Failing Forward (Holly Schindler)

I failed last Sunday. I did not hit my word count goal. In fact, I didn't write any words at all. I did not answer emails or texts. 

I did not do an ounce of "work."

Instead, I curled up on the couch with my puppy and a book I've been meaning to get to. A book I've started and restarted.

This time, I actually made it past the first chapter.

And the thing is, as I read, I started inevitably thinking about my WIP--the one I wasn't writing. I was thinking about this author's techniques and my own plot holes.

I still didn't write anything. I kept reading.

I paused for a nice meal. I turned on a movie. I picked up the book again.

And once more, I was suddenly thinking about my WIP.

I went to bed thinking about it.

I spent most of the day today plotting. Not writing chapters. Just brainstorming. Because that book made me question what I'd been doing. It made me think of my own work in a new way.

Had I not failed last Sunday, had I plowed ahead and put another chapter or two down, I would be no closer to a solid final draft--because I'd also been well aware, for a few days, that my WIP wasn't quite working.

So I'm making a point of keeping this going. Failing every single Sunday all the way through 2020. Taking a moment to think and question and not just rush ahead.

And letting myself find new direction in it.