Marathon Pace

Today has been a good day.

A little over one week of consistent, diligent and intentional writing under my belt and I feel like the pace is sustainable.

My Moleskine notebook is getting its wear and tear. The beautiful little navy blue book has the written contents of my brain all over it. Random thoughts, sketches of business cards, scattered notes from writer's blogs, articles from writing magazines, "quotes" from my characters, observations from life and a list of books I need to read.

Each day is success, one small brick in the building process. I feel like I poured gasoline on the fire last week and I am beginning to feel the effects of the "rager" slowing to a steady fire. I have no grand notion that the heat will rage for a long time, but I do know that with hard work I can keep the fire stoked. Nuggets of advice from published writers, editors and publishers encourages even the beginning writer.

I have yet to stumble on advice that says all things are hopeless! I am not naive enough to think they aren't out there, but I have been fortunate enough to see a lot of positive advice. No one has portrayed the industry as easy, quite the contrary, they readily tout the difficulties, but they are inspiring in their truth; keep on keepin' on and work hard to develop the craft.

I am just over two weeks away from my first writing workshop, I am nervous, but anticipate an opportunity to learn and grow! Thanksgiving day is my first online lecture, keep me in your prayers. I know it is a silly thing to request prayers for, but pray I do not get discouraged.

Nose to the grindstone... I have cranked out just over 18,000 words within one week of my first draft. This is good progress! I have not worked off of an outline - a mistake? We'll find out. The characters are fleshing out in greater depth than they did in my first first-draft. The drama is tense, the pace is smoother; I already feel more at home with this draft.

There is still much to develop and work on, but it is in progress. One step at a time, the distance will be covered!