Word Count so far today (and yesterday): July 11-12, 2011- 3,092 (5 1/2 pages); 1 journal page
I heard somewhere that most writers have a higher chance of success if they keep their works under wraps. This keeps the perfectionist/internal editor at bay but I find it’s the opposite for me. I sent my Western to my parents and asked them (actually pestered them) to read it and let me know how it was. WEll. Not only did they read it but so did a family friend and her kidlets! Everyone loved it so what a relief! (yay me!) It’s wonderful to feel like you’ve accomplished your job when someone says they can’t wait to find out what happens next (I’ll let you in on a secret- neither can I!).
I was suffering a bit with a lagging word count (my delinquent word count is almost in the 7,000 range!) but those comments and enthusiastic support really rekindled my fire and focus. Yes, I’ve always enjoyed working on this story and no I never wanted to throw in the towel but at the same time I’ve been struggling. I think the problem was that I wasn’t feeling like I’ve been writing a western. Since I get such concentrated, compartmentalized pieces of the story, I don’t have a sense of the overall picture and tone. All I see is setting and character interaction. The nuances I unconsciously add and the atmosphere is lost on me. At least for me, I think it’s going to be important to have designated readers so they can give me “reader enjoyment” feedback. Yeah, this won’t be awkward at all when I get to the romance novel *cough cough blush*.
I’ve been working pretty well today. I still have a little bit to go but I can do that at home (and by little I mean under 500 words. When was the last time I fulfilled the day’s quota let alone go above and beyond?!). I’m really looking forward to getting a huge chunk done this weekend so when the 16th rolls around I have a significant amount written so I can send it to my budding legion of fans (I have to admit I felt like an egomaniac when I wrote that… but not enough to delete it!). I’ve earned another trip to hot yoga tonight *happy dance*. Then it’s cupcake baking for Yesterday’s birthday tomorrow. She’ll be 3 whole years old. Wow. Where’d the time go?
12 Novels in 12 Months 
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