Beth Revis and I are still working together, we still have a mutual goal, and it's still due this Thursday. But this week? I only waited four days to begin instead of six.
That's called PROGRESS, my friends.
This will be a mini-version of what I did last Wednesday. It's really just for my own benefit, so there's a place where I can be publicly held accountable for reaching my goal. (Er, some of us need more motivation than others.)
Instead of sharing our actual word count with you, this time we're working with percentages-of-goal-reached. According to her last blog, Beth is currently at 24% of her goal. Me?
That's called PROGRESS, my friends.
This will be a mini-version of what I did last Wednesday. It's really just for my own benefit, so there's a place where I can be publicly held accountable for reaching my goal. (Er, some of us need more motivation than others.)
Instead of sharing our actual word count with you, this time we're working with percentages-of-goal-reached. According to her last blog, Beth is currently at 24% of her goal. Me?
9:30 a.m.

We all have to start somewhere.
The Thursday goal is 100%, and today's goal will be to hit 42%. Because I like the number 42.
By the way, if you're wondering why Night Owl Me is awake at such an UNGODLY HOUR as NINE-THIRTY in the MORNING, the landscapers are here again, plus now there's someone else installing a new bathtub/shower.
(This was not planned. OF COURSE the best time to install the new tub was this week.)
Ah, well. I'm just glad it's happening!
Updates to come throughout the day . . .
10:18: Oh, man. Starting is the WORST. I've already had breakfast, but I think I'll go get a snack.
10:25: The landscapers are covering my lawn with cardboard so it can be mulched. The tub installer is drilling and banging away at my old shower. I am eating potato chips.
10:30: Send Maureen Johnson various pictures via Twitter. Think about snail sex scene in Microcosmos, thanks to this tweet.
10:35: Need to use the bathroom, but water has been turned off! Visit next-door neighbor. Beg for toilet.
10:45: Turn on Freedom for Macs, because otherwise NO WORK will happen before noon.
12:00 p.m.: Frick. I lost two hundred words. Today's goal? Currently in the negative. Also, I'm tired. I SHOULD STILL BE ASLEEP.
12:10: Realize I've spent the last ten minutes thinking about sleep.
12:19: OHMYGOD, THIS BOOK IS SO BORING I AM GOING TO DIE.
12:22: Realize Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto is being released in America today. Hurrah! Download it. Perhaps I won't die today, after all.
12:35: Lunch time! Look out kitchen window and discover tractor in backyard.
12:43: Wait for cheap Alfredo noodle mix to cook. Accidentally turn on faucet for third time since the water has been shut off. Obviously, it's still not working.
12:47: Two more people arrive! Plumbers! I had no idea plumbers were coming. This brings the total number of workers around my house to nine.
1:00: To combat fatigue, drink protein shake. Tastes like chalky mango.
1:05: Stare at novel. Want to delete whole stupid thing. Eat fruit snacks.
1:10: Tractor-thing shovels gravel in my driveway. Mulch truck arrives. Tractor forced to move. Beep! Beep! Beep! The plumbers laugh about something in my bathroom. More drilling. Perhaps this is not an ideal writing environment.
1:25: Pop over to neighbor's house for the bathroom again. Sit with her on her porch and study my yard. Discover a tenth worker. Amazing.
1:50: Water! The water is back on!
1:55: Email Kiersten White about the usual: how tired I am, how much I don't want to write today, etc.
2:03: ESPRESSO. I will never get into the positive percentage range without ESPRESSO. I love you, Nespresso Pixie! SAVE ME.
2:15: Bathtub installer and plumbers leave for the day. They'll be back early tomorrow, emphasis on the early.
2:30: Landscapers sing "Blue Moon" to each other outside my window.
2:42: Cat sneaks outside of hiding place in bedroom. Sneak sneak sneaks around. (It's okay, Mr. Tumnus! No one is inside our house anymore.)
3:45: A few hundred words gained, a few hundred words lost. Still not in the territory to use the percentage meter. Arrrrghhhhhh.
4:10: More chalky mango protein drink. More wanting to die.
4:15: Phone-talk with editor Julie. Work! This is legitimately work-related!
4:40: Reopen manuscript document. Deep sigh.
5:20: BOOK SO HARD. WHY YOU SO HARD, BOOK?!? STOP LOSING WORDS, BOOK!!! Five hundred more words bite the dust. Word count reaches new daily low. Time to stretch my legs and feed my dogs.
5:30: Jarrod comes home. We stare at our beautiful, beautiful yard for nearly an hour. We break out the champagne and walk around it for another hour. OUR YARD IS SO PRETTY. And it's not even done yet! Happy, happy. (But now it's too dark to take a picture. Sorry.)
7:30: Call Dad. Tell him about awesome new yard.
8:00: Delete five hundred more words. Rewrite five hundred more words.
8:30: Pizza and an episode of Party Down.
9:00: Back to work. Whee. Feel my excitement.
9:25: Espresso. We meet again, friend.
10:15: Cut, cut, cut. I'm currently -1,100 words from where I started. I SWEAR, I AM WRITING. There's just an unusually high percentage of muck to wade through today. Trying not to get frustrated. Pushing forward . . .
10:20: Okay, obviously I'm not going to hit 42% today. I wasn't prepared for this type of work. New goal = get something on that percentage graph. Anything on that percentage graph.
10:30: Succumb to nap.
12:05 a.m.: OH, LOOK. I'm working again.
12:55: Snack time! Wasabi peas.
1:09: Rewriting continues. Words deleted, words rewritten. I'm actually making good progress, and it's frustrating that I don't have numbers to show for it.
2:00: Finish another big section. Now I'm only -800 from where I started today. (Woo!) I hate to throw in the towel without having reached any of my goals, but I have to get up early again tomorrow. Bummer.
Thanks for checking in with me today! No doubt I'll see you here again soon.
The Thursday goal is 100%, and today's goal will be to hit 42%. Because I like the number 42.
By the way, if you're wondering why Night Owl Me is awake at such an UNGODLY HOUR as NINE-THIRTY in the MORNING, the landscapers are here again, plus now there's someone else installing a new bathtub/shower.
(This was not planned. OF COURSE the best time to install the new tub was this week.)
Ah, well. I'm just glad it's happening!
Updates to come throughout the day . . .
* * *
10:18: Oh, man. Starting is the WORST. I've already had breakfast, but I think I'll go get a snack.
10:25: The landscapers are covering my lawn with cardboard so it can be mulched. The tub installer is drilling and banging away at my old shower. I am eating potato chips.
10:30: Send Maureen Johnson various pictures via Twitter. Think about snail sex scene in Microcosmos, thanks to this tweet.
10:35: Need to use the bathroom, but water has been turned off! Visit next-door neighbor. Beg for toilet.
10:45: Turn on Freedom for Macs, because otherwise NO WORK will happen before noon.
12:00 p.m.: Frick. I lost two hundred words. Today's goal? Currently in the negative. Also, I'm tired. I SHOULD STILL BE ASLEEP.
12:10: Realize I've spent the last ten minutes thinking about sleep.
12:19: OHMYGOD, THIS BOOK IS SO BORING I AM GOING TO DIE.
12:22: Realize Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto is being released in America today. Hurrah! Download it. Perhaps I won't die today, after all.
12:35: Lunch time! Look out kitchen window and discover tractor in backyard.
12:43: Wait for cheap Alfredo noodle mix to cook. Accidentally turn on faucet for third time since the water has been shut off. Obviously, it's still not working.
12:47: Two more people arrive! Plumbers! I had no idea plumbers were coming. This brings the total number of workers around my house to nine.
1:00: To combat fatigue, drink protein shake. Tastes like chalky mango.
1:05: Stare at novel. Want to delete whole stupid thing. Eat fruit snacks.
1:10: Tractor-thing shovels gravel in my driveway. Mulch truck arrives. Tractor forced to move. Beep! Beep! Beep! The plumbers laugh about something in my bathroom. More drilling. Perhaps this is not an ideal writing environment.
1:25: Pop over to neighbor's house for the bathroom again. Sit with her on her porch and study my yard. Discover a tenth worker. Amazing.
1:50: Water! The water is back on!
1:55: Email Kiersten White about the usual: how tired I am, how much I don't want to write today, etc.
2:03: ESPRESSO. I will never get into the positive percentage range without ESPRESSO. I love you, Nespresso Pixie! SAVE ME.
2:15: Bathtub installer and plumbers leave for the day. They'll be back early tomorrow, emphasis on the early.
2:30: Landscapers sing "Blue Moon" to each other outside my window.
2:42: Cat sneaks outside of hiding place in bedroom. Sneak sneak sneaks around. (It's okay, Mr. Tumnus! No one is inside our house anymore.)
3:45: A few hundred words gained, a few hundred words lost. Still not in the territory to use the percentage meter. Arrrrghhhhhh.
4:10: More chalky mango protein drink. More wanting to die.
4:15: Phone-talk with editor Julie. Work! This is legitimately work-related!
4:40: Reopen manuscript document. Deep sigh.
5:20: BOOK SO HARD. WHY YOU SO HARD, BOOK?!? STOP LOSING WORDS, BOOK!!! Five hundred more words bite the dust. Word count reaches new daily low. Time to stretch my legs and feed my dogs.
5:30: Jarrod comes home. We stare at our beautiful, beautiful yard for nearly an hour. We break out the champagne and walk around it for another hour. OUR YARD IS SO PRETTY. And it's not even done yet! Happy, happy. (But now it's too dark to take a picture. Sorry.)
7:30: Call Dad. Tell him about awesome new yard.
8:00: Delete five hundred more words. Rewrite five hundred more words.
8:30: Pizza and an episode of Party Down.
9:00: Back to work. Whee. Feel my excitement.
9:25: Espresso. We meet again, friend.
10:15: Cut, cut, cut. I'm currently -1,100 words from where I started. I SWEAR, I AM WRITING. There's just an unusually high percentage of muck to wade through today. Trying not to get frustrated. Pushing forward . . .
10:20: Okay, obviously I'm not going to hit 42% today. I wasn't prepared for this type of work. New goal = get something on that percentage graph. Anything on that percentage graph.
10:30: Succumb to nap.
12:05 a.m.: OH, LOOK. I'm working again.
12:55: Snack time! Wasabi peas.
1:09: Rewriting continues. Words deleted, words rewritten. I'm actually making good progress, and it's frustrating that I don't have numbers to show for it.
2:00: Finish another big section. Now I'm only -800 from where I started today. (Woo!) I hate to throw in the towel without having reached any of my goals, but I have to get up early again tomorrow. Bummer.
Thanks for checking in with me today! No doubt I'll see you here again soon.