I will write fifteen minutes every day, and it’s okay if I suck.

  25. WFMAD and then some! I did it, actually for multiple hours, both in my comfy chair in the living room and on the deck in the sun. Happily scribbling scenes, adding all caps when I need to go back and make something up.

    This is new for me, this just spewing the basic plot so I can get through it, knowing there will be revisions no matter what. But it’s working so so very well.

    Looking forward to WFMAD, because I know I’m going to have to come up with some particular hell for my two central characters. That’s where 15 minutes is going to come in handy. Hell for 15 minutes a day, that I can handle.

  26. Exhilerating – I gave my self permission to be selfish! Putting my writing and myself first instead of my family and housework. A writing friend told me it isn’t being selfish – it is being obedient to using the gifts we’ve been given.
    “Lisa Buske has permission to not clean the house or be anyone’s servant for at least 15 minutes for the month of August. For the next 31 days, Lisa has LHA’s permission to watch the tumbleweeds of dog hair blow past her and over her feet while typing away for 15 minutes each day. It would be interesting to see if at the end of the month if the tumbleweeds would take over any portion of the house. Oh my goodness, depending on the wind direction – the dog hairs might cling on my daughter and roll her along the house with potential of finding her trapped within all those hairs.” and that is how my 15 minutes started! Happy writing everyone!

  27. Muhaha.

    Two months of writer’s block magically melted away after fifteen minutes of no interruptions. No cell phones, television, or constant updates to check. Only fifteen minutes of solid, freeing, creative writing. I’m going to pace myself this month; start out with fifteen minutes and grow in writing time. I feel like I am just waking up to a new character’s thoughts, ideas, and feelings after only fifteen minutes. Imagine what an hour will open up to.

    PS. Can’t thing of nothing to write? This song is really inspiring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCBeoAb764A
    It’s by The Arcade Fire, and it’s called “Wake Up”
    Try listening to it. 😀

  28. OKAY! I finally did this. AND it was less painful than I thought – not particularly earthshattering prose, but it is a start. Thanks for the prompt – it led me in a fairly interesting direction, and I ended up somewhere else entirely. I will do this every day!
    I give myself permission to write even if there is laundry to do, litter boxes to be emptied, dishes to be done…wait, I just sit and read instead of doing those. Oh well, I will do this.

  29. I love this idea! Thank you Laurie for helping motivate people to write. This has helped me to start working on my non-fiction novel about how people need to find the right fit when it comes to their teaching jobs and what my experiences were like trying to do just that.

  30. A few months ago I purchased Discovering The Writer Within by Barry Lane and Bruce Ballenger as a way to kick myself in the seat of the pants to get writing. Between the book and the 15 minute-a-day challenge, I’m hoping to finally get moving in the “write” direction (bad pun, I know, but I teach seventh grade).

    Today I wrote off the prompt “When I write I…” and I thought quite a bit about the internal censor who tells me I have nothing to say. I have to learn to ignore that voice and believe that I do, in fact, have lots to say, even if I never share it with anyone else.

    Happy writing everyone!

  31. Amanda,
    I am rolling on the floor laughing, because, you see, I too am a school teacher–a middle school librarian, and I completely understand your thoughts! But the Jaws theme was a surprise laugh! Thanks!
    Bev

  32. I’ve had a book in my head for almost 10 years now; a travel memoir. Today, I wrote the introductory paragraphs in my 15 minutes.

    It felt good to finally get something started on this project.

  33. I’m in! I’m in!! Thanks for making me realize how important setting aside time each day to write. I know I have a novel in here somewhere!

  34. I started at 1AM on August 2 my time, but counted it as 15 minutes for August 1: Day One (since I had not yet sleep. Day doesn’t end until I sleep and wake up the next day. 😉 ) Part of the delay was because I was waiting for this post (and the guidelines) — you see, I hail from Malaysia *waves from the future* and while it was July 31 for most of you, it was already August 1 for me.

    Obviously, the biggest challenge for me was wanting to sleep–and after a particularly tiring day. But I prevailed! Today I think I’ll try to get that 15 minutes in earlier 🙂

  35. I’m in! I have been stalling on starting a blog, so this is the kick in the pants I need. Mondays and Thursdays for August will be 15 minutes writing on my blog. The rest of the week will be 15 minutes writing on my novel.
    I spread the word of WFMAD at our local library’s teen writers group and at least one of the teens is in also! We’re going to keep each other honest.
    Thanks so much for setting this up again!

  36. I started writing a ‘story’ a few days ago, so I guess you could say I started writing a couple days before the challenge. Today, though, I just wrote to your prompt, Laurie, because this whole area of organizing my time so that I have time to do the things that I want to do -and that are good for me – has been an issue for me.
    I’ve decided to continue to write my story, but to use the prompts when I need time away from the story. I can even imagine that some days I may want to do both. I found the freewrite, uh, liberating. It got the juices flowing.

  37. I just sat down to write and hopefully this will be the start of keeping up with a journal for an extended period of time. I ended up writing about why I haven’t kept up with one: just not taking the time and fear that someone else might read it. I wrote about 2 times where I read someone else’s journal and later felt guilty about it, but how that guilt keeps me from reading them now, even when they are very accessible.

  38. Busy trying to get the house ready to sell, but taking a break from putting in the new kitchen flooring to do my 15 minutes now!

  39. First off…Brian – Thanks for the 750words site. It was invigorating. The points really are a motivator. Strange.

    So the very first day I babbled endlessly for quite some time. I believe it was at least five hundred words, while aiming for the 750. Then things started moving. I was reflecting on my short story, one that I’ve begun revising after quite some time, and I was trying to come up with another story idea. I had no luck. So I kept writing. And I kept writing. Oh, and then, I kept writing and finally, something happened. I finally, after the required 750 had an idea. I was going to put this first day off til tomorrow (if you knew me you would not be surprised) but I’m glad I didn’t. Now my fingers hurt.

  40. Count me in! I love the idea, and am going to start right now. I just arrived in beautiful Colorado for a week of fun and relaxation. The mountains always inspire me, so this is great timing! For my first 15 minutes, I am going to write about our first view of the mountains, thunderstorm and sunshine combining to create a natural masterpiece.
    Peace

  41. This challenge sounds fun! It may get a bit hard for me halfway through the month because I’m heading back to college, but 15 minutes per day is ok. It doesn’t make me panic. So I’m committing! Ish.

  42. I didn’t hear about this until late today but I think I’ve already started. I took a roadtrip today and my phone was off and I had my laptop but no internet so once I was tired of listening to whatever song my mom wanted to hear on repeat I decided to finish something I’ve been working on all summer. I think it took about10 minutes but it was done! This may be the challenge I was made for!

  43. A few years back, disheartened by my lack of writing productivity, I made a commitment to myself to write for a half hour a day – no matter what. I fought the little voice in my head that wanted to tell me it “wasn’t enough”- that I was pathetic, a loser, a poseur. I just wrote. The freedom from thinking that I needed to set aside a huge chunk of time to write and that, barring that, well, there’s always tomorrow…yeah, I’ll start tomorrow…was amazing. I kept it up for over a year. I wrote on Christmas and my birthday. On the very rare occasions that I missed a day, I considered it time I owed myself and made it up. Little by little, stuff got done. Three drafts of a screenplay. Drafts of two different picture book manuscripts. A couple op ed pieces. Real progress on a YA novel.

    Then, in April of 2009, I went through a health challenge and some other other moody stuff. I started feeling a bit sorry for myself, a bit like “what’s the point?” What was originally permission to take a break became a long term work stoppage. Eventually, I started trying to recommit. I’d get a few days, a week even, and then “fall off the wagon.” It’s been that way for a while now, but my stints on the wagon are starting to get longer. I feel that old willingness slowly starting to build within me again, and I m grateful.

    Today was day 3.

  44. Hey Laurie!
    I LOVED THIS! I have had some family problems lately and just stopped writing.
    Well today I sat down with my pencil and notebook and I wrote down how I began to feel at the beginning of this whole mess that has happened. I began to bleed my soul onto that paper. No longer were my characters girls in my dreams, in my head, or even my close friends. This was about me. Afterword I actually found myself crying. Digging up these solid vivid emotions were so haunting to me.

    DUH! I have always been told writing is a great way to express yourself, so why did it take this before I actually wrote when i felt something? I am not sure but I don know that this challenge has brought me closer to my family and God within fifteen minutes. Thank You Laurie! I will never forget to write again!

  45. This is such a wonderful idea! As soon as I am done typing this comment I will get off the internet and WRITE. I can’t wait until the school year starts in three weeks so that I can show my students your challenge and some (not all!) of the things I will have written about during the previous weeks. Tonight’s first written response will be one of those I won’t share – I’m about to write a letter to someone who I had a falling out with earlier this summer. I’m going to use my 15 minutes to pour out everything I couldn’t say in person. I’m not sure this person will ever see this letter; but, that’s the beauty of writing. Just writing it is enough . . . . Thank you for offering this opportunity to your followers!!

  46. Dear Laurie,
    I am thrilled to have this opportunity to write 15 minutes a day! And while I do write daily(and for longer lengths of time), I am treating this challenge slightly differently. Every morning, I will set a timer, sit on my porch swing, and then open up my new document entitled: My Fifteen Minutes with Laurie. For Aug. 1, I used a prompt, which gave some words and plenty of blank spaces. Without thinking, I just wrote. When the timer went off, I continued to write, for the character who grew out of the prompt has grabbed my attention, and now I can’t wait to see where she takes me.
    Betsy Devany

  47. Dear Ms. Anderson–Please excuse Debra for not beginning your challenge on August 1st as indicated. Debra suffers from bipolar disorder which makes SUCH a good excuse for any shortcoming that I will blame that for the fact that she totally forgot about the challenge yesterday. Debra has now completed her first day of writing (a memoir of her life and times in a library and several psych wards), and will complete the second assignment later today. I beg that you will bear with her as she attempts to maintain enough consistency in her mood to successfully make it through 31 days of mastering the writing process and becoming an award winning writer like you.
    Yours Sincerely,
    Debra’s Alter Ego

  48. Pingback: Fall 2010 Goals
  49. I’m giving myself permission to disconnect from my non-writing life for 15 minutes a day. Laurie, your whiteboard schedule was my inspiration. No internet and no email and giving myself permission to ignore random derailing thoughts like what I should cook for dinner, what to do this weekend, I wonder when that yoga class is scheduled – maybe it’s now!. Distractions, all. I’m inspired. On to Day 2.

  50. yay this is just what I need, after a wonderful summer of chaos alternating periods of extreme business with languish, writing 15 mins a day is so achievable and perfect to get those gears grinding ready for full speed once school is back – and the kids are away!

    Thanks for the jump start Laurie!

  51. Sorry I didn’t tell you about it until late in the day, Jaitee! I’m glad you finished your project though.

  52. Posted a day late, but I did start yesterday! Wrote a nice long piece about my sister’s graduation party the other day, and how wonderful it felt to play again.

  53. Thank you! Thank you! I’ve been beating myself up because this summer I’ve let work and family commitments squeeze out my writing time so much that I’ve gotten out of the habit of writing. And, that has led to my wondering if I can write–should write–who’s going to care about these characters that I love anyway. I’ve been swamped by the big picture of how can I get back into this story and why should I? But, 15 minutes? I can do that! Reading your entry about the challenge just melted everything down and I can do 15 minutes. So, thank you–I’ve got some writing to do!

  54. wrote yesterday on a boat out in tracy arm fjord, surrounded by icebergs (yes!), curious hair seals, sealions, orcas in the distance, humpback whales….marbled murrelets, pigeon guillamots, rafts of scoders, clouds of seagulls. oh, it is sooo much easier to find time to write far from computers, phones, childcare, eldercare, dogcare. wahoo! now….to hold onto that inner spaciousness in the midst of all these other things which are, of course, part of the richness of my life……

  55. Thank goodness! Conferences and visitors are over and gone……I needed a challenge! I’m sening on the message and getting disconnected!

  56. Okay, I’m in. But, be assured, all my phone calls will come during the allotted time I have for writing. A notice will pop up that I have an email from a friend I haven’t heard from in thirty years and, if that isn’t enough, my answering machine will inform me I have won a million dollars. All I have to do is pick up the phone. Will I give in to any of these distractions. NOT! Well . . . maybe the last one.

  57. Exactly what I needed. I’m a few days late but I just did my 15 minutes and it felt GREAT. I started a brand new story with this “gentle” nudge. Thank you!

  58. I’m a little late to this, but I’m going to join in! It’s a perfect way for me to get back into writing regularly. Thank you!

  59. I am REALLLY late in joining in. I have a GOOOOD excuse, family I had not seen in five or so years was here for a visit. Better late than never right? So I give myself permission to write for fifteen minutes each day for the rest of the month.

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