Butt in Chair

Every writer knows the ultimate secret to being prolific is Butt-in-Chair time. Workshops, how-to books, marketing- there’s a place for many things but they can never be a replacement for good old fashioned putting-words-to-a-page.

As I’ve been carefully eyeing the release of Shade City, it occurred to me that I needed to keep moving forward. This wasn’t old news, but between a new baby and various management tasks, I realized that I wasn’t moving fast enough.

I can write a good 10,000 words a week of first draft material. It needs a lot of editing after that, but I’m very happy to get this work done. What I need to do is start being UNhappy when I miss this mark. Being your own boss is great, but if I gave myself a pass for a 9,000 word week, I wouldn’t be a very good boss.

I’m happy to report that I hit 11,000 words this week. An especially happy milestone because I started a chapter that was in a brand new location with a brand new POV character. I’ll spill that the Seventh Sons sequel has 3 main characters: Maxim and Diego are back, of course, but the third is a young woman, a girl from the Yavapai tribe. It makes everything much more interesting. Believe me.

Perhaps this isn’t the most exciting weekly update, but if you’re a reader waiting for a book, it’s the best kind to have.