I finished out May on a good note. I completed two first drafts, and am at least half-way through another that’s more a fun way to relax than a serious story, but we all know how that turns out in the end. I got notes back on two WIP for revisions, and headed into them last week. I’ve made good progress on some Beta reading and craft book studies. My daily to-do list takes up half a page in my journal, and half of that is writing related work. Yippee!

In other news, I’m tired.

Oh, not tired of creating. Not tired of writing, reading, or any of the work I have ready for me. But I’m also working hard at this—somewhere in the tune of between 8000 to 9000 words a day counting rewriting and continued drafting. And while I certainly won’t whine about being in the enviable position of actually being able to work on 8000 or 9000 words over three novels in a day, I will concede that at the end of the day, my brain is tired.

What’s important for me to remember is that it’s a long, long summer. My revisions have deadlines, but they aren’t impossible or even onerous for me to meet them. I can take my time with the first draft I’m still hammering out and go exploring whenever I want to. My revisions can be the same way. I can’t be afraid to leave the path and go off and find a new view or new trail to follow and just see where it leads. I can’t be afraid to play.

It’s summer after all.

And sometimes, even driven and productive writers need permission to go build a sand castle or two.

Million Word Madness Update

Finished May with 90,420 words

Total for the year so far is 412,599 words.

Still on track to hit my half-million by the end of June.