What My Monday Looks Like

I don't usually blog about my work life, so here it is:

I am wearing my hair in pigtails, haven't yet showered, and am drinking my 2nd cup of tea. I've made some phone calls to track down interview subjects for the next 2 weeks, and I'm drafting this week's interview, which is due to my editor tomorrow by noon (which is why I'm at the computer; computer=internet=too-much-distraction-for-the-novel).

This morning, I spent some time writing in my current composition notebook (I'm going through about one a month, and I'm bad about typing the novel up, so I fear their loss/destruction.) I wrote about a fourth of my daily quota before transitioning into the busy work of the day; after lunch, I'll get back to sitting pen-in-hand and marching forward with Alice and Sam, the second novel.

I've got 37,000 words typed and 25,000-ish untyped, for a total word count of 63,000-ish (got to make it to 80k at least, though 90k is my goal). That's not including the month's work that I threw out early on.

Writing is hard, and I tend to do it in short spurts; it requires actual brain power, no busy work involved, and so it's by far the most challenging thing I've ever done. I have lots of lists, index cards, and outlines; it's kind of like knitting; I can't drop the Theo's-romance-with-Connie stitch, or Sam's-career, even though he's super-focused on Matilda right now... just a lot of stuff to keep track of, and I have an increasingly small brain (as K./ pointed out to me. Apparently pregnancy actually diminishes--TEMPORARILY--the number of brain cells or something like that. I'd kick him but I keep forgetting.)

This afternoon, after lunch and drafting away in my notebook, I'll force myself to return to the computer so I can type up another thousand words of the already-drafted stuff. It's amazing how far this story has come.

The novel is my constant daily work; the interview stuff ticks away, one subject a week; proofing, my most lucrative and boringassignments, comes when it comes, 2-3x a month with no warning. I write a personal column every other month, which takes no time at all. It's all about deadlines, baby, and I meet mine.

This novel will be drafted, and typed up, by Thanksgiving. Polished and sent out to agents/publishers by Christmas.

Despite the fact that the only people expecting it are my husband and my mother :)