Writing 101: Day 1

I am currently participating in Blogging University's Writing 101 through The Daily Post.  The challenge is to write every day, using some combination of the daily prompt and daily twist.  I'll be posting my progress here on this blog and hoping to reboot my daily writing practice.  Wish me luck!

Today's prompt:  To get started, let’s loosen up. Let’s unlock the mind. Today, take twenty minutes to free write. And don’t think about what you’ll write. Just write.

Today's twist:  And for your first twist? Publish this stream-of-consciousness post on your blog.

I don't know why I have such a hard time sitting down and writing.  I received the email with today's prompt and twist around noon today, but I have waited until now, 9:10pm, to actually sit down and just write.  I have done everything possible to avoid writing for just twenty minutes.  

I worked out this afternoon when I got home from work.  It is the first time I have worked out in months but this is also the first day in months when I have felt obligated to write.  I have updated two other blogs this evening.  I have spent time with my husband and my kitty cat.  I went grocery shopping.  I bought some dinner.  I created art.  And now as I am finally running out of other things to do, I am finally sitting down to write something.  

Why is so hard for me to carve out time to write?  I enjoy writing.  I have about a million ideas swimming around in my head, just begging to be put down on paper.  I have always enjoyed the act of writing by hand and I always have a notebook nearby to jot down my thoughts, but I find it difficult to set aside a chunk of even 20 minutes for some serious writing.

I think one of my issues is that I lose confidence when I get close to the end of a story.  I have two novels that are approaching their final scenes, and part of me just wants to start a new story.  I am the same way with my craft projects.  I do a lot of knitting and crochet and I often find myself with just a few rows to go... just a few more stitches... just a little sewing... and then I put the project aside and start a new one. 

Can I force myself to complete a writing project?  Maybe if I just forced an ending out of my brain and onto paper, then no matter how bad it is, I can always edit it later, right?  I can always rewrite.  Maybe it would be cathartic to complete a story, wrap it up and move on. 

I have already tried telling other people that I am writing a book, to see if it would motivate me to follow through and finish.  It has not worked so far.  I am really hopeful that this daily practice will shake me up and help me get back into the writing habit.  I want to write.  I want to complete a story.  I want to improve.  I want to stop writing the word 'just' every other sentence :)  And I really want to go back and edit this whole post, so I'm just going to click publish right now.