I set my alarm for 5am last night, with the idea of waking up, getting ready for work, then spending an hour writing.
I lasted seven whole minutes out of bed, after shutting off my alarm, before deciding discretion was the better part of valor and climbing back into bed. Hey, I’ve never really been a morning person. And I’m still trying to adjust from being able to sleep in until 8 or 9am. But I do want to keep trying to get some writing in early. I have this idea, you see, that if I start off those work days with some creative fire, it’ll help make the entire day go better. By starting off with the writing, I set the writing up as a priority in my mind. I also head into work knowing I’ve already accomplished a good chunk of what I wanted to get done for the day.
At least, that’s the theory. Actually making it happen is going to require some changes in sleep patterns!
Work ran late today, and I didn’t get home until almost 5pm. I’m usually 7am-3pm, but leaving late put me in traffic, which made me even later.
On the plus side, I don’t have to be up until quite a bit later tomorrow. I have a doctor’s visit tomorrow morning – just a physical for the new employer, but it had to get done. So I have to be at the doctor’s at 8am, instead of work at 6:45.
Works for me. Otherwise, I think I’d have had to get to bed before this.
Home at 5pm, and fairly burned out. The scene I was left with was a rough one. It’s more or less introducing a new major character to the series, and I needed to do it right, but I wasn’t quite sure how to fit her in. So instead of writing, I hit the email that had piled up all day. Then dinner, and I was finally ready to really get to work around 8pm. I wrote for a bit, chatted with a friend on the phone, then watched a TV episode with my wife for a break after getting the kids to bed at 9pm. By 10:30 I was back to work, and wrapped up a little bit before midnight to write this post.
I’m totally into unwritten ground now in the novel. Fun stuff. I have a decent idea where things are going, but there’s lots of room for new stuff to crop up along the way. And I still don’t know just how it’s going to end, yet.
But I’ve managed to keep on track as far as wordcount goes on this first day of the challenge plus work hours. Which is good. My biggest worry is getting derailed by being too tired from work, physically or emotionally. If I can maintain a steady pace, then I think I’m in good shape. Looking at the totals, I’m still holding well ahead of the curve. Which is excellent, since I’m sure there will be some days ahead where I get little if anything done. That’s just the way life rolls – things happen!
Most of all, I’m really happy with three straight days of steady progress.
Totals for Day 2
Daily Fiction Wordcount: 2450 words Month to date fiction: 8450 words
Daily Blog Post Wordcount: 558 words Month to date blog posts: 2733 words