I had a plodding week: pretty awful stuff that will need complete re-writing on the second draft, but I hit my word limit every day, for the first time in quite a while.

But I’m at 26,000 words. Keen regular eyes will note this is more than 500 words a day – yes, I’ve reverted back to the intensive 2000 words a day that worked so well for me last year. If I manage this rate, I’ll be done on this first draft by the end of July, including a week off for a visit home.

I decided to up my word target about mid-way through my working week. It wasn’t because I felt things were going well – as I said, I’m writing definite first draft garbage, just getting the shape of the story down on paper.

It was more because I felt that I had the time to do more than 500 words: after a very disruptive first half of the year, I was finally managing to sit down at my computer at 2pm for four hours of uninterrupted work.

[As followers of this chronicle will remember from last year, I am not a morning writer; I get errands, chores, and non-fiction work done in the morning, and then close the door and turn off the phone (and email) for the afternoon. I know loads of writers get up at the crack of dawn and plunge on in, but that doesn't work for me. You can pay attention to the way other writers write for clues on how to approach your own working habits, but that doesn't mean following the schedules that works for them will necessarily work for you.]

So I finally had the time, but I was not using that time; I was getting my minimum 500 words done and then giving up with a sigh of relief. But that’s not the way the word target works (again, for me; other writers do 500 polished words and can legitimately quit work for the day) – it’s supposed to be what I surpass, not what I aim for.

If I write only 500 words in four hours, they better damn well be final draft-quality words. On the other hand, if I’m producing first draft rubbish, I can push out 2000 words which are just as crappy as 500 words…