Writing . . . And Other Stuff

I've been writing, faithfully, every morning for the last fifteen days--that's my report in for this week about the 21-Day Writing Challenge. I'm doing it.

I have to tell you honestly that I wasn't at all sure I would be able to do it even for a week, let alone for over two weeks with less than one week to go. I've made commitments before--told myself I was going to write everyday and it lasted about two or three days. But this time, I am determined and I think maybe it's because I need to prove to myself that I am still a writer.

Oh, I know--in my head--that I am a writer, but for the last couple of years, life has gotten in the way and I've allowed other stuff to take priority. I'd convinced myself that I was tired of the Women of Willow Bay, that I didn't have any new story ideas anyway, and that maybe I was really meant to be an editor, not a writer. Well, I think I am meant to be an editor--I'm a darn good copy editor and I really love fixing other people's stories. But that doesn't mean I can't also write my own stories, which are still wandering around up there, filling up my thoughts.

Something interesting that's come of my writing is that I'm reading for pleasure again. Not that I've ever stopped reading, but I have to confess, I was more skimming through books other people had recommended or that I found for free on Amazon or through one of the lists I subscribe to, I'll grant you some of the books you get for free are not fabulous--heck, some of the books you pay for aren't all that great, but I simply couldn't get interested in anything I'd downloaded on my Kindle. But right now, I'm reading The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown and it's very good. Plus, I've got several others loaded that I'm anxious to get to. I'm not sure why writing has rekindled (get what I did there? ha!) my interest in reading, but I'm really happy it has!

Next week, I'll take a look at how the 21-Day Challenge has affected my writing and my life and where I think I might be headed for the long term, but for now . . . well, I'm still here, I'm still writing, and that's something.