22 November 2008

Forty days

Last night I figured out that there were 40 days till the end of 2008, a very Biblical number.

If I wrote 500 words a day for 40 days I would complete 20,000 words between now and New Year's.

This is my new goal. 500 words a day, every day, weekends and holidays included, for 40 days and nights in the writing wilderness.

Also: not more than 1500 words a day, because I fear bingeing and stalling. Should I reach 1200 and still feel like writing more, it will be time to sketch what I think should happen the next day and then stop. I refuse to be a writing bulimic. I am trying to instill (re-instill: I had them once) good steady writing habits.

On weekdays, I hope to do 500 words each on the book and on the overdue essay (if the editor is reading this, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa). On weekends and holidays, I get my choice of one or the other, or 250 on each.

Today I completed 509 words on a text that I will discuss in the book. Please cheer me on---and if you are one of those people like me who has failed at the November research-writing challenge, you are welcome to join the Forty Days and Forty Nights in the Writing Wilderness challenge!

Get thee behind me, Basement Cat.

2 comments:

medieval woman said...

GO you! Woot!

Anonymous said...

Maybe I will join you in the wilderness. I could use a little manna and some taunting by devils, and California could certainly use days and nights of rain.