June 1, 2016 marks my six-year writerversary (for some reason I have an unhealthy obsession with coming up with creative terms for anniversaries). For most of life, I wrote sporadically. I enjoyed writing, but I didn't have a set schedule. I wrote when I felt like it. I'd start novels or short stories and never finish them. I was 25 and claimed to be a writer, but I didn't have a single writing credit to my name. I knew that if I was actually going to be a writer things had to change.
On June 1, 2010, I made a vow. I would take myself more seriously as a writer. I would write every single day. I would make it my mission to see my work published. Part of the reason I chose that date was because I was starting my MA in Creative Writing that summer and I didn't want to feel like a total fraud. The other reason was that my OCD wouldn't allow me to start in the middle of the month. My goal in the beginning was simple: Write at least an hour every single day and earn a writing credit.
I've now written at least one hour for the past 2192 days. Six years straight. I also started tracking my writing hours and I'm now flirting with 6300 hours. Four months after I started taking my writing seriously I earned my first writing credit. My thirteenth story will appear in print later this year. In the past six years I've written over 20 short stories, five novels, and three screenplays.
Like everything else in my life, I figure my best option for success is to just work harder than everyone else. I don't know any other way. I'm too stubborn to stop writing now. I can't ruin THE STREAK!!! I'm proud I've accomplished all that while living a relatively normal life, working a full-time job, having two kids, and still making time for my loved ones. Maybe if I publish a novel I'll stop...but probably not.
Long live THE STREAK!!!