The deadline is a writer's nightmare. We should call it our "flatline," because it's basically the same thing.
In my very first post about Flight, I mentioned that I would like to have the story done by the time I turn twenty-four.
*Insert dry laugh.*
January, my birthday month, is fast approaching. So, no... Flight won't be done by then. I was crazy to even tell you it might be.
Actually, I might be even crazier now than I was then.
I want to actually make my self-imposed flatline, at least as far as the draft is concerned. My estimated word count is 50,000 - 70,000. If I write 500 words a day, I should be done with the draft in January.
This is what I told my friend Jennifer Kniskern at the beginning of this month. It is now half-way through the month, and I've been lucky to get 200 words any given day, much less 500 every single day!
500 words is not a high goal. I can fly through 500. The reason I am stuck at 200 on a good day is because, when I write in the evenings, I open my documents and do this:
Trying to get my imagination to work is like trying to spread silly putty over sand with a spatula. It's just stuck! I don't know what to do in the story. I hate to admit it, but I have a bad case of writer's block.
It's time for emergency protocols. Cue the siren and the flashing lights!
I will pull out all of my Flight notes to try and to come up with a vague idea of where I'm going. Hopefully that idea will turn out to be a little more than vague... maybe even turn out to be an outline. It might be like trying to light a spark without a match, but I don't know what else to do. I really want to make my deadline.
Post Tenebras Lux!
-ST
