Finding the Inspiration to Write

Jennifer is making progress on her writing.

I spent yesterday writing.

I know, the first sentence of a blog post (or anything, for that matter), is supposed to snag the reader’s interest. But my first sentence should snag your interest, because it’s a bit amazing and it’s true.

See, my kids were home from school yesterday for Columbus Day. Normally when they’re home, I don’t write unless I’m on a deadline, because it’s too easy to get distracted and there’s too much that I need to do for/with them.

But while I was taking my dog for a walk in the morning, my critique partner called with her feedback on my first chapter.

She and I have just entered into this relationship and everything is brand new. She made some comments and suggestions about that first chapter, ones I hadn’t considered before, and I spent the rest of the walk and the morning considering what she’d said.

Eventually, I NEEDED to write. Both of my girls had a ton of homework—one of them had a study group over—so I used the time to break out my computer and rewrite.

It was not the most productive writing I’d ever done. There were lots of interruptions—going out to get lunch for the study group, helping my younger daughter with lots of questions about her homework, doing laundry, running errands, etc. But in between, and consistently for the whole day, I wrote.

I rewrote the entire chapter. I’m not sure how good it is, or if it fixed the problems my critique partner found—some of which I agreed with, others that I didn’t. But I was productive. And I wrote. And I’m closer to my goal!

My critique partner and I are finding our rhythm. It’s looking to be a promising relationship. And she inspired me enough to push through on a day where I thought for sure I’d be too busy.

I call that a huge success!