I guess it's not really a secret is you write it for all to read on the internet, right? Technicalities aside, this resolution isn't necessarily one that I'm posting on social media or talking to my mom/husband/colleagues/friends about, mostly because it's a pretty massive undertaking that I decided in the parking lot, alone, of Target this morning, trying to chug the rest of my Starbucks so it would't get cold as I shopped. I got a size bigger than normal and added an extra shot (I had a lot to do today, okay?), so maybe this is purely the caffeine talking.
I'm going to write a novel in 2017.
It might be total shit, but this is the year. I am thirty-three years old and this has been something that I've wanted to do since I was like seven. So, for twenty-six years I have wanted to write an actual novel and it's never happened. Sure, I've started many, but none have been finished. I don't like the feeling that I'm one of those people that are all talk, so this is the year. The doing, rather than the talking and hoping and assuming and procrastinating, will happen.
January will be spent mentally accepting this fact, as well as figuring out what idea I will develop, since I have a few that I've been thinking about over the years. February through October will be spent writing. Let's say this book is going to be 65,000 words (so very, very, very ballpark); that's 7,222 words per month, or 236ish words per day. I write blog posts and emails longer than that. November will be spent being smug and happy that I am finished. December I will edit, and then I can work on becoming a published, incredibly wealthy, author in 2018 (that's what happens when you write your first book, right?).
In terms of accountability I'm not sure what I'm thinking quite yet. Monthly check-ins here? Weekly word count totals that are set as reminders on my phone calendar to nag me? Bribery? I have been using the same Fossil work bag since I started teaching eleven years ago...
236 words a day for nine months. Some days more, some days less. At this very moment I feel like this is incredibly doable, despite lamenting approximately 482 times a day both verbally and mentally about how I don't have enough time as is. But how awesome would it be to end 2017 know that I finally did it?
You can do this! I think your plan sounds reasonable and achieveable. I wouldn't want to tell real life people either until I was done, to be honest. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteYay, many congrats! The only thing I would say—novels have a habit of getting longer. I thought mine would be about 90k (most commercial novels are between 80 and 90) and, after nine months, I'm having to reconsider; it'll be much closer to 130-40k. But GO FOR IT. It is the best thing I've ever done.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! You can do it! :D
ReplyDeleteGreat resolution. Can't wait to read it.
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