Yet another reason YA author Laurie Halse Anderson is amazing? The Write Fifteen Minutes A Day Challenge. The rules? Write for fifteen minutes a day, everyday during August. That’s it. No need to submit anything or log anything. Just hit fifteen minutes a day.

I like the idea of this way more than NaNoWriMo, in which you try to write a thousands of words. Fifteen minutes a day is way more manageable. And they don’t even have to be words that are all going to the same thing. Want to write a short story one day? Go for it. Work on your novel the next? Rock on. Want to spend fifteen hours writing? Well, maybe allow yourself a few bathroom breaks, but you can do that, too. It’s just about getting yourself started.

Also, love this response as to why Anderson is leading the challenge:

Because the arts flourish in community. When kindred spirits gather they raise each other up. The differences between someone who has been published and someone who hasn’t are not nearly as dramatic as you might think. I still struggle to make time everyday to write. I still choke at the thought of the blank page.  I never write as well or as thoughtfully, or as fast as I want to. But I love writing. I’d be scribbling stories if I had never been published. It is the writing – surrendering to the magic – that is the best part of my day. It balances me, and makes me feel alive. I want to share that with you.

This really captures what it’s like to be a writer. It’s hard, and it doesn’t get easier. But not writing is way worse than writing, and once you commit to a little amount of time, you get to be part of another world.

I’m definitely going to take part in the WFMAD Challenge. Are you?