Consistency is Key... or a Creative Ball and Chain
Let’s start with the obvious: writing 300 words a day sounds great in theory. It’s the literary equivalent of going to the gym regularly—you build your writing muscle, gain stamina, and avoid the dreaded "I’ll do it tomorrow" black hole. But, much like forcing yourself into a sweaty spin class when all you want is pizza, some days are destined for disaster. You churn out lifeless paragraphs that resemble a middle school book report, except now there’s no teacher to bribe with an apple. Yes, consistency is key, but when your daily 300 is as inspiring as a grocery list, maybe it’s time to rethink the plan.
Inspiration is Overrated (or Is It?)
We’ve all heard it: “Real writers don’t wait for inspiration. They write every day.” Sure, Hemingway probably knocked out a few sentences with a hangover, and we’re all supposed to aspire to that level of dedication. But ask yourself—do you really want to be the writer who produces a riveting sentence about their boredom just to hit the word count? Writing while uninspired can lead to breakthroughs, or it can lead to sentences that read like, “The cat sat on the mat, and it was... fine, I guess?” Call it what you want, but there's a reason some of the greats took "creative breaks" (also known as naps).
Quantity Over Quality... and the Headache That Follows
On the surface, 300 words don’t seem like much. It’s basically a few tweets, or one angry email to customer service. But when those words are required daily, rain or shine, sick or sleep-deprived, you might find yourself reaching for filler words like a student inflating an essay. Suddenly, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" becomes "In a particularly rapid and notably brown fashion, the very energetic fox made a daring leap over the notably languid canine.” Impressive? Maybe. Necessary? Probably not. You might be writing every day, but let’s not kid ourselves—sometimes you're just padding the word count.
The Sweet, Sweet Satisfaction of Checking a Box
Ah, the dopamine hit of ticking off your daily writing goal. It’s like crossing off an item on your to-do list, except now you can brag to your writer friends about how disciplined you are. But let’s be honest, those friends probably spent their day pondering the "emotional weight of semicolons" while you cranked out 300 words about what you had for lunch. Does it matter? Absolutely not. You met your goal, and that smug sense of accomplishment will carry you all the way to tomorrow's quota—where you’ll get to do it all over again.
Written? Kitten!
You set a word count, say 300 words, and when you reach that amazing goal, the app pops up a picture of a kitten. Hard to imagine how a book was ever completed before this came along - https://writtenkitten.co/.
sighs into tepid cup of coffee
The Snark :/
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