A better day.

I don't know about you, but sometimes, I get so much work on my plate that I simply shut down. I find myself surfing the net instead of working - in other words - yesterday.

But today was much more focused. I edited the 10,000 from last Thursday, and was pleased to find that I didn't have to cut any of it. Just a few tweaks here and there, some thought continuations, tying one scene to the next, and the like. At the end of the writing day, I had 2,000 new words as well. I almost have 100 pages now, and though I haven't a clue where it's going, I'm having fun with it. This is my 90 day challenge book - the one I decided to write for fun. I know we're not supposed to do that, but I was waiting for edits on my May 2012 book, and hadn't decided what I wanted to write as the December 2012 book. But I didn't want to lose momentum. Losing momentum can kill you creatively.

So I set myself a 90 day challenge. 1,000 words a day for 90 days. I got really far behind, but I'm caught up now. According to the schedule, I should have 30K by next Monday, and I'm on track to beat that. Regardless, part of my agreement with myself is I have to all-stop on October 15 whether it's finished or not, and move on to my December '12 title.

Why in the world am I sandwiching in a book, you may ask?

Several reasons. Momentum being one of the biggest. We're writers, right? Which means we're supposed to be writing. I started looking at my creative output and decided I could do better.

I usually turn books in in September and February. This year, my schedule has changed a bit. That's the result of the move to trade paperback - those books release every 9 months instead of every 6. As such, I turned the May '12 book in June 15, but the schedule changed (the book moved from March to May), so I didn't get the edits until last week. I had some time to play. And my brain is still on that original schedule, so technically, I found three months.

That is a massive exaggeration. I usually get very little writing done in August and September. This is the time of year when I do a lot of personal travel. It is also the time of year that promotion gears up for the fall book. As we speak, next week, I'll be launching into the prep work that I need to do to get ready. Newsletters, blog entries, contests, website changes, bookplates - all that stuff. All time consuming, and creativity consuming. Then it's the launch, and tour. Though I've cut back drastically this year, I'll still be doing four signings and three festivals. That takes away from creative time. In my normal yearly schedule, I don't get started on the next book until the middle of October anyway. But all that time is generally lost. 

This year, I wanted to do something different. Instead of spinning my wheels, feeling like I should be writing, but instead fiddling with words, I decided to take advantage of this time and get a book done. Yes, it will be a draft, and most likely an unfinished one, to boot. But that's okay. It's a story that's been niggling at me, and I finally have a good sense of where it's going, so I might as well write it.

I'm also working on the edits for the May '12 book right now. Actually, that starts Thursday. For once, the changes are relatively minimal. The book was the tightest I've written, and my editor thankfully agreed, so outside of typical revising, it won't be a huge mess to reconstruct.

Top that off with outside work: I'm editing a great book for a friend, have two that need to be read for blurbs, and am dealing with the usual day to day work that must be done.

Yesterday, I got tired. Everything began to weigh on me, and I froze.  My brain wasn't going to work. It happens. But today, I feel better. Energized. And hopefully, tomorrow will be more of the same.

And yes, I did eat sunflower seeds. But I typed one-handed, just to ward off another lost day. I'm not sure where the sunflower seed addiction has come from, but at least it's a healthy one, right?