I realized yesterday that what I’ve been doing isn’t working. I haven’t been writing at the pace I want to write, and I got frustrated last night, set my timer for 30 minutes, and wrote 449 words. Which came to 898 words an hour, and if that isn’t some kind of sign, I don’t know what is. :D
(Okay, yes, it could have totally been a huge coincidence that yesterday my goal was to write 898 words in each of eight blocks of writing, but I’d rather see it as a sign because something has to change if I’m going to successfully finish this book and start finishing and releasing books with more speed and regularity. Once every 7 or 8 months isn’t often enough for a variety of reasons.)
Oops, well, time is up. Suffice to say I’m feeling good today, I’m going to start with the goal to write 1,557 words, but I also have a goal to write for a minimum of 5 hours (timed writing) today and I’m starting early. It’s 9:31 am.
Goal 1: From 9:30 to 10:45 finish two 30 minute timed writing sessions.
Result: 123 words, 1 hour of writing. Too many interruptions of my first session! Unfortunately, the interruptions were clearly not that big a deal, because the second 30 minute session had no interruptions at all and I didn’t improve. Too much self-editing as I went was the problem.
Goal 2: From 11:00 to 12:15 finish two 30 minute timed writing sessions.
Result: 468 words, 1 hour of writing. Finished a tad late at 12:32. But not bad at all. Will probably adjust start times for following sessions because I need a longer break than I’m going to get if I stick with 1 pm. But I’ll decide that closer to 1 pm. :)
(Yep. I adjusted my start times for the following by one hour.)
Goal 3: From 2:00 to 3:15 finish two 30 minute timed writing sessions.
Result: 522 words, 1 hour and 1 minute of writing. No problems at all in these sessions.
Goal 4: From 4:00 to 5:15 finish two 30 minute timed writing sessions.
Result: 333 words, 1 hour of writing. Finished a lot late on this one at 5:52 pm. Not sure at all how that happened. I had fewer interruptions than I had with my first session today, so it’s left me scratching my head…
Goal 5: From 6:00 to 7:15 finish two 30 minute timed writing sessions.
Result: 592 words, 1 hour of writing. Finished a bit late but done, done, done. :)
And there you go. Done, at 7:48 pm.
Final tally: 2,038 words and 1 minute over 5 hours of timed writing.
Can I explain why today just worked, when yesterday and the day before didn’t? Not really. Sometimes it’s not easy for me to recognize when I need structure. Sometimes structure chokes me, and sometimes, like today, it’s the only thing that can keep me focused.