Happy middle of summer, dear readers! I have been reading and writing my way through these last weeks, and not spending too much time on blogging and social media. (Okay, I still hang out on Twitter more than I probably should.)
The highlight of my writing summer so far: Jami Attenberg’s #1000wordsofsummer challenge, in which participants wrote at least 1K words a day for two weeks. We were helped along by daily encouragements from Jami and special guest writers, sent via email. (You can find those emails archived here; I highly recommend them if you’re in need of a little inspiration.)
Long story short: I did it! It nearly killed me! But at the end I’d added about 15,000 words to the draft of my book. And I’d reminded myself that I know how to put my butt in the chair and get the writing done.
Now, halfway through the summer, with more than 5 months to go til the manuscript is due, I’m well on my way to the target word count for the book. There’s a lot more work to be done, and I will likely have to cut many of the words I’m cranking out now, but I am happy with the progress I’ve made so far–and inspired by Jami and all the other writers out there working so hard on their words this summer. (A great way to give back to Jami for her support of the literary community: Pre-order her forthcoming novel, All This Could Be Yours, or ask your local library to stock it.)
Happy summertime reading and writing, all.
