My Thoughts on Beginning Writing Part I- Progress

Today I just started my first fantasy story about a young boy and his companion solving mysteries in a fantasy kingdom. I believe I got up to about 307 words before I stopped.

Then something struck me as odd. "I don't think I'm done yet," I thought, "I'm supposed to get to 1,000 words."

But I realized something: I'm just starting out. I do not have the mental fortitude to write out 1,000 words straight just yet.

In my opinion, it doesn't matter how many words you can eek out in a day. The only thing that matters is progress.

Progress is the key, especially if you're just starting out. There is no cement law that says "thou must write 1K words a day". I believe that's what causes some would-be beginners to be overwhelmed.

This combined with the desire to be a famous writer...Its no wonder some go "I just can't do this! I quit!"

But you can. All it takes is progress. One word at a time.

Know how they built the pyramids? The Great Wall of China? One brick at a time.

It doesn't matter if you can only write fifty words a day, or even twenty. Just make sure that you write those twenty words every day.

"But I don't have time!" you may say? Not enough time to write out a single sentence? Not even a short description like Amos ran a hand through his long brown hair?

It took me a few seconds to write nine words that formed that sentence.

It's like the old book about the tortise and the hare. Slow and steady wins the race. Go easy. Be patient.

As tiring as the "Rome wasn't built in a day..." phrase is, it still has a point. It did not take a day to built that civilization. It took decades, centuries even. And again, it took time. Brick by brick. Sometimes they could only do one brick a day (if that), and that was fine. (Well, to us, maybe. Not sure about the dudes that were ordering the poor builders around. )

Just like your book. If you can only muster ten words a day, or ten words for that particular day, that's fine. Progress. Every word will lead you to the finish line.

307 words. While it may not look as awesome as 1,000 words or 1,307 words, it's progress and I'm content with it.