Although today was a “take it easy with the writing” day as far as the Almighty Word Count is concerned, I almost ended up with 1,000 new words added to The New Story. 948, according my Microsoft Word software’s word count function.
If you read this morning’s On Writing & Storytelling: Music and Words – They Go Together Like Bacon and Eggs, you may recall that yesterday I wrote like a man possessed: I added 2,069 new words to the manuscript I started last week. That’s twice as many words as my ideal daily goal of 1,000 new words per writing day, and, as I said yesterday, they were mostly good words. I’m pleased about that.
What I’m not pleased with, though, is my inability to stop at a certain point and rest. I don’t know why, but sometimes, when I have a grip on the story and the characters, and if the words and ideas are flowing just right, I hate hitting the Pause button and saying to myself, Hey, man. Chill. Take a break. You’re only human.
As a result, I end up becoming my own worst enemy by trying to go beyond my limitations and wear both my body and my mind out cos I don’t rest, I don’t read for pleasure much, and I worry too much about not rocking the boat in my personal life or if the finished product will be good enough for people to want to buy and read.
Today I tried to take it easy – at least with The New Story – and wrote less than 1000 words. I limited myself to just writing one scene in a new chapter, and I stuck to that self-imposed “halt line” for two reasons: I didn’t think I could write more than one scene anyway, and since I’m making up the story as I go, I didn’t have a clue as to what happens next to my protagonist. Too tired, my brain was. (Right now, I have a vague notion about what might happen, but only a scintilla of an idea…just a diffuse “what if?” sort of thing.)
Oh, and those 948 new words? I think most of them were good. I’ll reevaluate my opinion when I re-read today’s contribution tomorrow morning
I did take a couple of short reading breaks this afternoon. Not long ones – I am not used to reading actual books for more than 30 minutes at a time – but at least I’m trying!
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2023 (Verified Purchase)
In this bittersweet story of the innocence and naivety of youth, the reader is transported back to his or her own high school days. We’ve all been Jim. We’ve all had our Marty. Wrapping the story in today while jumping back to days past is not always easy to pull off, but it works here. A recommended read.
A Certain Point of View, Too 
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