BMG

I finished another short story tonight.  I made it through the first draft and will start, (hopefully finish) the first round of edits tomorrow.  I’ve been practicing Tina’s stretch goals.  Because I’m a slow typist, my word count fluctuates.  And I usually edit as I go.  I read and edit the previous chapter before going on to the next.  With this story, I tried not to edit much at all.  I still found myself doing it, but I did better. 
 

I wrote 9,000 words last week and I think it was 10,000 the week before.  So this week I set my goal at 11,500.  Since I wrote almost 4,000 today…I finished the story early.  You might be wondering why it matters or if you’re an author, you understand why I need to get a handle on this.  I don’t really know what I’m capable of writing.  With short stories, I just get rolling before I’m done and in edits.   
 

This is the second short I’ve finished this month.  One at 18,000 words and right now this one is 13,000.  However, it’ll easily grow another 4,000 in edits.  I also did the galleys for the Avalon book this month.  So I think I’ve done well, but I still can’t project with clear accuracy what I’m capable of producing in a year. 
 

And it’s not just about quantity.  The quality is just as important and even more illusive.  The two EPPIE nominations give me hope I’m on track with quality, but I want every story to show my growth as a new author.  A new author trying to set clear goals.