One Page a Day - How to Write a Book in a Year

Right, this was a comment that I read a few months back and you know how sometimes the smallest thing can just jar your thoughts and you suddenly have ... well, an epiphany - that moment where something so simple seems so profound. I'm not the best with math but even I can see the simplicity of the statement: One page a day, and you can write a book in a year. 365 days in a year, that's a pretty nicely sized little book!

Before you ask - no, I've not completed my book yet. It's been about three months since I read that statement and decided "Even I can do that". However, it's much easier to write a page a day than stressing out thinking that you're not writing "enough". Often, I will sit down to fulfill my one-page goal and end up with seven or eight; definitely an ego booster. My only problem is this: sometimes, I will sit down for my goal and can't think of what I was trying to say. So, here's some tips I've discovered that help me trudge right along toward my year-end goal.

No Excuses, or "Just Do It"

My daughter has hit the age that she constantly questions everything that I ask her to do. I'm not one of those pushy moms who have fifteen million chores in a day that need to be done - but every parent knows how important it can be to get just a little bit of help. In my more stellar "mommy moments" I've found myself repeating Nike and dropping off the oh-so-logical line, "Just do it".

When it comes to writing, that little phrase has new importance. If you spend some time reading interviews with successful authors, you'll notice that they all have some common work patterns. High at the top of the list is that they write every day. Every single day, they sit down and write something. And hey, they're human just like the rest of us and will admit to having bad days when nothing seems to come out right. But they do it, they pour out their thoughts on a page regularly.