Since I’m writing this blog Saturday night and pre-scheduling it to publish Sunday morning, I won’t hold the drawing for the advance review copy of The Desert Hedge Murders quite yet (just in case someone in the Pacific Time Zone squeezes in an entry at the last minute). Sometime today (Sunday), I’ll post the winner’s name in a separate blog notice and will contact him or her for a mailing address.
I turned in chapters nine and ten of my new book to my writer’s critique group this week. Those chapters were written several weeks ago, before I started a blog, joined Facebook and Twitter, and did some traveling. I’m at the stage now where I’m itching to get back to the new project. I want to shut the door, unplug the phone, and write.
So I’m setting a goal. I’ll complete the first draft of this novel by August 31st. I already have about 30,000 useful words. I can easily finish the novel by my deadline if I average 1,000 words a day, even with a few days off and a weekend trip thrown into the mix.
Tomorrow will be organization and planning day. Tidy up the piles of paper strewn about my office. Find all the stray pages of the manuscript and story plan, plus the notes I’ve scribbled on pads all over the house. Organize my To Do List and set priorities. Change my blog schedule to five days a week. Stock up on MREs. Warn husband. Listen to husband complain.
I feel good, dadadadada…
Hi, ladies. Nice thought, Drue, except my husband plays bridge instead of golf. Good luck on your revisions — nothing like a little pressure to keep us on our toes.
Hi Kerrie, nice to have you pop in. But you’ll see me more than you probably want since I’ll be doing part of those 1,000 words a day at the studio.
Karen, MREs are Meals Ready to Eat like the ones the military uses, or that are distributed to hurricane victims — I hear they’re delicious! 😉
You are my kind of woman, Pat. Organized AND creative. Smiled the whole way through this post. Happy unplugging! P.S. What’s MRE?
Karen
http://www.karenfollowingthewhispers.blogspot.com
“I’m itching to get back to the new project. I want to shut the door, unplug the phone, and write.”
Clearly the time is now. Shut the door and we’ll see you when you emerge.
You almost made me spill my coffee I was laughing so hard when I reached the “MRE” line. The things writers do. Actually I wouldn’t put it past you, Pat. : )
I find an excel chart very useful when I’m on my first draft. I plug in each day, and what I’m supposed to write, then watch the numbers grow.
FUN for me though, I have 2 weeks to revise 80,000 words. Perhaps our husbands should take a golf vacation together. ~Drue