Yesterday, I finished the #1000wordsofsummer 2022 challenge. Today, I was fully prepared to sit down at my desk and do billable work, just as I should.

Instead, I brought my breakfast and my Surface out to the porch, and I worked on my novel-in-progress.

I couldn’t decide whether to do 1,000 words again or an hour (which gives me time to think and to edit). I ended up doing both, approximately—1,000 words in slightly more than an hour.

I should have immediately packed up and gone back in to the office. One client has already called. But I couldn’t resist letting you all know that at least for today, I’ve kept going.

As I mentioned yesterday, a writer friend who’s picking up the challenge says that she plans to go for twenty-one days in order to make a habit that sticks. I haven’t officially decided on a one-week extension of the challenge, but I also haven’t decided not to.

Maybe my pattern of writing in the morning will shift when the weather gets hot and muggy and it’s no longer delightful to sit here on the porch. Maybe this whole thing has actually been nothing more than my excuse to go outside and enjoy the sunshine. Or maybe I’ve finally found a practice that works for me, and maybe I’ll continue it for the foreseeable future, just because it fits and I can.

There’s only one way to find out.