On Saturday I will start the final push to get my current work in progress, The Man Who Did Too Much, done. There are some gaps, and some areas I need to replace and rework.... so rather than try to figure out how to keep the word count straight, I'm going to retype from scratch. I have about 60 thousand words now (a lot of it redundant or wrong) and I expect it to end with about 75 thousand.
Therefore the goal will be 2500 words a day, new or revised. I hope to finish on June 7, but I'll just go until it's done.
The essay I read in Cut To The Chase today was "Explode Out Of the Blocks." It was about pausing and preparing for your day so you can really get started with a bang. This is, I think, my favorite of the tips from this business productivity book, because it acknowledges two things: one is how important it is to get off on the right foot if you want an endeavor to go smoothly. The other is that to get started right, you do have to spend a little time vacuuming the cat and sharpening pencils before you can settle in.
The equivalent bit of advice I got when I was screenwriting was a director who advised young filmmakers that the most important thing you can do to get a film production going is set a date to start. Yes, you do have to research and prepare and futz around, but to really get going you have to set a date.
For my preparations today, I sat down and wrote a list of 28 questions that need to be answered in my book. I hope to make that list longer before I go to bed.
Tomorrow I will ponder the answers to those questions. And I'll post my formal "start the dare" post.
Daring to live life as a full time writer, with or without success.
2 comments:
I like the idea of writing down questions that need answering in your book. I'll have to try that. Thanks for the tip, and I hope you get the answers you're looking for!
Yes, get the answers or decide on the answers as the case may be.
It is a great idea to push yourself to make a long list of questions, even if they are redundant, because just making the list forces you to think about details.
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