At the beginning of October, while packing to walk a section of the Via Francigena, Alexia Wdowski looked at her notebook and decided to leave it behind. As a compulsive note-taker this felt like a risky decision. She wanted to experience being in the moment, not walking along, pen in hand, jotting down thoughts and impressions. However, as many pilgrims discover, the trail had other ideas. 

This November, we ran a 30 Day Writing Challenge. Unlike some other writing challenges that happen in November (ahem), the goal wasn’t to write a novel, 50,000 words, or even 5,000 words. The goal was to get into the habit of writing daily. 

In this 3-part series, Hillfire writers offer insight and encouragement, like how to persevere in your writing when you start thinking and stop doing.