November 5: 11-something teen
Still don’t have my computer working – boo.
Sat in the computer lab and wrote 6 pages anyway, and I like them – yay.
I have a great “the universe wants me to write this book” story I’ll relay tomorrow, but I just wanted to get down that I’m still keeping up with my counts.
Have a good week, all.
October 23: 95 pages
The new first chapter is done, and that feels good. And now I have a whole week to play with what I’ve got…should be quite an adventure.
But, now, to free movie screenings for inspiration.
October 15: 90 pages
Threw a tantrum today. Very undignified. Husband helped calm me down – took me to neighborhood pub, bought me veggie burger and lemonade. We came home, I wrote 8 pages, and the Giants beat the Falcons, so everyone’s happy.
I’ll try to post a picture of the treasure map/collage I made for the book. One phrase I glued down says “HAMMERIN’ AWAY.” I don’t think everything I’m writing is super fantastic, but I’m trying. And hammerin’ away I am.
October 8: 82 pages
I had a bad week. Couldn’t get anything done. My plan to catch up Friday only resulted in typing up the few pages I’d handwritten in NYC last weekend and adding a little bit. Yesterday we cooked and had a friend over and had a great time, but I did no writing.
But there’s always a new day. I went to Starbucks and to school and finished up a brand-new chapter. 8 pages. Now I’m 4 pages behind the Fall count, because of the week I took off, but I’m making it up in 2 weeks when there’s no classes at school. I feel a lot better, and I think this new chapter is really good. Phew.
I’m a little unsure of keeping the page counts going because now that I’ve redone the plot, I have several dozen pages that will have to get cut because they no longer fit. But I think the right thing to do is keep it all, even the stuff that seems like it’s the wrong plot, until I get to 275. 275 won’t mean I have a finished book, it’ll mean I put in a novel-sized effort and came up with almost all the raw material. After that I can fix it into something pretty. Anyway, I think that’s OK.
September 16: 72 pages
Which means I’m now more than 25% of the way to 275. Neato.
September 9: 67 pages
This ends my first quarter goal: 66 pages from the day I started to 9/9. I did it! The info under “Schedule” will change tomorrow to reflect the 9/9-12/31 weekly goals.
I was so far ahead last Saturday that I thought I’d get up to around 70 by today, but the start of school was much busier than I was ready for. I need to remind myself that meeting the goal is the victory, not getting ahead of it.
My Aunt Maria talks about doing things with “clarity, focus, ease, and grace.” That’s what I want. While I might be able to physically write 10 pages a week during the semester, I could not do so with ease and grace, and I would start to lose enthusiasm and make excuses. So for the vast majority of the school year, the weekly totals are just 5 pages a week, sometimes less. Some weeks I’ll do plenty more, but even so, the Page Counts will grow slowly. I hope you’ll still cheer them on. Because we’ll reach 275 by next July, I know. Just in smaller steps now.
Onward and upward! 🙂
September 1: 57 pages
AWWWWW YEAH!
Now I know not everything I’ve written is going to stay in the novel. I know I have continuity problems I’m going to have to go back and fix because I was working out the damn plot while writing. Am still working it out. But I am pushing myself to JUST PRODUCE PAGES. And it’s working. And some of it’s good. I wanted to use these weeks before school to write, and I did. I feel like I rule so much right now. I’m going to eat ice cream.
*happy dance*
August 27: 35 pages (yay!)
I missed a day this week, but I’m in pretty good shape now. I need to write about 20 pages in the next 2 weeks, but I have zero demands on my time and I’m having a lot of fun with it. Wrote 7 pages today and was quite pleased.
This is turning out a little less “literary” and a little more “mainstream,” but I think that can only be good. It’s too damn tiring to put elaborate metaphors in every other paragraph of a novel. Well, not if you’re a Pulitzer Prize winner, but if you’re me.
August 19: 17 pages
I didn’t write a word during my week in Vegas or my 2 days in L.A., and was wondering if I was going to get anywhere near my vacation goal of 6 pages. Then, on the drive up to Sacramento, my mother finally told me the long, bizarre, you-can’t-make-this up tale of my family’s antics at my grandfather’s funeral last year, and I knew it was gold. I took a page of notes, thought how I could tweak it into the novel, and sat down today on a mission. Can’t wait to pick up again when I get home.
August 8: 11 pages
This last week has been extremely difficult, and I got nothing done until today. Frustrating. But here it is, my first benchmark. And the end of the 1st chapter. I’ll take it. Next up: to 16 pages by August 20th (I’m on vacation the whole time.)