Guys…I wrote 15 pages today, which is just over 5100 words 😮

I loved it. I had a great day. I definitely petered out towards the end, but you know what? I learned a lot today about where I’m at speed-wise and what I can do in a given day. My words per hour counts today were DOPE. By far the highest I’ve ever had, and I know why: it’s because I simplified my goal to PAGES instead of words, I kept my eye on the PLOT I was heading into and made those my markers, and I AIMED HIGH.

My goal for the next 12 days is ambitious as fuck. It will be a colossal feat, in fact. BUT…man…I can do it. I know I can. Today proved it.

And here’s the thing, guys: when I’m writing fast, those hours where I’m just tearing through my word counts…those are invariably the best raw passages of the book. When I’m plodding along slowly, it means I’m grinding, and that usually means something’s not working. So, this plan to tear through the rest of my first draft is backed up by the fact that the output should be mostly good. Rough, perhaps in the sense of typos and needing to be polished and such…but stellar in terms of the ideas, and the overall rhythm of the story.

This was definitely one of my most productive writing days ever. I’m going to beat it tomorrow. I have a plan, a plan based on my actual word-count abilities.

I love this. I love it. I feel like I’m coming home on this project, finally. FINALLY. I’m excited to write it. The ideas are flowing in the moment. Today I came up with two scenes that I never would have been able to dream up a couple weeks ago, stressed out and muddied in the head as I was. It’s the little details sometimes that make the whole experience.

I’m also feeling so excited and positive right now because I just did some refining work on my blurb for book 1, and paired that up with the cover image, and I think I have a really strong package for book 1. It’s a cover and a blurb that would make me read that shit. I think it has a chance to sell some copies. Man, I hope so. At the very least, I think it looks professional, well-though-out, and polished. I hope it does, anyway.

That’s all for tonight. The Coops and the Coco are sleeping next to me, ready for the zzz’s. I’m going to go read for a little bit, and then it’s up bright and early tomorrow morning, ready to sieze the day. I hope I’m sitting here in bed tomorrow night feeling just as positive and uplifted as I am right now.

Good night!

Artwork tonight from F. Juergen Rogner.