Our retreat cabin had no functioning internet, so I was unable to post all weekend. We went up Friday afternoon and returned yesterday, Monday. We are usually able to arrange for an early check in and late check out so we can have a straight 72 hours to work, but that was not the case this time.
And so, with a little less time and a whole day's worth of just messing around in the pine trees around Brighton Ski Resort, I ended up with half the 20k goal. I did walk the dragon many times, and dictated for an hour once after I'd crawled into bed--that was a surprising 2900 words in 76 minutes. I never hit that kind of production again, but I did get a lot of walking in. A LOT OF WALKING. I probably got a total of about 3 hours of walking in Saturday and Sunday, and for me, that's phenomenal.
As for projects, I did finish the first draft of Kiss This, the new Christmas novella. And I got 6000 hard won words added to the Wicked/Wickham project. I also changed my mind a few times about whether or not to even finish that one since the story line is more about the characters themselves than the romance, so while it is an exercise of different muscles than usual, it is an uncomfortable task. In the end, it was yet another email from a patiently waiting reader that tipped the scales. I will finish the book.
I also took a hard look at what I've been able to accomplish during August and September, and the end result was not what I was expecting. I thought I would have been able to edit much faster than I have. And so my stacks are uneven.
My pile of stories to be written by the end of October consists of one title left unfinished--Wickham.
My pile of stories ready for editing includes Isobelle, Mrs. Wiggs, Scavenger Hunting, and Kiss This.
You see? I'm so lopsided I'm going to be walking funny for a while.
The solution is obviously to stop writing new words and start edits on the ones I already have. Otherwise I'm going to have to start storing them in proverbial shoe boxes under the proverbial bed.
So from this point on, probably until the end of October, I'm switching to page counts instead of word counts. I'm going to try to edit at the very minimum ten pages per day. But my average will have to be double that if I'm to get these four books to my editing friends and out of my hands by November. Wickham's last chapters will have to be worked in here and there when I need a break. Hopefully, it will be ready for edits when these four move on.
I also have a new personal focus plan. I'm going to work on simple, basic self-control. And I'm not talking about diet and exercise. I'm talking about the ability to force myself to do whatever it is I need to do when I need to do it. I'm not sure, but there is every possibility that I have never possessed this capacity before. I think it's high time I cut myself open and see if those muscles exist somewhere beneath my skin.
How are your self-control muscles doing? Any tips will be appreciated.
Self control muscles????????? I'm sure if I ever had some of those, they're withered beyond recognition right now. However, I intend to give them quite the workout for the next fourteen days to see if I can finish this current book by the first week of October. I'll let you know how those poor, pathetic little muscles do...
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