At the beginning of the year, I started keeping track of how many words I’m writing each day. Predictably, I started the first quarter (January through March) with a bang but the next quarter (April through June) I shifted focus to editing and not crafting new projects.

The third quarter (July through September) just ended. I *think* I found a nice balance and hit my stride. I have been working on my upcoming release, revising two other projects (both currently on submission), and finished another first draft. A lot of the writing business is a study in hurry-up and wait, so I’m managing my time better.

During this quarter, I attended Allie Pleiter’s workshop on her chunky method for time management. If you haven’t read Allie’s books, you should check them out (click here). I have read both and taken online courses, but sitting in the chair during her in-person presentation gave me my a-ha moment.

The Chunky Method essentially takes out the guess-work of when a creative project will be finished. But, in order to be successful, you have to stop listening to your inner critic and can’t give in to it’s too hard, that’s not my process thoughts that are so tempting to use as excuses. As I sat in the chair, I definitely caught myself thinking but I can’t do that and had to stop and realize, I can adjust.

This quarter, I wrote 52,997 words and my year-to-date total is 161,834.