Writing Log July 26th, 2016

6:11 - Word count, 0. Just woke up about 10 minutes ago. No coffee yet. I'm going to try writing without it and see what happens.

6:37 - Word count,  371. The power went out on the block. It's pitch black in the house aside from the glow of my laptop screen. I'll have to come back to writing after the power comes back on.

9:38 - Word count, 1,454. The power came back on about an hour ago. I'm down to 20 scenes left to write. Total word count is at 57,766. I'm thinking I'll come in under 75,000 word, but over the initial thought of 70,000. It's time for some food. I'm not going to do anything but write today, until 17:00. If I stay focused I'll hit scene 60 before I'm done. I have no idea about a word count. I just want to get down to 10 scenes. If I get that close I'll be able to finish up tomorrow with the momentum. I can't wait to plot out my next novel and start writing it, while my editor has this one.

11:44 - Word count, 3,286. Writing is going well today. Only down side, is I keep adding more scenes as subplots become larger than I originally planned for. The novel will turn out better for it, but it's a bit annoying. I did cut a scene or two, that no longer needed to be there. However, despite the words I'm still about twenty scenes away from the end.

Step One: Readdress Priorities

I've quit my career to pursue my dream of turning my writing into a full-time profession. Needless to say, this was the hardest step. For years, I tried to balance a career, family, and writing. Others have been able to make it work, but I could not. Thus, I cut out the career, and now I have the time for writing and my family.

I have a four-year-old daughter who needs, and deserves a father. I grew up without a father and lost my mother when I was twelve. The last thing I want is to be an unavailable dad. Also, my life-partner and I can always use more time together.

I was working nearly sixty hours a week as a Store Manager. The job paid well, but the hours were intense. The people I had to work with on a daily basis were stressing me out. So after six months of nightly conversations about the situation, we agreed that it was time for a change. She told me to just quit my job and we would figure it out.

Being a published author had always been a dream of mine. I knew since University that I wanted to be an author, but my skills in sales kept pulling me in a different direction as I chased the money. However, after five years of chasing money, I've learned one valuable lesson. Money is pointless. What I want is intellectual fulfillment, a good beer each night, and to be sure that my family is secure. Those goals don't require that much money. And that's what lead to Step Two: Rearranging Your Life.