Career Track

I broke 10,000 words on my new story today. I'm only 4,000 words shy of my monthly goal, too, and the month isn't half over yet. I feel like a truly career track writer, now.

It wasn't pure writing today, either. I hit a little snag and ended up backtracking to do some editing to get me back where I needed to be. I lost maybe 1500 words and then made them all up without batting an eye. But I didn't mind the loss, because I ended up with a stronger story, one pointing in the direction I needed it pointing. It felt good to take that step rather than stumbling along, forcing myself onward.

Which brings up a good point. I've hammered it into my head that there is NO EDITING while writing the first draft. It's from several years of writing during NaNo, where every word, even the really crappy words, count. So now I tend to plug onward and try to write myself back on track if I end up in a bad spot.

Today's little sidestep into editing was like freeing myself from a chain. It was okay to back up and edit my way into a better place. I took control of my story and my writing of it, and it felt good.

It's made me rethink where I'm at in my other stories. I'm still not sure why this one story is going so well compared to those other tales but applying this new outlook will surely help me get up and running on those stories, too. I'm looking forward to it, if I can pull myself away from this latest story long enough to try.

And in case you were curious, this new one is a paranormal romance, which isn't something I've ever written before. But no vampires or werewolves or shapeshifters for me. But that's all I'm going to say for now (though there is a small hint the blog labels).