As the title suggests I am behind my word-count goal. The intelligent question for me to ask is, "Was the goal realistic?" To that, I would have to say, "Probably not." Regardless, I desired to have about 35k at the moment on JOCK 4. I do not. I have 3,600 words. So sad. This means I am 32k behind. I am somewhat discouraged in this, but I am trying hard to see the positives. Lately, I have been in the habit of writing. I say habit, but maybe it hasn't developed that far yet. I have been writing every day in 2016 so far! That is 40 days counting today. THIS is excellent! I am not sure what my longest streak was writing wise, but I think this is a good start at a better streak if I haven't passed it already.
In the past, I'd go in spurts. I'd write, write, write, and then stop for days on end and think, "When did I write last?" only to find out it was two months ago! I don't want that to happen this year. I can see this as a very strong reason I had many years where I'd write only one book a year because I would have too many months where I wrote nothing at all! Not writing is the fastest way NOT to finish a book!
In 2015, there was a long stretch of time where I got up at 4:30/5 a.m. and wrote before anything else and I got so much written! It was amazing. I DID take time off in the middle here and there, but I believe this is how Bankers' Hours got written so fast. I wrote ALMOST every day, and I wrote in the morning. I am a morning person. My mind works more sharply in the early hours. I SERIOUSLY like to hear nothing but silence in the morning because my mind is going too fast. This is why when the kids are home, or the husband, that it's too difficult to write because they make too much noise. Right now, the snow is falling outside and everyone is still asleep. I have coffee and my dog at my side. I can watch the snow fall and think about what I want to say. This is what I need every morning. However, to get this NOW every day, I would have to get up at 4:00 a.m. In order to get up that early, I'd have to go to bed at 8/9. I have not been able to get to bed early enough. Everyone here is awake at night. I have to take my kids to dance and youth group, somehow the hours get sucked away and I'm too tired to get up at 4. I haven't yet.
This has resulted in writing later int he day. Later is fine is I have nothing else to do, but I am trying to balance two full-time jobs. I am a mom and a writer. Other mom's do this! I can too. I just figuring out how!
So, I started my year with the desire to write EVERY DAY! I have too. I think building that consistency into my everyday mindset will help me structure my subconscious to expect it, and maybe crave it. I already crave writing, but I need it to be something that happens much like eating, breathing, or going to the bathroom. These are things I just do! I don;t have to schedule them in. (Well, maybe the eating has to be scheduled because I have forgotten to eat before.) My point is, writing needs to be something I automatically do. I'm hoping once it is such an ingrained habit I don;t have to think about it, that the word-count will follow.
Being behind by 32k can be depressing if I see it that way. Some of those days I "wrote" something it was only a few sentences. What I'm trying to get my mind to realize is that it is a few sentences more than those months in the past whereI wrote NOTHING! I may only have 3600 words right now in this one book, but what if this was 2 years ago when I took a couple months off by accident? I would not have the 3600 words!!!! So, that said, I am happy I have been writing every day, even though my life seems crazy and it is difficult to focus most of the time. I have been pushing myself to write!
A side note: I also wrote here and there on other books of mine so I have written more than 3600 words this year. HAHAHA. I finished JOCK 3 in January and edited it; therefore, added words. I also wrote some bits in How I Became A Groupie. This is my "rocker" book, which I hope you will love. The characters popped into my head, so I went with it!
I have MANY characters in my head. I need to write them when they are talking instead of ignoring them.
This is a snow day in Maryland. The kids are off school today. No quiet here. :p However, I do plan to write! They just need to go outside in the snow. LOL
I guess that's all for now. I have a couple interviews coming up. One on GGR-Review with Scott Burkett and the other on Twinsie Talk M/M books reviews. I'll keep you updated as to how things are going.
Hugs and kisses,
Wade
And I updated my scale for 2016 to include the books that should come out this year, as well as the ones I should be writing this year.
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