Today, dearest blog o' mine, I am happy to say that I have completed 1706 words (not including the 200ish that I wrote this afternoon while waiting for coffee). So, yeah, that means, if I am really only going for a 50,000 word count requirement (I might bump it to 55,000-60,000 if it seems like it's warranted), that I will officially reach my goal in 11 business days. That is just over two "business weeks" (it's unlikely that I will get any weekend work in, but I still dream of the day when that could be my reality). I might actually see this pay off with a complete first draft, ripe and ready for some amazing revisions (already dreaming those up, since I am doing all sorts of reading about how to write this book concurrent to writing this book)... by mid-March. What?
In addition to feeling like the world's most productive writer (let me have my moment), I have been revisiting the value in friendships and putting the effort in has been paying out in spades. I feel like being a parent makes a person a terrible friend. It is just a natural progression of having your attention ripped in a million directions while also suffering the affects of sleep deprivation/interruption torture. You become a crazy, exhausted, wimpy non-person who suddenly laments not having a life and tries to manage everything in short bursts. Or I do. Maybe not you. You (if ever there were a hypothetical you to read this) might have figured out a way to master parenting that I simply have not. Anyway, that being said, for all of my complaints about American public schools, they at least make good on childcare (except during bad weather, major bank holidays, at least one teacher in-service day a month, and for a few weeks at a time surrounding Judeo-Christian holidays). So, thank you public school, for giving me a six-hour block, five-ish days a week, during which I can cram all of the things that I want to do without having an anyone else's needs to meet... like being a friend. That is something I find incredibly fulfilling, and the payout of said endeavor is worth all the cheese on the Moon.
See, I have awesome friends. I am friends with women who are smart and capable and tenacious and just all-around badasses. Seriously. I am not exactly sure how I managed to form the perfect algorithm of friend-finding, but I have done quite well for myself, and the ladies whose company I choose to keep are fierce. I am still catching up on all of the listening and talking that I owe them (I don't really engage with social media, so a lot of real-time investment is required), but it has been amazing to make plans and keep plans and follow-up and follow-through. I love my friends. My friends love me. Can you see how this is a really good thing to spend time on?
It also seems to enrich my character's lives and relationships. That makes sense, right? Spend time engaging with real people and feel like the people on the page are more realistic. I swear I am not harvesting my friends' personalities for character quirks, though I would definitely read a book about the amazing people that I know.
If I am blathering, forgive me. I just feel incredible about the accomplishment of coming back to write this week and progressing. I have had a few less than progressive moments lately, what with me and my partner getting sick for a week each, my kid getting put in a cast, and birthdays and holidays, and snow days, and all of these other life things that are worth my time, and have to be done in a conscious and focused way. There is no phoning it in when there are hills to sled and ailments to mend. But my-o-my, it is good to be undistracted.
11 more days...
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