Can you change your life in 100 days?
June 2025
Writer In Progress: The Experiment
You know that feeling of being completely stuck? Stuck on a sentence you can’t figure out how to phrase, stuck with habits you wish you could change, stuck in burnout?
That feeling has crept up over the past few months, leaving me in a creative funk. Initially, I blamed it on editing. My favorite part of writing is drafting. There’s something freeing about flinging yourself into creation and building worlds from your mind. And while editing is its own rewarding challenge, it sure isn’t the reckless abandon of drafting. I assumed revising a (beloved) project I’ve been working on for a long time put me into this creative funk.
But a few weeks ago, I realized the funk wasn’t just creative. I’ve been stuck in things other than this draft I’m editing. My day-to-day doesn’t look like I want it to, even though I’m feeling the happiest I’ve ever been in major parts of my life.
How can that be true and yet the feeling that my life needs a glow up lingers? I’ve been so focused on my family and writing that I’ve let foundational routines slide. Which wasn’t a big deal at first. Missing a workout here, putting off organizing a closet there, nothing major. But the domino effect of those seemingly little actions is very real and now I feel like I’m keeping my head above water because I’ve let go of structure and systems that kept my life, writing and otherwise, on track.
That changes this month.
Introducing my Writer in Progress experiment; for a hundred days, I’ll be glowing up my life. That includes trying different systems, routines, and structures to unchaos my schedule and help me level up my writing craft, productivity, health, self-care, environment, and overall joy. All to build my dream author life.
I will experiment with tricks to improve my sleep, meditations to center my mind, time management strategies to maximize writing time and more. I’ll also be working on my craft, trying new writing exercises and prompts.
This challenge is about creating discipline and consistency while seeking joy everywhere. I’m deleting all the words from the page and allowing myself to draft again, but this time with my most important WIP yet: me.
I hope you’ll join me for the experiment on Instagram! I’ll be sharing daily updates there.
The Syllabus
Here are the things I’m consuming to help me build my dream author life:
Books:
Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
Dear Writer by Maggie Smith
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
Story Genius by Lisa Cron (yes, again)
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Write Now by Harriet Griffey
Find the linked list on Bookshop.org
Videos:
How to stop screwing yourself over by Mel Robbins
Where joy hides and how to find it by Ingrid Fetell Lee
Inside the mind of a master procrastinator by Tim Urban
Grit: The power of passion and perseverance by Angela Lee Duckworth
A simple way to break a bad habit by Judson Brewer
Podcasts:
The History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps (this is here because I miss learning for the fun of it)
A note about my neglected Substack
Dear fellow storytellers and readers,
Hello again, long time no see. I’d intended to write you monthly letters to further build the community I’ve started on social media and connect on another level. Instead, I got overwhelmed and this was one of the first things to go since it was so new. I’m returning to that goal and including it as part of this challenge. So expect to hear from me monthly!
Loving lately…
Reading: I’m kicking off my syllabus with Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
Listening: This Romanticizing Spring Writing playlist I made a few months ago
Watching: ER for the first time ever because of The Pitt and I am absolutely obsessed
Drinking: Almond milk chai lattes
Pip’s Writing Advice of the Month
My barketing assistant, Pip, pawpicked this quote of the month:
"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."
- Sylvia Plath