Since the beginning of the year, I have been focused on writing 1000 new words every day, seven days a week. I’ve maintained that rate, often exceeding that number. To date, I’ve written over 100,000 words and though not all of them have been wonderful or life changing, I am maintaining the habit.
As I approach the end of March, my intention was to increase my output to 1250 words a day. I don’t doubt I can manage this increase, however, I must also recognize that there are a finite number of hours in the day and I still have young children and a wife who require attention. So, for this reason, while I will increase my output during the week, it will only be during the weekdays. Weekend words will be bonus, but not compulsory. This, I hope, will give me time to read, spend time with my family, and catch up on editing and read-throughs of my work that sometimes gets lost during the week.
The submissions I put out for a few projects are coming back and the initial news is not good. I’m still resubmitting the works, but some pieces are being trunked. At some point, no matter how much pride you have in a piece, it needs to disappear. Another hurdle in the writing life is learning when to put something aside and focus on the future. It isn’t easy.
I may not make my daily quota of words today for various reasons. Most of them being normal life errands that needed doing. But, tomorrow is another day and I can always make up for it then. In the meantime, I will keep working and writing, pushing forward, and hopefully, not losing the drive one needs to keep sitting in front of the keyboard and tapping those keys.