Rebel N Revolt

January 1st

What can I call this? A mission statement? An artist’s statement? A manifesto? Some kind of project proposal or unofficial contract with myself? Whatever…

Details. Details. Details. Let’s just get on with it, shall we?

Happy New Year to whoever reads this. Even if it’s just future me, looking back and wondering if the current version of myself—bright-eyed and motivated by the start of the new year—has gone completely insane. Chances are I have, and chances are I might, for attempting something so absolutely ridiculous.

So, I have this wonderfully ambitious idea: I want to write every day for a year.

EVERY DAY! NO EXCUSES! NO MATTER WHAT! FOR THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE DAYS!

That’s it, really. Simple, right? Probably not. Honestly, it’s kind of a daunting task if you think about it. Writing every day is a massive undertaking, especially for someone who often just writes on a whim, or when the mood is right.

The success of this endeavor depends solely on my own merit, determination, and my nonexistent sense of discipline. I’ll be real—that alone is freaking me out.

I’ve decided I can’t just skip a day of writing because I’m not feeling up to it, or the dopamine isn’t hitting, or whatever ADHD dysfunction dares to stand in the way of progress.

I’m not giving myself any leeway for excuses. If I do miss a day, the countdown goes right back down to zero, and I start over from scratch until I hit day 365.

I plan on taking this seriously, and I can’t do that if there aren’t any real repercussions.

There’s nothing more taxing or vexing to an individual with mild perfectionist issues than having to start the clock over.

I’ve also decided that I want to document this.

So, I guess this is the first update or whatever.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not some kind of social media guru or influencer—I’m a writer, not a content creator. But since I’m already pushing past my own comfort levels, I might as well try throwing myself into the abyss. I think I might try to do vlog-like posts on TikTok or little Instagram snapshots a few times a week throughout the year.

I think my main way of documenting this process is going to be this blog, first and foremost. This seems like the most organic way, for me at least. We’ll see how it goes—honestly—what feels natural and what works best. This, after all, is a journey of self-discovery as well as a self-imposed challenge to push myself as a writer. The whole point of this project is consistency and authenticity, but also growth.

But hey, if I’m doing this, we’re going to commit to the fucking bit. The whole shebang. Go big or go home. So I’ll give the whole social media thing a go. Is it going to be cringey? Probably. Do I care? Kinda… but not really. Fortune favors the bold.

I’ll be real with you: I’m just winging it and making up the rules as I go. But there should be some guidelines or something—a general structure of things.

For one thing, there should be quarterly check-ins:

Q1: January–March Q2: April–June Q3: July–September Q4: October–December

Each quarter should have a reflection piece.

What I’ve learned about myself as a writer. About my voice and style. About my process. What I worked on, my overall word count or whatever. How I was feeling at the time. A general overall review of things. What I’m reading. What’s inspiring me. Etc., etc.—things like that.

My main goals/reasons for doing this, besides the obvious, are to:

A. Get a bunch of work done. Force myself to focus on projects and deadlines. (I’ll figure that all out later—how strict I want to be with things and what my focuses are. I want to keep this pretty fluid but also have room to work around.)

B. Get myself out of bad habits. (Like editing during the drafting process, or abandoning projects. Or even not getting things done. I’ll try to keep the mindset that with bigger works-in-progress, it doesn’t have to be perfect or polished—it just needs to get down on the page. Also, try to work out the kinks that hinder me and my craft and don’t serve me as a writer.)

C. Build a routine, develop a consistent habit, establish discipline, get organized.

D. I’m sure there will be more to add to this in the future.

Let’s talk about rules.

What I’ve already established above: if I miss a day, I start over. But I’m sitting here asking myself… what else? You need to have some kind of rules besides this…

But here’s the thing: I still want it to be fun. It’s a year-long journey of craft improvement and self-discovery. So for that reason, there are no strict rules—at least at first. Maybe that will change in the coming weeks. This is just an outline of the idea, after all…

The whole point is to write every day. So it can be a poem, a random prompt, working on a project like a short story, or a book review, a journal entry, maybe even taking on the challenge of writing a novel. Or even going back to abandoned projects. Or editing and compiling my old poems into a collection or something. If it’s writing, it counts. It doesn’t matter as long as I’m writing. We’ll keep it simple.

I will, however, disregard schoolwork—papers, assignments, etc.—simply because this is an individual challenge, and counting something that I’m required to do for my degree doesn’t count. That doesn’t feel authentic to the spirit of this idea.

I’m sure there will be amendments and more rules added further down the road. This is just the jumping-off point.

I’m not setting a daily word count minimum. I will, however, try to work at least 90 minutes a day. If that isn’t feasible, then at least 30 minutes. Some days I might be writing up a storm; other days I might only have a few lines, or just a paragraph or two, or random stuff that just goes nowhere. I might post some of what I’m writing. I might not. It depends.

The whole point is about showing up—pen in hand or fingers to the keyboard.

It’s about me proving to myself that I can do this. It’s about keeping a promise to myself. It’s about getting me to keep going, even on days where I have zero ambition or lack motivation. It’s about powering through even when I don’t feel like it. It’s about pushing past self-doubt and self-sabotage. It’s about my growth as a writer, a creator. It’s about letting go of rigid self-expectations.

I expect there to be a part of me that wants to give up (my stubborn ass will refuse) and burn out. I expect moments when I question if this is worth it. And I expect life to try to get in the way, as life so often does. But I firmly believe in the part of myself that has the audacity to stand against the part of me that stands in my own way.

I feel like that’s enough rambling for now, so I’ll sign off here.

This is me officially committed—to the process, to the mess, to the discipline, to my art, and to myself.

Day one starts now. No excuses. No hiding. Just words.

Let the madness begin.