This past week I’ve been off work due to the weather. I live in North Texas (you know, where they just had that little football game). When we get winter weather (ice, snow, etc.), the whole place shuts down. Those of you in more northern climes scoff, but it really only usually happens about two days out of three hundred and sixty-five…we don’t invest in an infrastructure to keep the roads clear during such times. This year was unusual in that we were out about five days. Now ask me how much writing I got done while sequestered in La Casa de Shedrick…

Nada.

Inertia is my greatest enemy when it comes to writing. Once I stop, it takes a great deal of energy to get going again. Granted, in my case, the same thing is true for everyday life. I sometimes think that, at my core, I’m Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski without the weed.

Anywho, I do want to do something about this. Any regular readers to this blog know that I whine about my lack of discipline constantly. I have tried to come up with solutions: programming schedule, personal goals of 500 words per day, NaNoWriMo, etc. None, with the exception of NaNo, have really worked. We could go into the psychological issues inherent in trying to trick myself into doing something I know I should do, but let’s skip it, shall we?

Now for my latest strategy. If you look to the “Shout Outs” section on the right-hand side of the page, you’ll see a new badge: 250 Words per Challenge. It links to Inkygirl’s challenge page detailing the purpose of the goal…which is to write more.  She offers a 500 and a 1000 word challenge, but I think I’ll start at 250.  So, the idea is to write 250 per day for at least 6 days a week.  If I miss a day, I keep trying.  As long as I’m giving it a legitimate effort, I can keep the badge on my blog.  There’s no judging–just a personal challenge made public. 

We’ll see how it goes.  The good news is…this blog post is already 353 words. 🙂