Putting things on the internet can sometimes be frightening. Once it’s out there for other people to see, it becomes permanent. For the most part I don’t mind, but what gives me pause is knowing that putting my thoughts and my decisions into the world makes me accountable. That said, I’m still going to share a goal that I have set for my current project, (working title) Chasing Freedom.

I’ve never considered myself a math enthusiast (okay, I’ll be honest, I’ve avoided math like the flu my entire school career). I think math is beautiful and necessary, I have just never felt confident in that subject. However, for some reason I have this inane drive to calculate schedules, percentages to completion, things like that. Using that weirdness, I have made a goal to finish the rough draft of Chasing Freedom in 150 work week days. That means I plan to be finished by February 29th of 2020. Leap day! That also means that for five days a week I have to write 1,000+ words.

There, now you know. I’ve put my goal on the internet, so I have to be responsible and keep it. Baring sever injury, natural disaster, or death of me or a loved one, I plan on making that goal. Looking at the numbers, it seems like a lot to do, but I’ve stumbled on a trick that has helped me write 1,000+ words each day I have sat down to write this week.

During Fyrecon, Ann Hunter talked about how she writes while having a family and a life. I won’t go into the whole presentation, but she told us that she uses about a four hour block a day to write. But, she doesn’t write the entire time. What she does (and what I’ve been doing) is sit down to write for 45 minute chunks, with a five minute break first, a 10 minute break after the second chunk, then repeat. I have been writing for four 45 minute blocks with small breaks to move and eat, and for some reason this works for me. This technique isn’t a fix-all for every writer who struggles to get the words on the page in a timely manner, but for me it did the trick. If I were to guess, it’s because I write well with a deadline, and that timer kicks my procrastinating instincts into gear and lets me write until the last possible second.

The reason I share this, and in such detail, is because how excited I am about this. Getting that word count has been a struggle for me. For years. With the technique and the goal I’ve set, I finally feel that I can actually get a longer project done! And almost nothing feels better to me than holding a finished writing project in my hands.

A thought that I’ve had while writing this post is that it’ll be interesting to see if I can double my daily word count for NaNoWriMo this year. I didn’t “win” last year, but I’m hopeful that I might this year. Overall, I have a good feeling about the turn my writing life has taken this week.

Keep an eye on the progress bar! I have a feeling they’ll be filling up quite a bit faster now.