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Yesterday saw a total of 700 words, but only about 70 of them nonfiction, which were promptly struck this morning. (For those keeping score, namely me, struck words count toward my goal. The objective is creation, not perfection.)

This morning, when attempting to continue the 70 word section, I got a few banal sentences in, but couldn’t find the scene’s energy. I tend to write in a linear way, so my inability to add words to this scene seemed to mean no progress. Still, I knew where the story (if not this scene) intended to go.

Now, that dead-end scene simply contains the tag [I got stuck here], and is followed by another scene, which flowed more easily. In fact, in about 30 minutes of writing, I got about 450 words. I know I can be faster, and at the same time I’m happy with this speed.

This week, a friend asked what tools I used for writing. I guessed correctly that he’d recommend Scrivener to me, and explained that I didn’t use it because I use Linux at home. When he started describing the features of Scrivener, I seriously started to consider trying to install OS X on my HP, for the simple purpose of using this tool. If nothing else, I believe it would encourage me to write capriciously.

The scene I’ve been developing is in a business meeting. When I hit the 1,000 word mark into the meeting, I realized that no one wants to sit through a meeting in person–and they’d probably rather not in prose.

I terminated the scene immediately. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to it in editing.

I’m making a modest start to the month. While yesterday’s writing contained a 1,000 word blog post (which I’m quite pleased with), due to sleeping in, troubleshooting keyboard problems, and now having to get ready for a meeting across town, this morning’s writing clocks in at 100 words.

That’s 100 words of fiction, which are the only thing that I’m counting. It would, perhaps, be interesting to count other words–but right now, my goal is fiction, so that’s where I’m focused. And I’d rather record a paltry 100 words than nothing at all–particularly when “nothing at all” has been recorded since last week.

Oh, and by the way, this blog post (whose words don’t count either) is now longer than this mornings writing!

And still, I can honestly say I’ve written some fiction today.

In the face of illness, I’ve chosen not to wake early to write the last two days. I write that sentence in lieu of saying, “I’m not writing because I’m sick.” I made a choice not to write, as much as it pains me to think of it that way.

Still, I did kick out 600 words this morning, and am slowly beginning to feel better. The upside of owning my choices is that I also get to say, “I made the choice to write today.” That feels pretty good.

One of those mornings where I really just didn’t want to wake up. 500 words and two cans of pop later, I’m not entirely sure if I made the right choice–I think I could go back to sleep now if I wanted to. (Physiologically speaking).

The progress bars indicate my usual 10,000 words for the month goal, a goal which I’m keeping, even if I’m suspicious about my ability to make it in July. I’ve got between 4 and 6 writing days left this month, so my 700-ish words/day average will likely bring me to a total of around 6,500 words.

However, I don’t want to tailor the goal to circumstances: I’d rather keep and fail a goal than succeed at one I make up to suit my life. I fear that the latter would lead to a custom goal each month, which would inevitably lead to months off.

I’ll leave room open for surprising myself, but between the work I get paid to do (which, for July, includes a side project on top of my full-time job) and social commitments, and realizing that my writing speed isn’t at peak, I’ll be pleased if I come close to 10,000.

The absence of things makes them that much more notable.

I just lost track of time while writing, and realized I needed to stop mid-sentence and get ready for work. While that’s a good feeling, it was disheartening to note that I’d only kicked out about 650 words in a little under an hour and a half.

I’ll take heart in the remembrance that I have been a fast writer, and I can be again with practice.

The easy thing to do would be delete the blog and start over.

I do that too much.

I won’t pretend the last 8 months didn’t happen, although from the content of the blog, it looks like that’s exactly the case.

So, what has happened over the last 8 months?

• I’ve started a blog about gaming with some friends. (Yes, it is easier to keep up when you have 3 co-authors, and a real live audience that you’re threatening to let down if you don’t post.)
• I’ve totally slacked on the 10,000 words/month goal; although I have hit 5,000 words most months–albeit unintentionally.
• I’ve had a ton of story ideas that went nowhere.

Time for that to change. I’m working on a story as we speak. My motivation? I’m describing my dream job, in a very believable near-future “science fiction” setting. The story tells the tale of a company called “High Resolution LLC,” which is a firm that exists to mediate and provide creative out-of-court solutions to disputes.

In the story, I’m playing around with some elements of agile project management, and what that might look like with a few technical innovations. Project/process management is consuming much of my time at work, and I find it a fascinating concept. I’m taking a course in agile project management in August. It is fun to work “real life” into writing.

Here’s to 10,000 words in August.

For November, I have three things on my mind.

First is my usual goal of 10,000 words, which I often do not start thinking about until the 16th of the month. I’m encouraged that I have both awareness of and energy for this goal right now on the 3rd.

Second is a new short story. I kicked out “Spooky” in a few days in October, and am waiting to hear back from a particular sci-fi magazine about its fate. Writing “Spooky” generated a few other ideas about quantum physics-related short fiction, and the rejection letter I got for “Daughter” spurred more ideas for my Djinn line of stories (which also happens to be the setting for the novel I’m working on).

Third is revisions on “Daughter.” The rejection has inspired me to cut about 2,000 words from the story (the “missing words” are the kernels of some of the story ideas in point two, above). “Daughter” takes place in the Middle East during the crusades–I’m now grappling with a concept that takes place in the Middle East 600 years before the rise of Islam, and is a predecessor to “Daughter.” In addition, I am sketching out a plot in Norway that happens about 20 years before the Crusades, and is also incidentally related to “Daughter.”

It feels good to have options. I’m about to go on lunch and kick out a few pages, and I still don’t know which of these I’m going to work on!

I just hit my page goal for the month, which means I have about 1/3 of my planned mianuscript finished. And a new minor villain has just wandered into the plot most unexpectedly. That is one of Tue things that make this process so interesting: though I know where the story is going, it is often a surprise to see how it gets there.

In other news, I received my very first rejection letter last night for Daughter. I am excited for two reasons.

First, the editor did not send a form letter. Instead, she told me what she did and didn’t like, making specific reference to two of my characters. She encouraged me to submit more work, and having been married to an editor, I know that is not a phrase used lightly. I’m pleased that my first story received such a fantastic rejection!

Second, I have a real live rejection letter. I am more like a real author today than I was yesterday!

Really? Literally four days after I submit my first short story to a magazine, that magazine closes?

Really?

It’s true. Realms of Fantasy is no more. I suppose I don’t have to honor that “exclusive submission” status anymore.

*sigh*