Reporting for duty from the Cha Cha HQ, I sign in to write without knowing what will happen.

The mystery is as intriging as it is frustrating. Like I am stuck in a personal escape room. This is how I crack the code. I am busting out, one Beat at a time.

When I first started to find my footing, I leaned in to typing 750 new words everyday and produced a bunch of Beats back to back. This inspired the Mid-Day Spark, when I’d take a break from my day job to finalize and publish. The Back Beat was more illusive, but I produced a few, composing them mostly on the weekends.

After a few weeks of practice, I am rethinking a few things. Strategizing what is best for Cha Cha and sparking inspiration.

The first tweak was to cut my typing quota by 200 words. Now I call them my Daily Five Fifty. The new name roles of my tongue. The shortened wordcount roles off my fingertips.

Today I made another change.—It’s funny that it happened today. Because for the first time in weeks I actually had a new Blog Beat to produce. I was in the middle of treating myself to a Mid-Day Spark, my reward for producing a new Blog Beat the day before, when I made a B line for the Back Beat.

I spent the next hour crafting a scene from Chapter 13: And Now It’s Time for a Breakdown. I finished the Beat! I went back to my day job feeling like a writer.

At 7 p.m. I closed my work laptop and returned to the Chachaverse. Now I am sitting outside and typing five hundred and fifty new words. Reminding myself that I am a writer.

Hell yeah, I’m a writer! I’m writing a book. I’ve already worked on it today.—I plan to say that again tomorrow. And the day after that. …Well, the day after that is Saturday. And I don’t want to make any promises I can’t keep.

But my Daily 550 is nonnegotiable. I will type 550 new words every day for the rest of my life.—It’s been 39 days so far.

No one will care, or even notice, if I skip a day. Except for me. And the Universe. Nothing gets past her.—Challenge accepted. Let’s see where this goes.

This is how I crack the code. This is how I escape. By writing. One word at a time. Everyday. Forever.

I am wrapping up today’s quota. I am hungry and desperate to settle on my final 45 words.

But also, I am satisfied. Because today’s writing is complete. And that’s about as good as it gets when you’re a writer.