Day 24

It's getting really close to the end of the month, and I haven't slipped up once. I haven't even come close to slipping up. I've written every day, and not only that, but 500 words every day. Sure, one day it was only 501, but that was above and beyond my requirement, so it not only counts, I beat my goal.

Today was a really, really slow day at work. So, while I sat twiddling my thumbs, I wrote (which is impressive when you think about it--how do you type and twiddle your thumbs at the same time?). I got my highest total so far: 1,573, which beats my second highest from the 21st of 1,377.

Those are the only two times that I exceeded 1,000 so far this month. But starting in March, I was thinking about doubling my requirement--1,000 words a day, every day in March. That requires a lot more time...probably double if I'm mathing correctly here. Will it be too much?

I went to a panel at the writer's conference last week about making a living as an indy author. Yeah, I thought it was about something else too. Indiana Jones wasn't mentioned once in the whole hour, so that sucked. But they did talk about self-publishing, and the way you had to do it to be successful. One of the things they said was that you needed to publish something every 30-60 days. Some of us in the audience gasped, but the panelist quickly told us that it was no big deal. Now, to be fair, these people were full-time writers. Their 40-hour-a-week job was to write. The writer said that she published books that were about 40,000-50,000 words. There are approximately 60 days in any two month span. So, let me get on the chalkboard here and work this out...

So, in other words, if I could get myself to write 1,000 words a day, I could write a 40,000-50,000 word novel every month. Hell, less than a month. I'd have 10-20 days left over to take a vacation and then plan the next one. That means I could be a professional writer without having to give up my day job just yet. Doing the math kind of freaks me out. I didn't think that it was possible, but as simple as that, it is.

I am 21,669 words into Sunny & Gray, and I'm just getting started. This book is not going to be 40,000-50,000 words long, unfortunately, but I don't care. I just want to tell my story. It's my first novel, and everyone says that it should therefore be a turd. First novels always supposedly suck. I'd rather that not be the case, but I'm resigned to the possibility. But they also say that the second one is usually better, and I'm resigned to that possibility as well.

All I can say is that this month has been a revelation to me, and a revolution for me as well. I feel great. I don't feel at all like stopping when March 1st comes along. I only want to take it to the next level. I can finally see what is possible, and I want to make it happen.

That mountain has been waiting a very long time, but I feel like I'm finally on my way.