12th March – Fallen a little short today.

In many respects, today was a good day in writing terms – I finished the first draft of my current w.i.p. but as a result fell the tinniest fraction below the word target, managing only 2,517 words, 223 words short. Given how close I was to the target I really didn’t want to pick up something else and do only a little work on it, that just didn’t seem right. This piece has topped out at almost exactly 80k words, and is probably the longest single book I’ve written. I have written episodic style novella series that come to more than this, but for one book, this is a great length.

The story isn’t finished though, I have far more material than I’ve used, and I haven’t completed the heroine’s story yet. Despite that, this is a great place to leave her, basking in her triumph over all kinds of adversity, and then in a little while write the sequel as I take her back down into the depths of despair. The question that leaves is, can I actually write another 80k words about her and her story? The answer has to be yes, but that starts another question – when? Do I pick up book 2 tomorrow and start writing it, or do I let this one sit for a while and let the concept mature like a good wine – or do I wait until it’s been edited. That’s a difficult one, but I’m not going to start it tomorrow, that is the nonstarter of the options in front of me.

I’m a bit late working on it today, anyway – I’ve been busy on life issues. Well, if you can call acquiring a new toy, a life issue. Yep, I have finally retired my old Blackberry – that is to say I’ll be retiring it tomorrow when the number has been switched across. I spent the morning wandering from shop to shop down the high street, looking at which deal was the best for me, and finally going with my pre-selected phone, although on a slightly different tariff. Look out, peeps, I’ve now got a modern phone so I’m going to be even less out of contact than ever!

Please note, this blog post is exactly 400 words long, and if I had counted it toward my target then I’d have made it with ease.