Anne Faye

I took a walk to Staples today to pick up the printed copy of my first draft. Unfortunately, I thought I had ordered it on 3-hole punched paper and I ended up getting it on regular paper. It's not the first time I've screwed up a web order. Oh well, it is easily fixed. I own a 3-hole punch - I just need to do it myself, which I will do as soon as I finish this post. Anyway, the point of this post is that the aisles were full of back to school supplies. While my children definitely do not share my enthusiasm for this, brand new notebooks still get me excited (yes, I am a total geek). They are so crisp and so full of potential, just waiting to be filled with all sorts of important things. I like that sense of potential.

I would like to say that I'm jumping up and down at the fact that this story is done, but I'm not. I mean, I should be, right? I met my goal - I finished my first draft in under two months. I like the story. I actually like it better than my first novel. All of which should give me reason to celebrate, but mostly I'm just tired and a little sad that it is done. After all, the writing is really the fun part. I've looked forward to working on it each day that I could and watching the story develop and the word counts go up. Now, that is over. Some overall observations: This second novel was easier to write. Practice does make perfect. Well, I don't know about perfect, but it does make it easier. I remember writing the last novel that there were times I truly hated the story. It seemed to take so long and it was such a struggle to figure out what should happen next, what the characters were doing, where they were going. I kept going by sheer force of will sometimes. ...

While on the work front, I am wishing for a brain implant that would allow me to magically understand all there is to know about Joomla (a content management system similar in function to Wordpress but wildly different in configuration and usage), on the writing front I am so close to being done I can taste it. I am currently working on the last chapter. Unfortunately, it is bedtime and I need to call it a night. I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring. I'm not seeing writing in my future, but one can never tell. I might be able to squeeze a little in. Today's total - 905 Total to date - 45,463

Here is a good article from Writer's Digest on 10 Writing Productivity Pitfalls and how to avoid them: Top 10 Productivity Pitfalls for Writers to Avoid

Tonight I was back at work on my other project, but I did have some time earlier today to write while my children were outside playing. Today's total - 1,110 Total to date - 44,700

My work is on hold while I await some technical support which I am hoping will come tomorrow. But, on the plus side, it did give me some time to write this weekend. Saturday's total : 280 Today's total: 3, 035 Total to date: 43,590 I'm close to the end. I think it will probably end up around 45,000 words. Maybe a bit more. A little short, but I can live with it. Maybe I will get the chance to finish this week.

I had a very good night of writing, and then I checked my email and discovered a huge work project waiting for me. I knew it was coming. It was supposed to come a couple weeks ago, but they had been ignoring me this long. I was hoping beyond hope that it might wait long enough for me to finish this story. I was trying so hard to get it done - taking advantage of every possible minute. I was getting so close, and now I need to walk away from it for a bit. I'm not sure how long. I'm so discouraged right now. Today's total - 2,565 Total to date - 40, 235