3:47 AM: I took the time to rewrite and edit sections I’d already worked on. They connect with the other sections better now. I calculate the word count for the day by deducting the current total for the project from yesterday’s total. With all the deleting and rewriting, I only have 231 more words to show, but that’s a deceptive number. I’m pleased with what I’ve written.
This book project was supposed to be done by Saturday, so did I finish? No. In that regard, the experiment was a failure. I exposed myself to the world at my weakest and have nothing to show for it. Yet! The experiment wasn’t only about finishing the book. It was much more than that. Here’s what I wrote the day before I began:
…the ideas that are burning in my mind are whether I can do a daily blog as Dean did, and whether doing that can help me increase my daily word count. I don’t think anybody would care about reading about my incredibly exciting afternoon of errands and distractions before I actually began writing, but maybe it would hold me accountable. It’s just me over here. Nobody nags me to write. Nobody notices if I get distracted. Nobody is here to remind me to not play Splatoon so that I can get more writing done instead. Nobody is here to gently nudge me to stop talking politics with my friend. Maybe, just maybe, if I had to account for my time, I might not squander it quite so entertainingly.
The experiment showed me all the things that I suspected were the foes of my productivity. Family drama drops like a bomb in my world; ADHD is responsible for occasional distractions; ticking disrupts my plans frequently; I experience depression during the height of ticking episodes; my sleep schedule usually takes a hit when I am swamped with disability and family drama while trying to achieve a goal; my blogging and freelance writing took a serious hit; and the experiment showed me that I tend to bite off more than I can chew.
None of these observations are new. However, I am so glad I have done this. Think of what I have accomplished because I set the enormously high goal to finish a book in one week! I never would have written as much if I hadn’t tried for that brass ring.
I have no idea why the Brownie was so volatile this week, but she was an angel by the time she had to spend the weekend with her mother. She became my personal nurse when the ticking was so bad that I was stuck on the couch and needed her aide. However, I can’t count on her being an angel. She’s my cute, li’l fourteen-year-old demon. And she is going to knock me off task when I least expect it. Not every week is like this, but if I want to make a living at writing, I am going to have to learn how to handle her outbursts and my tic disorder while simultaneously pushing myself towards the goal—whatever that goal may be at that moment.
I will continue this experiment at least until I finish the book. I like the accountability I feel due to these public posts. What do you think of the experiment so far? I’ve already been told by one reader that my experiment terrified her. In all honestly, the terror is what stopped me from doing this experiment for quite some time. Now I’m more determined than I am terrified. That’s a great place to be.
Totals:
Day No.1: 1250 words
Day No.2: 703 words
Day No.3: 671 words
Day No.4: 262 words
Day No.7: 2725 words
Day No.8: 231 words (that's the gain, but I rewrote entire sections)
Project Word Count Total: 5842 words
