100 pages and counting

For the past few months, I've been supplying my critique group with pages (gulp) already written. Still first draft, but without the added pressure of coming up with a fresh and fabulous "10" each week.

Hard to believe that was 100 pages ago.

I'm not a plotter - at least not by most people's standards. I subscribe to the belief the character (s) should guide me, and when that doesn't work, I go to the library and do research, which usually lights a spark of creativity or unearths a story thread. I believe Stephen King's theory about writing while on a roll - a surefire way to avoid the dreaded Writer's Block. And I try. Honest.

But his advice seems more geared to people who write one project (two max) at a time.

Which brings me to today. I'm running on empty in the sleep department, and working on some lifestyle changes that will hopefully address the extra weight I've put on this month. My teenage step-daughter is in full-on "drama" mode. I have "real" work due at work and my Starbucks supply has almost all but dried up.

Of course, there's also that other "little" deadline to think about.

And somehow, I need to pull out 10 good pages. Good enough that the character sounds the same. The plot is moving in the right direction. The scene logically fits with the one prior.

I'm about half way there, with about two days left until deadline.

Tonight, I'm rolling up the sleeves and getting to it. Just as soon as I log my NaNo count, finish my other blog entry, read over a chapter from another project and... Sigh. You get the picture.

100 pages and counting... now at an agonizing 10 pages at a time.