Wednesday, March 7

Up Against the Clock

It took me a long time to get to sleep last night, so busy was my mind as it glossed over subjects such as more gardening, decorating Flump's room, my second chapter of You Don't Know Jack, and whether I was hungry enough to go downstairs for a post-midnight bowl of Coco Pops.

As you may know, my plan is to get YDKJ written and out on submission by the time Flump arrives, which gives me about three months. It sounded quite possible when I thought of it that way, but while I lay awake last night I did some calculations regarding total word count (70,000), the number of chapters the book would be split into (approximately 15), and how, therefore, I pretty much need to write at least one chapter a week if I want to make my self-imposed deadline. In fact, if I want time enough at the end to do revisions and a query letter, then I definitely need to do more than one chapter a week.

This scares me. It sounds a lot more unlikely that I'll make it when I look at it that way.

*Frets*



Just finished reading: The Learning Curve by Melissa Nathan

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I know you can do it. If you are writing everyday it gets easier. Its like a witing muscle than needs its daily work out. Why don't you join the novel racers??? You would then have your own cheer leading team urging you forward......have I tempted you???

Judy Jarvie said...

Don't fret kitten! I can be done but don't stress yourself either. It may help to assure you that my CP had newborn twins and managed to write a book in three months...but just take it a bite at a time. jx Glad I'm not the only one fretting through the night (pesky hormones!)

Lis said...

I'm sure once you get in the groove of the book, the words will come fast and furious :o)

Phillipa said...

Jess - I am sure you can do it but don't worry if not. I woke a lot when i was pregnant but mainly to go to the loo (a lot) later on! I am constantly in awe at the output of writers - I am nowhere near as prolific as most blogs I read, I can tell you. I love your title by the way.

Jessica Raymond said...

Liz -- Thanks for your encouragement *HUG* I thought about joining the novel racers but, yes... I'm scared! What's the target that you all work to?

Judy -- Thank you! Do you mean to say your CP wrote a book in three months WITH newborn twins? As in, they were already in the world?? You're right -- all I can do is one step at a time and if I write a bit every day I'll see how I go.

Lis -- You could be right, because that happened when I was writing the first draft of Haunted Hearts. I'll fervently hope that it happens again!

Nell -- Thanks for the encouragement! I hope I can do it, but equally I know that it's not the end of the world if I don't, because this deadline is all my own and isn't publisher-issued.

Pip -- Funnily enough I've been thinking of writing a little during my early-morning wakings, but so far I've been able to go back to sleep fairly quickly. I'm glad you like my title!

Jess x