In an effort to keep the momentum of the 1000 words challenge going while allowing for life in a more ongoing way, I’ve set up a summer writing schedule.

I have about 40,000 words in the “keep” section of the novel manuscript right now. I’m generally aiming for 70,000, though I think this manuscript will go longer. But how much longer I do not know, so 70,000 is a good goal for the first draft, for now. 30,000 words more.

Since February, my incredibly supportive husband has been taking the kiddo on one weekend day so I can write. (Thank you, Daniel!) Add to that my newly found Fridays and I now have two days a week when I have pretty much protected time.

The other days are a crapshoot. (Remember when I wondered if saying my kid was now sleeping until 6:30 would jinx me? It did! We’re back to the 4:45-5:15 wakeup, but I’m just grateful that for some weird reason he slept in during the two weeks of 1000 Words of Summer…) Even on the crapshoot days, though, I can still usually find ten or fifteen minutes to write if I really try.

So here’s the new schedule: 1000 words on Fridays and Sundays, 200 words every other day. If I stick to it, that’s 3,000 words a week, or 10 weeks to my goal.

I know that sometimes you have to write 100k words to get 30k you want to keep. (Trust me, I KNOW.) I also know that I might hit 70k and feel like my manuscript is nowhere near done. But my Virgo Moon needs structure and a timeline, and my Taurus Sun knows that slow and steady will get me there eventually.

So that’s the schedule: 30k words between now and the end of summer.