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| Photo by porbital |
This has been a crazy April for me. The final edits for The Preacher's Wife have been submitted. Hope that means I get to hold the advanced copies in my hand sooner :-) But now it's on to book two, A Windswept Promise.
Last year, I had a certain idea of where I thought the direction of the hero and heroine should go. Well, as a new author, I'm constantly learning about plot, structure, and what appeals to the reader demographic. Turns out, some flaws in the story came to my attention. These weren't just remove-the-splinter-and -go-about-your-business flaws. No. I'm talking get-the-saw-and-amputate. Get the mop, too, because there's gonna be a mess all over the cutting room floor.
Sorry if the analogy was a little intense. Suffice it to say that the second novel in the series is being built from the ground up. Again. The old outline and manuscript has essentially been scratched (Or is that scrapped? I confuse the two.) for a completely new version. I have two months to turn in a finished manuscript to my editor.
Not being negative. This is a good thing. I don't want an unworkable story seeing the light of day. So I've decided to break it down into reasonable, bite-size chunks. 1,000 words a day (2,000, on days when the creative juices are really flowing) will give me just enough time to complete the manuscript and edit it before my deadline.
Intense? Absolutely. Stressful? Don't get me started. Doable? YES. And it's not just because of a contract. I've committed my time and effort to writing long before then. I treat it like I would any other job. I may not get paid biweekly as I would if I worked at an office, but it's still a serious undertaking. This is why I have to hold my tongue when I come across people who think that writing is just a hobby and not really hard work.
That aside, there are some positives to this fast deadline. It will teach me to write under pressure and to overcome writer's block because, well, there's no choice but to do so. It will also keep me on a schedule, consistent, and make me a more fastidious plotter. No seat-of-the-pants this time. An outline is crucial.
So that's one of my preoccupations for the next couple months. I'd also ask my readers and blogging friends to please pray for me. I'm in the process of dealing with some health concerns, too. I seem to be doing okay for the most part, but you know how scary these situations can seem.
Alright, I have to get back to my daily quota. Thanks for stopping by!
Do you have a daily/weekly word quota? How do you stay consistent under pressure?