Guys…I did it.
I went an entire day without checking my phone or my email once. Not once.
I didn’t play Nintendo. I didn’t watch TV (except for 30 minutes while I ate dinner with the Bear)…I didn’t do any of the things that I usually go to when I’m feeling like I can’t write another sentence.
Now…did I find the elusive “zone” that’s been so hard to grab ahold of thus far in the writing of this book? No. Alas, I did not. But, I *did* have a very productive work day. GENUINELY. That’s not me spinning bullshit. I worked solidly from 7:30 AM to 9PM at night. I took two 20-minute naps, and two 30-minute meal breaks. I took three walks, two with the dogs and one with myself. Those extracurriculars I wish I could have cut down on…but each of them helped me get my butt back into the writing chair, so it’s really okay.
It was still a struggle.
It was still hard.
But, I did do it. And I *do* have versions of a few scenes now that I think are keepers.
I suppose that’s my lesson with this book: sometimes I’m going to have to write a scene three, four, or five times before it feels right. By the time I’ve finished this book, I’ll bet I will have put in somewhere around 500,000 words. No joke. A 100,000-word book will have taken me five times that to write. Sigh. It is what it is.
Here’s my real takeaway from today: I can gain confidence simply from the act of pushing through. Determination wins the day, and I have that. I am determined. There is truly one thing in my mind that I do not doubt, and it is that I will finish this book. Sometimes I don’t know how…but I have always known that I will push through and finish it. I’ve been to the top of that mountain.
So…it all begins again tomorrow. I’m up at 6:30, and I have a goal for what I want to get done before we leave the house and spend some time with our friends Argy and K-Bear. I’m going to finish this scene I’m currently half-way through, and then I’m going to tackle the next scene. Same goals for the next day: see if I can get through two more scenes. Then, we’ll re-evaluate on Monday.
I also take a little of solace in this, now that I’m in bed thinking about it: this book is going to teach me a lot about pure work ethic. The actual physical process of what it takes to put a book together from beginning to end. I feel like Starstuff was so spaced out on such a long timeline, that I really didn’t learn a lot of those lessons. This time, I fee like I am.
This book is going to be a good one, guys. I just need to stick with it.
I wish I’d found my “zone” today, I really do. But it didn’t happen. Stephen King talks about how the muse is this magical little thing that comes looking for you only ever so often…and the best way to catch her is the be in the same place doing the same thing (writing) every day. Well…I’m putting that into practice, yo, and I’m ready!
Good night 🙂
Artwork tonight is from Sinad Pakra Kasma.