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It was a blur the last four days, I needed 14k words!
So, I gave myself a goal of over 3k a day. And I did it. Thanks due to my 25 minute timer. Between six and seven day sprints a day, I managed to do a personal best for me.
The last thousand words were the hardest. I’d woken up at 2:25 am and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I hit the computer. After a thousand words, I went back to bed. I think I going to write when that happens again, which it does often. Then at nine, I hit it again. Managed to get another thousand before I had to attend a lunch meeting.
Coming back to it several hours later, I didn’t know what to write. I’ve been pantsing it for several days, and am totally clueless how my brain comes up with stuff at the last moment. As I wrote, events would pop into my head that turned the story around, developed conflict and mainly surprised myself. Where did that come from?
But the major issue here, is that I can write fast. I’ve been telling myself that I’m a slow writer. I was lying to myself. I can crank out the words if I have a deadline. Being an indie author, my only deadline is the one that I set for myself.
So, my new deadline is December 31st.
Yeah, I intend to write 1724 words a day, for twenty-nine days to make that next deadline. I’m taking off the 24th and 25th, because that is the big family time at our house. But, I’ve already calculated those days. For thirty-one days, 1613 words a day would do it. Any extra words a day I get, will make up for the days that life interfers, like Monday. I’ll be out of pocket for most of the day. I need to find my AlphaSmart and bring it with me, or a pad and pencil and use a different approach. Of course, I’d have to type that into my document, but it’s all doable.
So, I’m energized for this new month. I need to decorate the house, buy gifts, all that life stuff. But I’m really, really thrilled to know that I CAN do it.
Hey, I even bought the T-Shirt, and this is what it says on it.
Yes, I feel like a winner. It’s a good feeling.
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Congratulations on your success. How did you find the motivation when you were behind? I just got discouraged.
I was doing the 25 minute Pomodoro technique. I set a kitchen timer and wrote until it went off. Wait for 5 minutes or more, and do again. http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/
Congratulations, Pepper!! I resisted sprinting, thought it could never work, but it really does. I like it best with friends. We write for 20 minutes, chat/work out plot issues for 10. It works wonders. Good luck on your December goal. You can do it!!!
I’ll try anything once. (Well, most everything!)
The timer is my best friend now. Lucky you to have others join you, that’s super.