Write-fest 2009

Just thought I’d check in while waiting for my slow-ass laptop at work to save the ginormous file I’m working on…

I finished a draft of a 12,000+ thesis chapter on Friday — if I can keep going at that pace, I might actually finish the next one before leaving for Iceland at the end of the month… (That is one big fat *if* though…) which will mean I’ll have finished 4 out of 7 chapters (not including Intro and Conclusion). I hope the next 3 chapters turn out to be much shorter than the ones I’ve written thus far, which weigh in at 10,000 , 17,000, 12,000+ respectively. Chapter 5 looks like it’ll be about 13,000 words — but I’m determined to make Chapter 1 a lightweight (less than 9,000 if I can swing it) and Chapter 3 should be about 9,000 if I have my way. Chapter 7 is going to be a bugger — I can already sense another 15,000 worder on that front, and I’m dreading it. So, how many words does that make…? (*gets calculator out*) 85,000. Plus intro and conclusion—yep, I’ll be coming in close to the 100,000 word mark. Damn. I was hoping to sneak in at the lower end of the 80,000 – 1000,000 word scale. Oh well. Editing might help. But for now, it’s all about grinding the words out.  It’s easier to churn out chapters when you don’t care about them anymore. This thesis is no longer a labour of love, it is a mechanical process that involves me wringing my brain for every last word I can produce (along with an unhealthy dose of tears and blood) until the stupid thing’s drafted.
On the SS front: Got a couple of rejections throughout the week, and got my revenge by having an uber-productive writing weekend–including 2,500 fresh words yesterday. That’s 500 words shy of reaching a good day’s work on the Sean Williams daily productivity metre, folks. Gotta say, I went to bed last night feeling pretty chuffed (and I was still stoked about the direction the story’s taking, so I had a hard time getting to sleep.) Tonight, it’s back to the story — and I’m going to keep at it until a new draft is finished. That way, when the lovely  is here this weekend, I can work on different material during our writing session(s) without having this piece hanging over my head.

OK, file saved. Got to get back to work of the un-fun but paying kind…