Steady Progress

My newest novel and WIP is coming along nicely. I have made or exceeded my daily writing word count targets every day since I started the project in early October and this week, tomorrow in fact, I will hit the 40% completed mark.

For this project I have kept my daily target a manageable 1000 words. I know that normally that I can actually hit 1500 to 2000 words per day with only a little extra effort, but two factors led me to decide on a smaller goal.

The first was that this is in a genre I have not written before and when venturing into unexplored territory it’s best to go slowly as you learn the terrain.

The second is that this is coinciding with the busy period at my day job. Right now is the open enrollment for Medicare Advantage plans for the whole population and the dramatically increases my work load bringing with it overtime hours. Last week I worked 12 hours above my scheduled shift. Given that this is going to last through the period when I write most of the novel, I thought it best to keep my goals modest.

The importance of a modest is goal is that it can be met while not being so small as to slow the progress. If a goal is too large, then you will miss it too often and that can emotional effects that dampen one’s ability to sit and do the work. Too small and you’re too tempted to stop early and then the lack of progress becomes an emotional impediment.

If I maintain this level of productivity and if the novel lands about where I am expecting in word count, then the first draft should be complete by mid-February.