89678

Well, that's the number. I finished Book 6 in the first novel tonight and that is the total number of words I have written thus far. I started writing nine months ago, but of course, it has been in fits and spurts. Taking a couple of months off at a couple of intervals. There is but one book remaining in the first novel. Then I get to start on the second one.

Since I have come to Vegas I have written over 13,000 words. I know it can seem a bit obscure to talk about total words written. People don't read a book and declare it to be 100,000 words long. They usually describe its magnitude by the number of pages. Alas, pages is really a meaningless attribute because it is so easily affected by the size of the margins, font size, line spacing, etc. But no matter how you format it, the number of words remains invariant. Which is why it is a better way to describe the magnitude of what I have written. As a point of reference, I offer the following: A typical first novel by an author is usually in the 80,000 to 120,000 word range. Granted this is just a first draft, and I don't even know how many of these words I'll even keep to the final draft, but it is a good sign that things are progressing along at an appropriate magnitude if not a suitable speed.

My pace, I feel, has been uninspired. At my current rate, I'll never be able to finish the second novel by the end of the calendar year as has been my plan. I still have plenty of time, but so far, it is not looking good. Additionally, I was writing at a good pace this week and thought I might be able to reach my goal, or come as close as I have come in a few weeks, but now I am going to have to take some time to set up the last section of this novel. So it is unlikely I'll get much more writing done this week.

Looking back at the first four weeks, I only broke 3000 words once and that was in the first week where I wrote 3803. The next three weeks production in order: 2390, 2675, and 2142. Last week was just pitiful. I already have 2345 this week. It seems 3000 words is truly the more realistic goal I should be setting for myself seeing as I am averaging a mere 400 words per day. i will keep plugging away at it.

I had planned on a different post for this morning. I was going to discuss run lines and puck lines in the betting sphere, but this information takes precedence in my opinion. Nevertheless, I suppose I should mention that after losing my first two bets this month, I was in a $500 hole, but since then, I have worked my way out and now have a small profit of $273.35 to show for this months betting. I'll need to come up with another $325 in the next 12 days to cover the rent again. We'll see if I have it in me.