Howdy,
I was just thinking, I’ve been trying to keep pace with this word count to 200,000. I’ve been trying to catch up (and by the time I finish this post or an additional free write today I might be), but it’s August.
That’s what I’m thinking: but.
And: October.
It’s coming.
It’s already August, and I’m just thinking it’s time.
It’s time to blow the doors off this thing, this writing project, this year-long exercise, this goal to produce, to practice my writing, my craft, and publish my practice. It’s time to blow the roof off of 200K!
Pacing myself was wise, in that it was a lot of work, the commitment quite a bite off to chew, a big goal for me in my stage, as a writer, as a husband, as a father. I kind of can’t believe what I committed to with this, but then in the same breath, in the same double-minded that, I know that I could have done more. I could have done more, and more quickly.
But also I could only do so much—whatever that end of the line is. And—tip to the husbands out there—I’m glad I didn’t commit to any more than I did without running it by my wife first. Sarah’s been very supportive, but, in what was kind of a weird move for me, on something this big and important to me, to us, I didn’t really run my idea to jump on the fast-moving treadmill of pace by my Dear Love before blabbing it out on my blog. It was my birthday, and I guess I just got excited to do something challenging and different over the course of the next year. Turns out it has been, but wives have wisdom, and it’s good to have her on your side at the start. This, by the way, is not to say that Sarah had a hard time getting on board or gave me a hard time for moving ahead of our team, but she did simply say that she was surprised that I didn’t mention it to her before I made my commitment to the public on my blog. I was surprised that I had done that, too. But it was true. I apologized and appreciated her support.
So, of course one could always do more, but sometimes it is wise to do less. In this case, it seems we’ve found a good pace. It’s been good. Not to say that I’ve always made it happen in the day to day, but where we stand today I’m pretty much on pace in the chase to 200K.
Along the way—and we still have an “along the way” to go—I had days I wrote a “cheating” minimum or even didn’t write at all. And I had to make up for those busy and writing-failed days with bigger, better writing days. Focused days. Or faster days. If I haven’t been pushing to catch up, it seems I’ve been pushing to keep up, because as basic and elementary as I suppose it is it’s been eyeopening how fast a pace runs ahead when you’re working from behind. Writing some catch up, making headway against growing waves in battering seas, is a great feeling of accomplishment and a buoy of hope, but the rolling around of another day stacks a higher number to reach, a taller crest to top. Always. Every new day.
Of course, I still have that work to do, daily to paddle hard and pray for some wind in my sails (to sort of mix a kayaking and sailing metaphor—but that’s okay I’m going to have horse racing and sprinting here in a second …) and yet there will be passing dates that will be a struggle, the static calendar boxes somehow moving faster than me and my composing, just as before, but I’m going to strive for a groove wherein I am not merely trying to hit the minimum—not every day, but sometimes—but rather shooting for a higher number. The key is to somehow do this without adding more pressure, or even somehow—and this may be even less explainable—with it being much more work: just to get on it, to climb in the saddle, early if possible, and to ride that horse hard of the finish, putting in a strong kick for the end quarter of this yearlong goal of writing more words in a 12-month period than I ever have in my life.
That’s already happened, I suppose. I’m sure of that. This is no time of laurels, though. It’s been practice, and the goal is still ahead. The purpose of the practice stretched out across a road journeying into the future.
It’s time to sprint. It’s time to finish with a kick. I no longer need to look to the pace, think about it. I need to run.
To sprint.
To finish strong.
And fast.
Running through, not to, the tape.
—Billy
Reading. Writing. Living.
P.S. With a little extra free writing, I made it! I’m caught up, at least for tonight. Tomorrow morning and all of the remaining day(s) will be the next challenge. Raise the roof!
Word Count: 160,130 / On Pace: 160,050 / Year’s Goal: 200,000
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