Sunday Update: Finally Rocking Shield!

It’s been quite a week for this fantasy writer. I released a novel last weekend, and then took a couple of days off from writing. But after a couple of days, I got really excited about my next big project — the one that moved into “primary writing project” stage when I hit publish and sent Chaos Calling out into the world to seek its fortune.

Shield, the fifth book in my fantasy romance series, is coming along quickly now! At the start of the week, I had my characters in a fix that I’d been trying for days to figure a way out of. Actually, it was always a major problem I knew I’d face at the beginning of this book. So….a problem I’ve been avoiding for two years or so! Ha!

Wednesday and Thursday I had long meetings near my office, which is 60 miles from home. Meetings that lasted until late afternoon. Keep in mind that I live on the east side of Portland, which is a major metro area with TERRIBLE traffic. I’ve always adjusted my schedule so I miss traffic, so staying that late in the afternoon throws everything off. It takes FOREVERS to get back home. So I didn’t fight it. I worked it out with my husband and instead of getting on the road right after meetings on Thursday, I hunkered down in a diner right on the Willamette River, and worked out my plot troubles. YES! Win all around! A burger and a beer and 400 words of notes later, I had figured the way out!!

Here’s how my word count measured up this week (not counting those notes — just fiction words!):
Monday – 400
Tuesday – 700
Thursday – 500
Friday – 1,900
Saturday – 1,300
….For a grand total of 4,800 words. That isn’t far off from my goal of 5k a week, which I plan to hold myself to as I would like to finish this draft in May. I’m at 11k now, which means about 20k to go on the final Children of the Sidhe book. Tight, but still doable. 🙂

Best of luck on your writing goals this week! And remember to enjoy the spring weather, and be kind to yourself! 🙂

About J.R. Pearse Nelson

J.R. Pearse Nelson is a fantasy and romance writer from Oregon, USA. She lives with her husband and two daughters among the plentiful trees and clouds of the beautiful Willamette Valley. J.R. is always searching for the magic in our world. She weaves tales rooted in mythology, bringing legend to life in modern-day and fantasy settings. J.R. is the author of the Of the Blood fantasy romance series, the Foulweather Twins fantasy series, and the Water Rites fantasy series. You can connect with J.R. and learn more about her fiction at her website. Visit jrpearsenelson.com.

7 comments on “Sunday Update: Finally Rocking Shield!

  1. Great word count! And I love the way you turned something that could be an annoyance into something productive. I love it when the plot problem finally is resolved. I’ve had a few of those.

  2. Congratulations on the release of your book! And that sound fabulous, hunkering down in a diner, especially with a plot fix outcome! Hope you have another great week and meet your 5k goal. Thank you so much for your comment over at my place, I have been a bit AWOL having not had internet for 6 months!!

  3. Don’t you love it when an unexpected plan comes together?
    Hunkering down, eating, and solving a plot “problem”…sounds good to me.
    All the best as you motor along.
    And congrats, by the way, on pushing the publish button. 🙂

  4. Great word count for the week! And congrats on your publication.

    It’s great that you decided to wait out the traffic and make better use of that time. Sounds like sitting in that diner was much more productive than sitting in traffic!

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