February 8

• Project: The Dreams
• Total word count: 202,603
• Today’s word count: 160
• Thoughts: I had some good moments of clarity in regards to my writing today, but I also ended up doing more non writing things than I originally planned. It all worked out in the end, but every time I do something other than writing, I start to worry that I’m going to run out of time. I know I can’t write all day every day. Even if I could physically make it happen, I would burn out so quickly without time to refill my creative well. I need to learn to cut myself some slack because I just make it harder to use the time I do have.
• Tomorrow’s goal: All I want to do is chill out and write. It’s the middle of winter. It’s snowing almost every other day. The chilling part of chilling out should be easy.

February 9

• Project: The Dreams
• Total word count: 202,634
• Today’s word count: 31
• Thoughts: I mostly failed on both my goals. I didn’t do much chilling out or writing. It wasn’t what I planned, but it was what I got. I tried to write anyway. My efforts probably stressed me out and made it even harder to do what I wanted to do in the first place. Go me.
• Tomorrow’s goal: I want to try the chill out and write plan again. I have some chores to do around the apartment, but I doubt that will take up too much of my time. I should be able to write a decent amount if I get out of my own head.

February 10

• Project: The Dreams
• Total word count: 202,758
• Today’s word count: 124
• Thoughts: Well, I wrote. It didn’t happen during the day. It didn’t happen during the evening. I was too busy distracting myself from worrying about the snow. Then the snow started and I settled in and made an attempt to write. I didn’t write quickly, but I stayed up for a long time picking away at this part of the draft.
• Tomorrow’s goal: The plan is to sleep in and then get back to writing. I know this part of the story. I’m getting to parts I really want to rewrite so it should be too hard to get motivated. I just need to avoid getting distracted.

February 11

• Project: The Dreams
• Total word count: 202,874
• Today’s word count: 116
• Thoughts: Today ended up being about the same as yesterday. I was distracted. I was anxious and needed distraction. Unfortunately, writing didn’t seem to be the distraction I needed.
• Tomorrow’s goal: I never know what to expect from a Friday. I have errands to run like usual. After that there’s no way to know how much focus I will have after completing those tasks.

February 12

• Project: The Dreams
• Total word count: 202,897
• Today’s word count: 23
• Thoughts: I managed to get my hopes up about my writing for a while, but then I couldn’t actually get myself to sit down and write. Fridays can be really distracting.
• Tomorrow’s goal: At least it won’t be Friday. I should have plenty of time to sit down and write. The only question is whether I can make it happen.

February 13

• Project: The Dreams
• Total word count: 203,152
• Today’s word count: 255
• Thoughts: My boyfriend bought us some new games and I told myself I wasn’t allowed to play unless I wrote at least 250 words. It worked! I really thought I would cave in and start playing before I reached my goal, but I stuck by my plan. I’m really proud of myself.
• Tomorrow’s goal: I wonder if I can bribe myself to write again with the game? I guess I won’t know if I don’t try.

February 14

• Project: The Dreams
• Total word count: 203,270
• Today’s word count: 118
• Thoughts: I think I was a bit too eager to get back to playing my new game today. I didn’t stick it out and make sure I wrote as much as yesterday. I should have stuck with my original plans and stayed away from playing any games until I wrote at least the 250 words I wanted to write. Time to work on my willpower.
• Tomorrow’s goal: The weather is supposed to get really nasty again. I won’t be going anywhere and I’ll be preparing for the possibility of a power outage. I hope I don’t have to try to handwrite by candle light. Writing like that sounds like it might be a fun change of pace, but I do not want to deal with the headache of a power outage.

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