Now that things are calming down with TQ for the summer, I am officially putting myself on a schedule to finish my novel! I’ve heard a million times that the first draft is always going to be crap—it’s just a matter of getting that crap down on paper so you can begin revising and editing. I like schedules, so I made up a calendar that forces me to write 1,000 words a day. I’m giving myself a start date of Sunday, June 12 (though I’ve already started writing, but this gives me little bit of a buffer), which will mean that I should hit 50,000 words—the point at which I’ve decided it’s alright to go back and begin revisions—no later than August 1. I used the calendar method on my first novel and successfully hit my word count, but then realized I knew absolutely nothing about my subject so that story is on hold indefinitely. That was written pre-Nora, so we’ll see how often she lets me work through the summer…
Anyway, it’ll be a busy, writing-filled month and a half, so wish me luck!
Alison O. Bender 