It’s that time again! The 4th round of the 70 Days of Sweat. I am psyched. I really really love this challenge. It’s a brisk but managable pace. One where I’m more apt to produce a manuscript that doesn’t require an entire overhaul (unlike NaNo). The idea is that you write 60-100k in 70 days. Well 77, as they’ve added in a week this round to account for family obligations surrounding Thanksgiving and Christmas. You set the goal that works for you. There are weekly check ins and daily posts to inspire and encourage. You can read the original rules here.
The previous three times I’ve done this challenge, I had a partially begun work in progress that needed an infusion of life, so I’ve never had to do the 100k from scratch. This round is no different. I’m sitting at a little over 17k right now. The Challenge begins on November 10th (which should be about the time I concede that I’m not likely to make the 50k for NaNo with all my other responsibilities). I fully expect to be sitting somewhere around 25k when this round begins, so that puts me at needing to write about 1k a day–which is exactly the level of productivity I’m working toward again. It’s the level I’m happy with. So I’ve got 2 weeks (ish) to kick it into gear and get back to that level. Last week was about 4500 words. This week, I’m aiming for 5k. I suppose next it will be 6, and the week after that 7 for the start of the challenge. I can totally do this.
In other news, I plowed through all of Dark Lover yesterday (and hence only got 309 written, which doesn’t suck considering I only had about half an hour to myself once I finished the book). Once I got past the irritation over the names, the story totally sucked me in. I really enjoyed the camaraderie of the brothers, and I’m looking forward to the next one. I was a good girl, though, and left it at home so that I can actually get, you know, real work done today.