Found out yesterday that the book that was going to be due on August 1, 2007, is now due on August 1, 2006 in order to get an April slot in 2007.
This means I have 56 days including today to write the book. But that’s not all. I’d scheduled the next fifty-six days to finish the edit and rewrite of HAWKSPAR, and that still has to be done in the same time frame. What was going to be a leisurely final walk through the project has now become a pressure cooker.
And I still have to finish the Language Clinic within the next few days, get it through edits, and get it on the site.
I’ve been up since four, and have already done most of a line-for-scene for SHADOW MUSIC (still the working title, not final), a couple hundred words of the book, and my schedule.
Schedule
Mornings:
SHADOW MUSIC
56 Days to turn-in
Subtract 7 Days Revision = 45 writing days
80,000 words – 4000 words already done = 76,000 words
MINIMUM: 1700 wpd 7 days per week
GOAL: 2000 wpd to earn some breathing room and a day or two off
After SM Goal Reached:
CREATE A LANGUAGE CLINIC
2 sections remaining: Syntax and Written Language
Estimate 2000 words per section/ 4000 words total
GOAL, one section every two days, or 1000 words/day
Afternoon:
Full run-through of HAWKSPAR revised manuscripts
940 pages
56 Days to turn-in
Divide into:
28 Days for write-in / 34 pages per day
28 Days for type-in / 34 pages per day
Glad I got the blood pressure fixed BEFORE this hit. It’s up a bit this morning. however, so I’m guessing I’ll be throwing some rowing or other aerobic exercise into this mix to get me through the next two months.
The easy thing to do would have been to say, “No, I can’t hit that deadline.” The professional thing to do, though, is to roll with it. This is the job. Sometimes it’s hard.
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