I wrote 2,221 words today, guys, and I didn’t even break a sweat. This is huge. HUGE. And it was a day replete with distractions, too!

There was a lot of apartment work to attend to today, which is not new. Whenever there’s a vacancy, the workload just goes up. There’s no way around that shit. It’s just the reality. And I had some errands to run, too, which had me going back and forth all across the whole valley…or at least going across the valley in a giant loop. I had some cables that I needed to grab to get my new dock set up the way I wanted it…and I did!

It’s so dope, you guys. It’s expensive AS FUCK. Too expensive, to be honest. But…it is DOPE. I am able to connect EVERYTHING to my computer with one cable. Even charging. ONE. CABLE. That’s my monitor, two external hard drives, a USB hub for any random stuff I need to plug in, a cable to charge stuff with which I basically use exclusively for my airpods case, and my bluetooth communicator that I keep on my desk mostly for looks. ALL THAT STUFF. One cable. It’s pure genius.

I’d actually ordered another thunderbolt dock in case this one didn’t work out — I really, really wanted that charging feature to be included, and this dock I have right now has a lower wattage output than this other one — but now I can cancel that order and just stick with this one! It charges my laptop! I’m so happy.

And so, so happy with writing. I really love it, you guys. I really, really do. I love sitting down and living in this world with these characters. It’s one of my favorite things.

I really felt like a writer today. I got all my work done by around 1:30, and I think that’s my sweet spot. Getting up a bit early, writing and doing narrations, and then finishing around late-lunch time. 6 hours, but 6 hours before the real rest of the day is gone. If I could have that morning time protected and available to me (most of the time, obviously it can’t ALWAYS be like that)…then have the afternoons and the evenings to have social times with the Ho and the pups, get other chores and responsibilities done with, go do things…man, that is the dream. For reals. I want that. I have successfully trained myself to be creative and energized in the mornings. Mission accomplished.

I also realized today that I can pretty solidly write between 1,500 and 2,000 words per hour by typing, and that’s right now. Not in the future or something I need to work up to. I can hang that right now. So…I can use that to plan out my books, you know? A 90,000 page book is going to take between 45 and 60 hours to write. I can plan that, you know? Granted…that’s actually hours with the butt in seat, no distractions, with a complete outline guiding the typing…so really, double that time and you’ve got something more accurate. One cannot actually WRITE all those hours. There’s too much planning that needs to happen.

But, still…a number like that in black and white is very helpful for old Ira’s stress levels. The next step to all this is to figure out how to quantify more nebulous tasks time-wise, like outlining, or the earlier stages of rewriting. Those things DEPEND, you know? I can’t precisely time out inspiration (outlining) or plan exactly for how much stuff is going to need rewriting after a first draft. That stuff, I think, is going to have to exist in a range rather than specifics. But, we’ll see. I just need to start tracking it. See how long stuff starts taking me.

That’s all I’ve got tonight. I love my job. This was the right decision.

Good night!

Artwork this evening is from Pablo Carpio.

ps – I finished “Wool” tonight, the Omnibus edition, and it was really, really good. Hands down the best indie book I’ve read. No question. Bravo to Hugh Howie!