Today was the first day of my new job as a full-time writer. The long-term benefits aren’t as good as with my old job as a pharmaceutical industry chemist. But you can’t beat the commute (up a flight of stairs to the attic, until Donald and I get around to switching offices, at which point it will be a few steps down the hallway from the bedroom).
I tend to measure my progress in hours spent writing rather than word count written, for various reasons. But today I was pretty happy with both: 6 hours, and 2800 words. (Maybe the word count seems low to you, but I’m not a very fast writer. When I was writing an hour a day, 400 words was pretty typical for me.)
I did have a few bad moments early this morning where I failed to resist the lure of the internet, and spent a while reading about caviar and foie gras. Not because I was planning to buy any, at least not in the immediate future, just … it’s the internet, do I need a reason for wasting time? Then I spent a bit of time around lunch researching various CSAs in the area and how they work (still liking the idea of CSAs and having trouble admitting that Donald and I really don’t need so many vegetables). Perhaps I spent a little more of my 6 hours than I needed to, researching different kinds of nuts and where they grow (this counted as “writing” because it was relevant to the story I’m working on; the caviar/CSA excursions didn’t). But for the most part, I was pretty disciplined. I sat down in my chair in front of my computer for two 3-hour blocks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and I didn’t get up except to go to the bathroom.
I’m pretty sure I won’t always do so well, but I felt that it was a good start!
Oh, and last week I had another story accepted. I’ll say more once it’s confirmed and I’ve gotten a contract and all that. It’s the 9th story I’ve had accepted.
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