Making progress: 2015 words written over five sessions and in four different locations*. Never let it be said that flexibility is not key.

The story is continuing to move forward, though slower than I had envisioned, but that may be a good thing. My goal was to get Maddy to the ball and have her meet her fiance for the first time. Well, I got Maddy to the ball, but then a new character arrived (that I had not even imagined) to throw some metaphorical fireworks, and only at the end of the writing day did the fiance show up—at a most inopportune time, of course! Writing the excitable and artless mother, and her daughters’ reactions, is a lot of fun.

Three things are helping me write this novel:

  1. A goal for each scene (e.g. “Maddy gets to the ball and meets her fiance for the first time”). This provides some direction, but leaves a lotof latitude for new ideas (and characters!) to crop up.
  2. A word count goal for each session (e.g. “500 words in 20 minutes” and “2000 words for the day”). Having a number to work towards helps provide motivation (“just 125 more words!”). I thought I had reached 2000, then discovered I was 125 short, so I went back to the last paragraph I had written and continued writing from there. Ended up with 140 words.  <happy dance>
  3. Writemonkey. Oh, Writemonkey, I don’t know what I would do without you. Your progress bar at the top of the screen showing me how many words I’ve written (without saying the precise number, you sassy thing) combined with the blinking cursor to show how much time remains, make writing a joy.

Writing sessions today:

20″ – 512 words

20″ – 563 words

15″ – 110 words

35″ – 650 words

10″ – 180 words

Total time writing: 200 minutes (3 hours 20 minutes)

Total word count: 4180 words

 

*I’m reminded of Dr. Seuss: Would you, could you, on a train? Would you, could you, on a plane (well, a bus)? The answer is YES!