This week is my first week of romance novel writing! I’ve entered this endeavor with so much excitement and the greatest sense of freedom. I had a talk with my life coach and he helped me see how important it is that I structure my life in such a way that nothing can get in the way of this writing process. How right he is. When writing screenplays in the past I always intended to set aside time during the day but it was never consistent. One hour one day, two the next, depending on the whims of the other demands on my time.

I was immediately sure he was right. It was absolutely necessary to commit to an early morning block if I am serious about this creative business venture. Starting Monday I began my new daily routine of writing from 4:30 am - 6:30 am. I call it POW time which makes me giggle and summarizes what I’m doing. Creating Page Of Words (POW!). It’s been exhausting and gratifying and illuminating.

The first two days were an exciting breeze! The words flew from my fingers and I easily reached my daily word count goal of 2,500 words per day and even surpassed it by writing just over 2600 words on both days. Then came today. Today was not a breeze. Today I worked past 6:30 and I was squeaking out words to make my count. I did it but barely.

It was tough but it showed me a couple of really valuable things: 1) I will fight for every last word to meet my goal and 2) I need to really take the time to visualize what comes next before showing up to my computer. As these things go, I outlined but then the writing itself showed me new things that didn’t quite fall into line with the outline. So today meant that I needed to adjust based on what came of the first two days of writing.

I also had another epiphany today that brought me such joy. I realized that despite how much I’ve loved screenwriting—it’s brought me a community, it’s taught me the value of structure, and it’s the roadmap for a favorite medium (film)—but, it’s an unfinished product. Ultimately screenplays are meant to be produced and filmed. They require a large team to make them a reality. That’s a really special aspect of screenwriting and it can also be disheartening.

Today I realized that I get to produce this novel I’m writing. I get to build a small team (editor, book cover designer, formatter) that I’m capable of assembling. Because of the explosion in indie publishing and electronic books, I realistically get to publish my own work. And, because of Kindle Direct Publishing, I have the chance to be a part of the marketplace and potentially see this become a profitable venture. I get to give myself permission for that. I don’t have to wait for anyone else’s and that’s powerful.

So I sit here an exhausted but thrilled writer. I am excited to get up at 4:30 am tomorrow and continue this journey of creating my own work!