Review of the First Day
I could not let myself go to sleep so close to my goal, so I managed to punch out 400 more words and actually hit my 2,000 word mark! It was a good feeling, but not great; great would have been three or four thousand words. I was too tired last night to properly think through my first attempt, my first leg of my month-long journey, but this morning I hope to capture the few things that ran through my head.
Word Count
I was surprised to find I took me ninety minutes to get the first 1,000 words, but only forty-five minutes for the second 1,000 words. In the first hour I only managed 600 words! The start was much harder than I thought, and at first I wanted to attribute it to my general fatigue. I was tired enough to go to bed when I got home … 4 hours early! As I was plodding along (that is the word for it, plodding) I began to realize I have a hard task in front of me regarding the first chapter. My outline and my desire forces me to establish quite a few details. Plans I have for the middle of the book have their genesis in the first scenes, thus I found myself carefully considering the mood, the setting, and the message I was communicating. It was no wonder things were going slow.
Regarding my outline, I completed the first two points, and may have covered enough of the third to consider it done. I had no expectations regarding the amount of words I would consume for each point, but if I only manage 1,000 words per point, I will not make it, as I do not have 50 points. Either I will need to add points or I will need to elaborate more on each point (without burdening the reader of course).
Perseverance
I in no way felt like writing last night, yet I knew I had no option; I did not want to start today 1,700 words behind. This caused me to force myself into putting something down, even if I don’t like it (actually, I didn’t do that, instead I edited phrases as I went). The advantage here is I managed to get 2,000 words done, even when I did not feel like writing. I count this an accomplishment, for when I do feel like writing I will hopefully increase my productivity, and when I do not feel like writing I know I can still produce something (and in the case of yesterday’s work I don’t feel like I need to much revision).
Tonight is my local kick-off party, and while I will be two hours late I still hope to go. Hopefully I will meet some friendly people and still be able to hammer out a couple thousand words. I am not the only author to write in the fantasy genre in my region, so it might be even more fun. Here’s hoping I keep on track. I had a decent start, now I need to continue it for 29 more days.