I am only at 8.5K words for NaNoWriMo right now.

I should be at 35K by the end of the day.

So, right, that’s not happening today. I need to kick out about 4K per day to catch up. Four sessions a day at 1K each will do that. (Please imagine that in a cheerful tone with an overly bright smile.)

I haven’t lost a Nano in a few years, but it used to happen all the time. I am an excellent sprint writer. I can write 40K or more in a weekend. I am not particularly good about daily discipline. But I generally do hit deadlines, barring catastrophes. (I once lost 8K words right before the end of November. I was nearly in tears.)

The project I’m working on has a turn in date of late November of next year, to go into production in January. And when I’m doing sprints with my friends, I have actually managed to work on it consistently. It’s just that it’s not the project I really want to be working on right now. Give me a deadline and I will show you fifteen other projects that are just *so much more shiny*.

I’ve never forced myself to not work on a project though. As long as I hit my deadlines, I am always let myself also work on a new shiny. I’ve started a short story, worked on a chapter of a new series possibility, and worked on editing the project that’s got a January turn in. Standard wisdom is that you should focus only on your NaNo project during the month. December is for editing. Great idea.

I have deadlines to hit though. I have a January turn in for my next novel (which needs massive edits). I’ve got 2 books to edit for other people and I have a short story to edit for a friend. I’ve got a 9 to 5. I’ve got 2 businesses to monitor and pay for. And I’ve got a marketing campaign to manage.

I’m glad and I am stressed and I am happier than I’ve ever been. If I could simply add in a little more travel, I’d be a completely happy person. There’s only one way to do that: lose the 9 to 5. That means making a minimum of at least $5,000 a month. (I live in an expensive area. One of the businesses pays most of its own bills now, but the other does not.) This blog is probably going to start including a few more posts on how to drag money out of on-line sources and advertising as well as kvetching about writing deadlines and random music videos.

I will be adding Alice in Wonderland items in the future. There’s a book on collectables coming at some point. (When I get off my rear and actually write it and take photos for it.)

I’ve also been learning JavaScript.

Um, discipline. That’s right, this was about discipline and hitting your marks and never, ever letting the bastards see you sweat.