We’re about halfway through June which means for 30 Days participants, you should be hanging out around 24k.

If you’re not there yet, don’t stress! The point of this challenge is to get you to put words down, not stress about what you haven’t written.

If you’re behind: Stop and reflect. Before you do anything else, make a list of what you’ve struggled with in the last couple of weeks. Then, make a list of things you can try to address those problems.

Remember to be honest. This list is only for you to help you understand what about the challenge isn’t working for you. No one else needs to see it, but if you’re lying to yourself, no amount of cheerleading or encouragement will change it.

And sometimes, the answer is just bad luck or bad timing. Having to deal with an emergency or sudden schedule change doesn’t make you a terrible writer, it just means you have other priorities that had to come first. That makes you human. If that’s the case, take a second look at your schedule and see if there’s anywhere you can adjust things to take some of the pressure off. Even if it’s only ten minutes, the progress you make on your story is more important than the word count.

If you’re on track: good job! You’re making great progress and soon you’ll be on to the next stage of writing, whatever that happens to look like for you. Take a moment to celebrate yourself and your story.

Then, get back to it! You still have eighteen days of writing to go.

Where are you at? How’s the challenge going for you? Let me know in the comments below!