I’ve been saying for years that I want to write more.  Years.  I’ve had story ideas, rambling train of thoughts, short stories I’ve started that I never finished, and even a novel that is about a third of the way finished.  But since I’ve been married I’ve unintentionally laid down the preverbal pencil and paper.  Instead, I blog quick updates about our life and what we are doing, or give status updates on Face book.  Thankfully, I am not a follower of Twitter, so no tweeting for me!

Thus, this blog was born.  15 minutes.  Just 15 minutes a day.  And hopefully by the end of this month, a new writing habit will be cemented.

I’m not exclusively blogging.  Instead, I’m just sharing what I’m writing in this blog.  In fact, I’m writing in Microsoft Word (is it still called writing when it is actually typing?) to keep a record of what I am writing, and also to follow how many words I’m writing.  I have not tracked my word count since college and want to keep myself focused.  It is my hope to have 10,000 words written by the end of this month, December 2010. 

The writing challenge is here.  Ten thousand words in 23 days.  Just 15 minutes a day.  Laptop is in my lap, decaf coffee getting sipped on, Emily is tucked in, Ethan sleeping until his last feeding.  The time to write is here.  The question is:  what do I write about?  I’m watching the clock on my screen and it seems to have slowed way down.  This feels a bit daunting… 

I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a business professional, but what do I have that I can contribute to this world?  I’ve always felt lacking in confidence with my work; I guess that is why I usually stick with stories.  Yet then, my writing feels like copying others original ideas.  I’ve yet to have that one “original idea”, this unicorn I chased all through high school and college.  But my 15 minutes are up for tonight… I guess I have to chase that unicorn again tomorrow!

Word count:  356