The Law of 100:Setting Growth Writing Goals.
I made plans to embark on four writing challenges.
Starting on 1 October 2023.
But I quit.
Everything was overwhelming. I was losing track of so many things. I had so much I was doing I had to pause and do one thing.
Delete.
Delete all the things that were not as important.
While trying to decide I asked myself. Why was I doing the writing challenge? For me the goal is to become a better writer and establish my identity as a writer.
To me and to others.
All the thrill of doing the challenge made me forget the goal in the first place.
Everything was overwhelming.
My mission is to simplify ,nothing else.
It occured to me that the two most important laws of becoming a writer
- Read a lot
- Write a lot
If I do these things I might not become a great writer but I will become one even if it means with another adjective like terrible, average, mediocre depending on the adjective available.
Somehow the brain takes note of problems and projects we are working on. I have been asking the question: how can I simplify the process?
I came across the law of 100. I knew exactly what I was looking for . It was the kind of challenge that would lead to growth for me
To explain this law let me share an anecdote.
A college photography class was divided into two.
The first group will take one picture . Only one picture and will be graded based on that picture.
While the other group was to take 100 pictures and based on that 100 pictures they will be graded.
After the experiment. The group that took 100 pictures took better pictures.
Quantity vs Quality.
As a beginner writer I have to fail fast.
I don’t know how to write well. So there’s no need to obsess over quality.
I need to write a lot so I can experiment and test ideas.
See what works and improve from there. It is easier to see patterns in 100 works compared to 1 work.
Why this law/challenge finally?
Writing consistently is great.
You know the feeling you have when you commit to write everyday at a certain time but for whatever reason you missed it.
You feel bad and sometimes you don’t bother. Why would a challenge to write everyday make you not write everyday.
Here’s what’s happening.
Writing everyday is the goal. Not breaking the chain is the goal. The continuous chain on the writing or habit tracker.
When we miss, we have failed to achieve the goal.
So we feel bad. Now we have to build a routine again.
Instead with the law of 100 you adjust the time to your frame.
I will give you an example.
Let’s say your goal is to be a poet.
You decided to use the law of 100 to write 100 poems.
Now you could decide to write a poem a day.
You will get there faster but it will take a lot of commitment from you.
You could decide to write two poems every week. It will take you about a year to reach the goal.
Depending on the specific case of work the law applies differently.
I will advise you to write at least once a week so that it is not too far apart. We want our skills to compound.
You cannot edit a blank page— Jodi Picoult.
When you have 100 pieces of work you have works to get feedback on. You have 100 pieces you can edit.
When you write after the 100 pieces you will look back and the first work will make you cringe.
The Law of 100 for Writers
Here are some examples of the goal.
- Write 100 poems
- Write 100 fifty word stories
- Write 100 microfiction
- Write 100 flash fiction
- Write 100 short stories
- Write 100 spoken word poems
- Publish 100 Spoken word Videos
- Write 100 personal essays
Et
Framework
1.Pick a Day
And time.
You want to make it easy for the brain to know when. If you have writing goals and you don’t have a time for the goals in your life no matter how small. You are daydreaming and wishing.
Waiting for magic.
2. Set up for success
For me doing this I have made it really simple for me to get started writing.
What I want you to do is to look back at the past (I am doing mine now) and list the things that made you procrastinate or miss the writing time. Think of how you can handle these things. It could be stress after work. How about you wake up earlier and write first thing in the morning.
Another way to look at setting yourself for success is to see how you can make it really easy to get started on any given day. I write with my writer’s notebook and my phone.
There’s no friction. When I am writing with my phone I turn on focus mode and write.
3. Accountability buddy.
Do you have a friend, preferably a writer or a creative friend? You can share your goals with. I do have a friend. Infact what I am going to do is post on my WhatsApp status that I am going to be writing 100 poems.
And make a commitment to keep sharing and updating on the progress. I don’t have to share the work. I can share excerpts.
4. Join the Community
You can join a community of like minded people and share your goals. You can join the private Facebook group Buildwriting and share your goals.
We are five in the group currently. I want the group to be a small community where we are actively supporting and growing. Not another big forum. Well each has its own pros and cons.
5. Finally reward yourself.
I haven’t really thought of this part personally.
I guess I will have to figure out the reward as I progress.
6. Notice the pattern.
After all is done, we get feedback ,publish and read our work to see how we have grown.
The funny thing is you can do this simultaneously. Even better, I get real time feedback to improve my next work.
Noteworthy
1.Join the private Facebook group community. Tell us your law of 100 goals and include your framework to make it easy for accountability.
Framework
- Pick a time
- Set up for success
- Accountability buddy
- Join a community
- Reward
If you want to talk to me
You can reply to the email. I read and respond to every email.
2. CommonWealth Short Story Prize
Word Count (2000– 5000 words)
Free entry . Only available to writers from commonwealth nations.
Prize: €5000 for winner and €2500 for five other stories .
Deadline: 1 November 2023
3. For all my US and Canada subscribers https://www.storytwigs.com/competition Storywigs contest. Get to win $100 for your 100 word story. Free entry .
I would have loved to participate in this contest but it is for citizens and residents of the US and Canada.
Listen to my podcast https://link.chtbl.com/Centurion
Until next time, keep writing.
PS
Mechi “The Centurion”
