Today marks the starting line for my first draft of Descent, the fourth Children of the Sidhe novella. I can’t wait! I have a great outline, as well as a decent understanding of what happens in the fifth and final novella, so that I can keep the general course of the series on track with this draft, instead of repairing the damage later. And there is damage when I write without an outline. Believe me. 🙂
I want to write this draft during August, so the goal is an average of 1,000 words per day, with a test mile of 500 words EVERY day. That’s going to be the hard part. Mondays and Wednesdays are hell on writing. I commute almost 60 miles to my office those days, which burns any extra time I might think I have. And by the time the kids are in bed…you know. But I have to get over it.
I’m beginning to think nature was conditioning me for this. My youngest started getting up in the four o’clock hour during our vacation in early July. Every day, she’s up by 4:45. She might go back to sleep, but it’s not for long. Lately I haven’t been able to get back to sleep because I’m sure she’s going to wake me as soon as I do. So I need to get up and write with that time. Even if she is up, after I spend five minutes with her she’ll happily toddle around getting into stuff. I can get 500 words in before the rest of the household gets up. I’ll just set up my iPad at night, so it greets me first thing in the morning — the time I used to get my best writing done (read in “pre-kids”). How’s that for turning lemons into lemonade?
How about you, ROWers? What are your tricks for getting word count on the page? What time do you work best?
You’re a better woman than I, J.R… I could never adjust to waking before the sun. It still troubles me. And 4:45 a.m.? I’d be extremely grouchy. lol.
Luckily, my two early risers were more of 6:00-6:30 a.m. risers. My other three?? They’d sleep until 9! Now…my ‘baby’ will be eight years old in December. During summer they (the 7 yr. old, 9 yr. old, 16 yr. old) get up, fix their own breakfast usually….it’s wonderful! I admit to sleeping in most mornings now….lol.
Take off with a start with Descent!
Good luck with starting Descent!
That’s great that you can work around things so you can have writing time. My favorite time to write is during lunch at work, but I’ve been walking during that time lately, which is also important. So my second best time is sometime after dinner, but not too late, or I get sleepy. I’m not a night owl.
Ah, how exciting to be starting your draft. I admire your gumption to write on the days you have a long commute. My current commute is only 3 miles, although I did have a 2 1/2 hour train commute in the past, so I am sympathetic. Although my kids are 19 and 20, I still get up at 5 to write, so hail, fellow early bird.
Good for you making lemonade; it shows a positive attitude and a flexibility that will serve you well.
Have a great rest of the week.