Changes (Awesome Ones)

So you may or may not have noticed the new word count meters I've added on the left. Aren't they cute? (If you're a writer and have a blog, and would like some meters of your own, I got mine here.) Anyway, as you can see, my new book has a title: Luminary. At some point, I'll tell you more about that and what it means. As you can also see, I think it'll round out to about 75,000 words. It may actually be a little longer than that, which I think will be just fine. I've had a couple of people express concern about Diamond Tears, thinking 65,000 words was a little too short for a fantasy. So as long as I don't get too close to 100,000 words, I think I'll be just fine.

I also have a weekly word count goal now, which is pretty awesome. Remember way back in this post, when I was talking about how Camp NaNoWriMo very nearly killed me? Okay, maybe I didn't use those exact words. Mostly, I was talking about pacing, and how trying to write with all of my spare (read: not at work) time was burning me out. And I said that if I could figure out a better pace, one that fits with the way I like to write and still gives me down time with my beloved husband, I could actually write a book fairly quickly. Maybe not in a month like the whole NaNo thing, and I don't intend to sign up for NaNo in November. But certainly a lot faster than my previous record of one year, three months, and two days.

Hence the weekly word count goals. This makes sure that I write regularly, rather than taking off a month or two at a time (as I'm known to do). But it's not exactly the grueling, strenuous pace I set for myself back in June. In fact, my entire weekly word count goal is the same as a single weekend day during NaNo. That's something I can keep up with. It's also something that has me finishing this book about three months from now. Not too shabby. 

I've even been doing a pretty good job of sticking to the goal. Well, I mean, sort of. This is my third week with the goal in mind, and only the first one where I actually met it. (I was only a few hundred words short in week one, though). I realized that just writing whenever I felt like it after work/on weekends was a little hard for me. I fell back into the same problem I had during NaNo. To put it simply, I missed my husband. So I kept wanting to spend all of my free time with him instead of writing. Not very good for the whole getting this manuscript written in three months thing (though quite wonderful for my ever so wonderful marriage!). So what's the most logical solution? Instead of using the time I already had but don't want to give up, just make new time. Every day this week I got up at (more or less) 4:45 in the morning. This gives me a little under two hours every morning to work on my book. And then I still get to relax with my husband when I get home from work at night, and my brain is fried. That weekly word count goal is looking pretty attainable right now.

HOWEVER! (And this is a big however, so that's why it got its own all-caps sentence, and even an exclamation point.) I might actually be upping my word count goal in November (not related to NaNo, I promise). Why, you ask? Well, I have even more changes to report. After a good deal of discussion with my husband, quite a few work-place trips to the looney bin, and a heart-to-heart with my boss, I have decided to switch to part time. I will now be working four days a week instead of five, and Fridays will be for me. All for me. Just me in my office with my laptop, losing myself in my writing. I can't even begin to express to you how much this means to me. When my boss gave me the thumbs up, I felt like about six million pounds of pressure lifted off my chest. I could breathe easier. I was instantly happier. So November 2nd will be my very first of weekly writing days, and I absolutely can't wait.

See? I told you my changes were awesome ones.  :)