I wrote for about two hours last night. That’s two productive days in a row. 

I spent about half of my time revising what I wrote yesterday, and the remaining time adding a new scene–about 1,000 words. I’m about two-thirds of the way through Chapter 7, with one major scene left to go.

Usually, I start by revising the previous day’s work–improving word choices, smoothing out the flow and double-checking to make sure everything makes sense in the grand scheme of the story. Occasionally, I’ll go back a chapter or two to check facts or see how I ended a previous scene.

I also keep a running set of notes, including an outline of the major plot points and significant character developments in each chapter. I revise these notes after each chapter.

A thousand words doesn’t seem like much, but if I could write that much every night, I’d finish this novel in months rather than years.

I kind of like the sound of that.

So that’s my first goal: 1,000 words a day. My chapters average around 3,500 words each, so if I can keep to the goal of 1,000 words a day, that’s about two chapters a week.

With 138 days before the end of the year–a little more than 19 weeks–that should be more than enough time to get it done, even if I take a day off here and there. According to my notes, this novel should take about 35 chapters. I can do that.

So there’s my second goal: finish my book by the end of the year. Next year’s goal can be to get it published.

Fantasy Novelist’s Progress Report:

• Chapters complete: 6
• Word count: 24,000
• Consecutive productive writing days: 2