This week has been a little bit stressful. For those who’ve been following along, today was my boss’s last day. I did apply for his position and my interview is next week. We shall see what happens. I spent a good deal of this week and last week meeting with my boss daily going over contracts, documents, projects, contacts, and getting his take on team members and outside teams we work with. It was quite a bit of information to take in.

Even with all that going on, I was able to crank out 1500 words on Jack Kane 3 on Monday. I picked away on GRPC3, but didn’t commit to writing a lot of words. I did 5 a Day With Jay, and wrote the blogs, but fiction words escaped me.

Until last night. Last night I put down 3200 words. I had cycled back a couple of chapters, did some clean up and added some words. Fleshed out a couple of spots, then moved forward. My intention was to finish the chapter I had been working on and call it a night.

Well, that chapter got done and I jumped straight into the next chapter because it was calling me and I got around 1700 words into that chapter before I got to a stopping point. Literally mid-word I stopped. I know what’s going to happen next and as soon as I finish this blog post, I’ll get to work on that.

But Jay, how could you just stop like that?

I’m so glad you asked. Because now when I sit down, my brain has been mulling over that scene since I lifted my hands up. This is a trick I learned long ago when I’m in flow. Yes, I could have probably finished the chapter and been at a break in the story, but then I’d have to ramp back up when I sit down again. I wanted to put my hands on the keyboard and go. It’s an exciting story (for me) and I’m having a blast writing it.

That said, with the change in my writing style and pacing, and the POVs, and the fleshing out of the universe I’m doing with these recent books, I can tell already this one will be a monster. GRPC books have two parts, the preparation before the battle, and the battle. I’m roughly 17,000 words in and I know I’m not close to the battle yet. Seems my GRPC books like being around 100,000 words. I’m guessing this will likely be the length of books going forward.

Which is acceptable. I’m good with books at that length. It means I need to write around 50,000 words per month to get a book done every other month. Again, very doable. If I’m doing 3000 words a day each weekday, that’s 120,000 words in two months. Means I have lots of words that can go into the 2 short stories a month I want to write.

That’s what I’m working toward at the moment. 60,000 words a month. I know I’m capable of doing 100,000 in a month, and if I’m feeling it, probably more. That means 60,000 is a good pace to shoot for that isn’t too much and will keep me moving steadily ahead.

Beyond writing, I finished a couple of the writing books I was reading. It’s still frustrating reading these books and going “Yup, doing that.” “Yup, did that.” The last one I read talking about laying out a plan and a schedule for your books. Hey! That’s what I just did! <sigh>

I still have more reading to do. I’m not bashing the books I’m reading, I’m looking for new material to move forward with. It’s nice to know I’m on the right track and following in the footsteps of authors who are doing what I’m dreaming about.

One last thing before I run away and go write. I know many that come to this blog are writers (or artists). What are you working on that’s keeping you going? Tell me about your projects. It doesn’t matter if it’s today, tomorrow, next month, or a year from now and you just stumbled across this blog. Tell me what you’re doing. I’d love to hear.

I’m off to see if I can do another 3000 words.

Until Next Time!

Stay Awesome!

Audio Only: https://anchor.fm/jr-murdock/episodes/5-a-Day-With-Jay—0149-e126onh