Why 28 Days?
Having a set time frame often helps us achieve a goal we might keep putting off if there were no deadline – even if it’s a self-imposed deadline.
I once wrote a novel in 30 days, because it was an online project. The object was to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November (www.nanowrimo.org) Though I came short, only writing a little over 48,000 words, I still had written the story I’d been thinking about for a couple of years.
Did I fail because I didn’t reach the 50,000? Not at all. I did indeed have the basis for a novel, with a beginning, middle and end, and a pretty darn good story line. At some point (when I set another deadline for myself!) I’ll go back and flesh it out, edit and polish it, and publish it. The point is... the narrow time frame and the challenge of meeting it is what got the story written, and I dedicated several hours each day to writing an average of 1750 words per day.
Another reason for the 28 day time frame is that anyone can do just about anything for only 28 days. It doesn’t seem as overwhelming as devoting a year or two of our lives to a project.
Having a set time frame often helps us achieve a goal we might keep putting off if there were no deadline – even if it’s a self-imposed deadline.
I once wrote a novel in 30 days, because it was an online project. The object was to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November (www.nanowrimo.org) Though I came short, only writing a little over 48,000 words, I still had written the story I’d been thinking about for a couple of years.
Did I fail because I didn’t reach the 50,000? Not at all. I did indeed have the basis for a novel, with a beginning, middle and end, and a pretty darn good story line. At some point (when I set another deadline for myself!) I’ll go back and flesh it out, edit and polish it, and publish it. The point is... the narrow time frame and the challenge of meeting it is what got the story written, and I dedicated several hours each day to writing an average of 1750 words per day.
Another reason for the 28 day time frame is that anyone can do just about anything for only 28 days. It doesn’t seem as overwhelming as devoting a year or two of our lives to a project.
Lastly, studies have shown that if you do something consistently for 28 days, (some say only 21 days) it will become habit. So even after you’ve “finished” the book of your life’s stories, you may feel inclined to continue writing one or two stories a day about the topics you didn’t have time for within the initial goal period. In other words, keep on writing!
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