A few years back my daughter Rachel and I started a competition: who would write the most words for writing projects in a given month. She wanted to write fantasy novels, and I wanted to write books that would help people understand the Bible, but we both wanted a competitive spur to keep us motivated. She won, most months, though at times I managed to pull out a victory. I was hoping that this competition would help turn me into a more disciplined writer, but that didn’t seem to be happening. I’d often go a couple of weeks without writing anything at all.

But in January and February of 2018, I managed to run a streak of writing 24 days in a row. That seemed pretty cool. Then I missed a bunch in late February, and in March. Then I wrote 35 days in a row, in April and May of that year. That was some better.

On July 20, 2018, I started a streak that ran for 953 consecutive days, through February 26, 2021. I fell asleep on February 27, and woke up the next morning and realized that my streak was over. That was sad. I thought, “Meh, this streak is probably a fluke. You’ll probably never do this again. Really, if you have runs of a couple months, or a hundred days, that’s still not bad at all.”

Anyway, I managed to pound out some words on February 28, and March 1, and March 2, and soon I had a streak of 10 days in a row. And today, October 8, 2023, that streak has accumulated to: 953 days. So I’ve tied my previous record, and if I manage to write something tomorrow, that’ll be a new record. (Considering the two streaks together, that’s 1906 days of writing out of 1907, a “success” rate of 99.948%. Yes, I agree: those numbers are geeky. But I’ve got it all recorded on a spreadsheet. [That’s even more geeky.])

Still, I acknowledge that nothing is guaranteed. I almost fell asleep last Thursday without writing: which would have been a “so close!” ending of the streak at 949 days.

And I recognize that the point of this is not to have a “streak.” The point is to become a steady, disciplined writer, spending time every day writing creatively, on one of the many (too many!) writing projects where I have thought, “I should write about this!” Over the course of this more than five year run, I’ve envisioned, and outlined, and written chapters for, quite a number of topics. Some of them will eventually turn into books. Some of them probably never will.

I’ve noticed a couple of things from all this. First, there are lots of not very productive days when I only manage to pound out 100 or 200 words. But that compares with the many months when a week or two went by without writing anything at all. The difference between 14 days at zero production and 14 days at an average of 150 production is 2100 words. Over the course of a year that yields just over 25,000 words that got written down. That’s maybe a third of an average paperback, written down: not a completed project but still a lot better than having only a constantly-deferred inner desire to write with nothing to show for it.

Second, having the discipline of writing every day results in more days that are decent (500 – 600 words) and great (1000+ words) than there were before. Every writer has the occasional brilliant day when the whole piece is suddenly clear in your mind, and the words just flow onto the screen. But those days only happen on days when you write. If you didn’t write on the day that inspiration was going to come, that opportunity is lost. If I’m writing every day, I know I’ll be there, fingers poised, when the brilliant days come. And when the better than average days come.

Rachel and I are both still writing, but it’s not a competition any more. We’re more focused on offering each other encouragement, rather than seeing who’s doing the “best.” Whatever that really means.

My thanks to all of you who have clicked the button to subscribe to my blog. It’s still early times for this blogging project, as I post some Conversations about Believing, some Q&A pieces from my 14 years of writing that column for Presbyterians Today, some hymns, and some Not Quite Sermons. (They’re “Not Quite” because I’m retired from having a regular preaching gig. So at this point they’re just written, rather than preached.)

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And say a prayer for me, if you’re so inclined, as I continue to make my way through this experience of cancer. It’s a long haul. Thanks!