98 Days and Counting

A shift in the para-dig-um. My hypothesis which assumed I could write for an hour during my lunch break did not prove valid. Since I’m writing on the downlow, I’ve not mentioned my new lunchtime routine. In short, I’m too approachable when an issue arises.

So, the shift. It occurred organically. On a typical day, I’m done with my work about 3:30 and routed my output to the various account directors for internal review or dispatch to the client. By 4:15 I’m in the clear, which leaves me with a tidy :45 to work on the story. It’s been a very productive shift. I believe it was my single best weekly output to date. Fingers crossed for this week.

By the way, it dawned on me that I need to actually discuss the book. This week I’ll get to the who and the what of a book I started writing on November 5, 2005. Plenty to talk about.

15 minutes. Time.

98 days remaining (2329:30:50)

My writing statistics

I love statistics. Not with a capital S. More along the lines of Harper’s Index. In this case, I’m interested in the number of words typed during a session and how many actually stick. A pasta test of sorts, throw the words out there and see which ones are sticky.

When writing the story, I seem to average about 10 words per minute. Ten words that read, sound, and feel right to the first draft. I’m not counting line breaks and overall aesthetic presentation on the page. Just words. 10.

So in an hour I can manage maybe 600 words. If I had an uninterrupted hour.

I’ve read some other posts in the blogospheriscope of writers that crank out thousands of words in an hour. The dude Trent over at the Simple Dollar that can slam out 1000+ word posts several times a day on two hours of effort – including research. Dizzying.

And he has a kid.

Me? I’m all about looking good when I write. Especially at my desk at lunch. Got to give off the right vibe, since anyone can walk up to me and hit me with a question or deadline at any time. So I keep the writing on the downlow. All alt tab and such. I don’t have no time for people asking me, “Who’s the Sheriff? Why is he hitting someone with a two pound hammer?” It leads to all sorts of awkward questions right in the middle of my lunch.

My solution? White type on white background. Solid.

And that’s my 15 minutes for tonight.

103 days remaining. (2449:25:18)

Talking (and blogging) about writing vs. actually writing

Always a troubling topic. When is one a detriment to another? I’ve been focused on my little deadlines. (September 31 is creeping closer every minute – 2810:43:15 at the time of this post.) It’s another reason why I’ve given myself a 15-minute per post time limit. Get in, get out, get back to work. The trouble is, I find myself thinking about what it is I should post when I should be working on the story.

Lunch break update: It’s been a nominal success. Out of a four day week – we had Monday off for Memorial Day, I managed two days of writing during my lunch. I needed to work through the other two. That’s the one downside of my gig, account directors enjoy going to lunch and taking clients to lunch. Content strategists, on the other hand, have deadlines set by account directors, typically with a “sure, we can post that right after lunch.” Be sure though, I would never switch places. Account directors are on the front lines handling relationships and smiling through insults that would make a sailor blush. Pardon my gross generalization of sailors. It was convenient and I’m on a tight time schedule.

Distractions: Several. Primary, our yard/landscaping. We’re right in the thick of it. I need to finish to provide my family a place to run around, rather than run on me (and by extension the laptop). Family adventures -Hovander Farm, Larribee Beach (sp – I’ll check later, not enough time) trying to exhaust the kids so they’ll sleep past 5:00 am. Books – Just finished Rogue Male by Geoffery Houseman. Started Every Dead Thing by Connelly. I should post my read list.

15 minutes. Later

118 days remaining.