when i started this fiction project, i thought itâd be as long as the how-to-be-sober book (40,000). so i started to write this one, 40,000 words in 100 days, seems easy enough.
as i go along, i realize that itâs not easy.
but i keep going.
then i get to about the halfway mark (20,000 words) and realize itâs not long enough. Extend the 40,000 to 55,000.
sounds like being sober. started for 30 days, extended to 90, then âjust a bit longerâ and today iâm on day 1,980.
ok, then i did some research on the length of fiction books? gulp. unless itâs a novella, regular length is 70,000 to 100,000. yeah, no shit. good thing i didnât know that when i started or i wouldnât have started. (if i think iâm quitting drinking FOREVER then iâll never start, too large, wonât finish, too much.)
but if i start off heading towards 40,000, then extend it a bit, and now here i am realizing that thereâs a big chunk of book left, that is still EASIER than any of the other options.
just begin. move the deadline. go a bit further. then you can SEE further out, and itâs not so scary.
ok, so that means i will not have a first draft of the novel finished in 100 days after all. iâll have a big part of it done, though, 22 days from now.
donât know how iâll write it after the 100 days, i may keep going for a bit, or take some time off (a couple of days?). i know how that sounds though, even to me. it sounds like âif you have momentum, then keep going. itâs easier to keep going than to stop and start. yes, even if itâs christmas day. yes, even if travelling. yes even if itâs your birthday, yes, even if.â
and as tempting as it might be to say âiâll just pause for a few minutes and then start again when I FEEL LIKE IT, you and i both know that âfeeling like itâ is generated by ALREADY BEING IN MOTION. you donât feel like it before you start. you feel like it once youâre underway, and youâre making progress, and youâre solving problems, and youâre celebrating milestones.
you know.
how everything is like everything.