Monday, January 31, 2011

What Next?

Last week, I took a week off of writing.  I gave myself a much needed break.  Some head space to chill.  It's usually not a good thing when I am NOT writing.  I go a bit off-kilter and I start to lose it a little. That's not really what happened last week.  I just needed some air.  I mean, I felt constricted and I felt as if I was working ALL THE TIME and it became difficult to broach the computer or the blank page.  So what did I do?  I read a little, I crocheted a little, I played some Scrabble (my favorite game), watched some cheesy musicals and sci-fi movies and even sketched.  It did the trick.  

I also printed out my manuscript some time during the week.  On that day, I had 79 pages (double-spaced) and I was completely thrilled.  Even with all my complaints, it's really happening.  This novel is really coming alive.  And it's AMAZING (not the writing, the fact that it's getting done)!!  I thought I would have a first draft out by the end of this month but I guess it will take a bit longer to finish it.  I need to be more diligent about putting time into it.

Late Saturday morning, I worked for about 4.5 hours and managed to write another 2,000 words. Yay! (That included breaks to put in a couple of loads of laundry to wash and dry). Anyway, tonight I added another 500 words.  So I'm pleased with myself (I'm not bragging. I just mean that I'm proud of myself.) For anyone who doesn't know me very well those are not easy words for me to come by.  I push myself very hard without ever really giving myself credit with the work that I am accomplishing.  So this is me giving myself a pat on the back (for a change). With the new word count, I am up to 86 pages and over 26,500 words.  Hoorah!!  I'm shooting for 50,000 for the first draft but let's see where this story takes me.  I've printed out the last six pages I've written and have neatly placed them in my bag for my morning commute.  In the meantime, I'm signing off for tonight because my eyes are tired and bloodshot and I need to get up early tomorrow for work.

L~

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