Okay, so my resolution to write 500 words a day went great through January and February (minus one day when I may have imbibed a bit too many alcoholic beverages). However, as March hit and I found myself in possession of a few first drafts for short stories, I discovered a problem: I don’t have any editing time!
So, that means an addendum to the NYR is in order. It’s a simple one, and one I think will be more conducive to a full writing experience.
Rather than write 500 words a day, I am now charging myself with engaging in writing or writing-related activities (like outlining or editing my work) for at least 1 hour per day.
Much like the 500 words a day challenge, I won’t make the one hour a hard stop. If I go over, then hey, even better. I’m also not going to stop tracking the amount of writing I do in a day when I’m writing, as I’d still like to see definitively how many words of creative fiction I actually jot down this year.
Overall, I think this is a good change, and one that will allow me to not only write, but do pre-writing work (characters, outline, etc.) for new projects and edit any finished drafts I churn out. Speaking of which, I’m currently solidifying the outline for the second draft of a novel, so once that’s completed and I’ve finished editing the shorts I want to take forward, I’m going to dive back into that. It’ll be especially interesting since I’m going to become a dad at the end of May, so who knows where the second draft will be by that point or how long it will take to finish once I have a miniature human to take care of.
Bradley C. Graham 