100 day challenge

Anyone up to taking on a 100 day challenge with me?

Yes, hard to credit but there are only 100 days left in 2009 folk. And a friend has just challenged me to work on my novel every day for those 100 days.


The enthusiast in me prompted the an instant reply of - hell yeah, no problem, but, when one takes into account the craziness that is part and parcel of the close of every year, it's actually quite the challenge. Internet connection problems gracious to modem failure left me basically off line twenty-four-seven for the past ten days, (thank Heaven for pen & paper) so when to throw unexpected happenings into the mix along with the end of the year madness - there is fun to be had to achieve the 100 day task. Note; she did say "work on my novel" for the next 100 days, not my blog, twitter, facebook, or emails, ect ect- Nevertheless, social networking it a vital part of the writing life and must be worked into the scheduled.

Crazy challenge? Perhaps - but crazy or not, if one sets the 100 day goal and hits only 85-90 days of it - then one will have achieved far more that if one set no goal at all. That wonderful old saying comes to mind -"shoot for the stars, if you miss at least you'll hit the moon!"

How to tackle a 100 day challenge at this particular time of year - one glorious day at a time folk.

I hope you all have a wonderful productive 100 days writing. Do drop a line and let me know if you're going to take the challenge with me.

Light and Laughter
Ita

Today I post a candle and pause to remember all whose lives ended so tragedy 11/9/01
Gone but not forgotten.

Hemingway

"My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way."

Ernest Hemingway

Attitude Check

In all things, attitude not aptitude decides the altitude. I will say that again – in ALL things, it is ATTITUDE, not aptitude that decides the altitude.

Have you ever known anyone to succeed at anything by believing they couldn’t?

If there’s one statement I can nail my colours to the mast on; it’s that attitude not aptitude decides the altitude. NO, I’m not just rattling off platitudes here, I am talking from experience. Whether it was loosing four stone, exercising, quitting smoking, finding a way to write when I couldn’t sit, or birthing 11lb babies without epidurals, I work from the stance of attitude first.

The right attitude will stack the odds in your favour more than anything else will.

“If you believe you can, you can, and if you believe you can’t you can’t, either way you’re right,” is a great saying.

Does it mean you’ll never have bad days? NO. While you’re still breathing, you’ll have good days, bad days, and days you’ll question what on earth you're doing. But, even on the bad days, you can keep your attitude in check by saying, “Right, today might be crap, but tomorrow will be better.”

I leave you to study the picture above, and to contemplate the following quotes.

“Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to nurture it in solitude and to follow talent to the dark places where it leads.”
Erica Jong

“Logic will take you from A to B, but attitude, imagination, and belief in yourself will take you all the way.”
I Roche.

“Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if the only birds that sang, were those that sang the best!”
Henry Van Dyke

"It’s not that the published Author is smarter; they just stayed with the challenge longer."
I Roche

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Aristotle

"Write those little nuggets of inspiration, you never know which ones will grow, perhaps they all will. "
I Roche

"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.”
William Feather

"Learn from yesterdays writing, enjoy today’s writing, and let tomorrows writing take care of itself! "
I Roche

“Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.”
Malcolm Forbes

"People think it’s intellect that makes a great writer. They are wrong: its character. "
I Roche

"Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment. "
Baltasar Gracian

And finally, this gem:

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race!”
Calvin Cooldige


It's important to stay positive
Ita