I’ve been having a fairly good week, writing-wise. Like usual, the holiday weekend ended up being a working weekend. I had a large (15k word) commission, a story contest entry (250 words), and a chapter due.
The commission ended up being much, much larger than I planned. Over 25k words. I rewrote it quite a few times, but I couldn’t actually get it to fit in the 15k words. I got too into the story and I needed to finish the story properly instead of just short-changing the commissioner to fit a limited word count.
Once I finished that, on Monday, I was reminded that I had a chapter due for Noble Pen. Oops. I tried to write on Tuesday, but I honestly can’t write after working out. Those damn endorphines running through my system make it impossible to concentrate, much less get words out. So, on Wednesday night, I ended up writing very late to get out probably one of the critical chapters of the novel. Somewhere around midnight, I actually finished and sent it out.
… it was not my best work. But, I think it was a good chapter. I need to go back to it, but I feel like I have this blade over me, counting down the days until Fluffy finally gives birth. After that, I can’t help thinking that my time is going to be a lot less, well, free.
The story entry was the hardest. 250 words with a specific theme. I ended up writing it a dozen times, including two entirely separate stories. It was hellish, since my “sweet spot” is around 10k words, not 250.
The contest is organized like Project Runway, American Idol, and the other “voting off” type of contests. Every round will get rid of a person with the winner getting, hopefully, something good. Right now, I’m happy if I can make it to the second round.
Today, I worked on chapter 15. Going slow, like all the chapters, but at least it is going. Even though it won’t be submitted until the 24th, I’m going to still try to get two chapters a week.
It’s that blade held over me.