Book 4 44k Progress

I did about 5000 words today. I’ve been adding text, editing, and splicing other parts of the book, which has changed some of the numbers. That’s why there are more than 5000 words since my last post. Things are moving along nicely though.

The last few days have been filled with distraction and downtime for the weekend. Too much time on the hands of a writer can be dangerous.

You may think writing a fourth book would be routine for me. I’ve wrote three books already, so what’s the big deal? Right? Then I read an old blog post over on fellow writer Sarah Noffke’s blog. It has to do with the creative beast inside us.

And I was worried. I was absolutely terrified that whatever had happened to me was going to stop. That the writing monster would vacate my system suddenly. That I’d be abandoned halfway through this book with no creative inspiration.

This was exactly how I was feeling! What if writing three books was a fluke? A lucky series of events put me in the right spot at the right time, and the creative energy zapped for that exact frame of time necessary to make those books. Sounds insane when you write it down.

Sarah sums up her own struggle with this.

But I know now that the stories that come through me are a part of something that I’ve allowed, not something that’s suddenly happened to me.

I think that feels right.

Being unemployed, and writing, feels wrong in so many ways. “This is not what a proper person does.” That’s my irrational mind speaking. “You are going to run out of ideas, then where will you be?” Irrational, again. “You can’t make a living by writing.” Irra– OK, there may be some truth to that, at least in the short term. But I have to keep believing that writing isn’t something that’s suddenly happened to me. I’ve been crafting stories since I played Dungeons and Dragons 30 years ago. It’s in my blood. And it always will be.

That’s all I’ve got for tonight. Tomorrow I plan to reach for the 50k word barrier. Then I’ll feel the pressure go down for book the fourth…