A year with My 500 Words

Spurring one another to write daily

I didn’t see the invitation until January 3rd. Facing a book deadline, author Jeff Goins asked his blog subscribers for help.

Would we write 500 words a day with him for the month of January?

Would I? My blog was languishing, and the novel was stuck at Chapter 7. Defeated? Oh, I was feeling it. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Just like every writer who joined.

Writing friends from everywhere!
(Photo credit: Debbie Simorte)

We were not many in those days, but we were mighty. Each committed to write daily, each determined to encourage the others to do the same. Together we would spur one another to develop better writing habits.

When February came, our 31-day goal was complete. But we refused to go. And so I have spent the year with a growing collection of diverse, supportive writers. Did I write every day of 2014? No. But when I fell behind I noticed that others forged ahead, and I took heart.

When I stumbled, I did not languish in defeat. I started again. (And again.) Sentences grew into paragraphs, and paragraphs into chapters. Regular writing improved my stamina and made room for new ideas to bubble up. The stalled-out novel is almost finished. I wrote twenty-one (finished) chapters in 2014.

Tonia took my book for a sightseeing spin
(Photo: Tonia Hurst)

Because momentum is contagious. We cheered as group members submitted articles for publication or entered contests or released published books. We shared our writing, our blog posts, our struggles and victories. We bought one another’s novels and non-fiction books.

And the My 500 Words gang talked me into things: The A-to-Z Blog Challenge in April (26 daily posts). Camp NaNoWriMo in July (40,000 words on my novel). I even wrote for November’s death-for-teachers NaNoWriMo.

Roslynn Pryor

I also learned that face time is priceless. In September I met up with four friends from My 500 Words in Canon Beach, Oregon. Writers who are moving forward, who bravely shared in-process work. These gals knew me because they’d read my posts. And my books. Then and now they encourage me to excel still more.

Tonia Hurst and Debbie Simorte

For 2015, more writer meet-ups are on my list. Money for travel. Yet another reason to keep writing more books.

How about you? Jeff Goins’ invitation still stands. Would you like to join us at My 500 Words? Here’s the link.

~~ Check out our Blog Hop ~~

Roslynn Pryor’s Pushing the Bruise
Linzé Brandon’s Butterfly on a Broomstick
Amy Bovaird’s Amy’s Adventures
Crystal Thieringer’s Muse and Meander
Tonia Hurst’s The Vast and Inscrutable Imponderabilities of Life
Carryl A Robinson’s Echoes from the Cave
Debbie Simorte’s Writing the Life Chaotic
Melinda Lancaster’s Thinking Out Loud On Purpose
Stella Myers’ Stella’s Starshine