Wow, look at me go . . . 40 days and still writing away. If only I could write this consistently on my novel writing. I think I’d actually have a book ready to go to editing or publishing or something, if I had written this many words regularly every day for the novel. Something to think about oh you stubbourn side of Christopher, that won’t put pen to paper so to speak and start writing a bit more. I was thinking of this very thing yesterday, and it occured to me, that I just just change my morning habits a bit, and write 1000 words for the novel as quickly as possible after I’m done my morning journal writing. I would get the 1000 words out first thing, without worrying about anything else, and probably set me up for the rest of the day with a better disposition. You could even make a bit of a game out of it, and see how quickly you could write the 1000 words. I mean, your already warmed up a bit so to speak with writing your journal words, so why not just let that flow directly into writing the novel words. And, why not do it every day . . . even Saturday and Sunday, when you don’t normally do any real working sort of stuff. Like, perhaps right after we’re done this journal. I bet, I could get the 1000 words done in less than thirty minutes. That’s not so bad, and a really great habit to get into. I wouldn’t necessarily have to continue at that pace for writing for the rest of the day. But trying to do the first 1000 words in under 30 minutes would be an interesting exercise. I’m sure I could get to it. We could also gradually work up from there, and starting doing stuff like work 30 minutes for a 1000 words then take a 15 minute break, then go at it again. That would be pretty doable. Likely, I wouldn’t want to be too regimented about the whole thing. I think writing for me is a more organic process, and if I feel like writng for 60 minutes, then I should just let it flow. If I feel like writing for 10 mintues, then that should be fine too. The thing is, to get to the point, where I don’t think so much about the minutes or the word count, but the idea that I want to get out. Like for instance, in the next scene I need to write, till my heroes manage to work their way past the truck of pigs and the zombie herd trying to get into the truck of pigs. That’s likely a fun scene, that could be quite interesting to write. Squealing pigs, frightened humans, suspensful sneaking, and ravenous zombies looking for their next meal. A little creativity, and that could be a really interesting scene. I think, I’ll start with that approach tomorrow morning. Now I’m not procrastinating (well maybe a little), but I’m just usually in a better frame of mind for doing real work on a mon-fri schedule. I know, that’s a little wierd, but I figure baby steps. Eventually, I would like to get to the point, so I just write all the time whenever both on a regular basis, and whenever the mood hits me. Again, I’m sort of back to the thing where I want writing to feel natural and not forced. Like writing these journal pages, where I just keep writing whatever comes into my head. I’m sure I can do that with my novel. Just keep imagining in your head, like your watching a movie, or a really good television show, and imagining what scene is happening next. Your brain should be able to come up with stuff faster then your fingers can type it into the computer. That would be an ideal state. Just imagine, I mean I can do 750 words on these journals pretty consistently in 15 minutes or less. That’s 1500 words per hour on your novel writing, if you can hit the same pace. I see no reason why I couldn’t once I’m in the zone. The trick is, to have a starting point in your head, and for your brain to just keep going with the movie in your head. That’s really the key I think to getting good at this. Aw well, enough from me for now, I need to find someone to play squash with today.

LOCATION: home office WORDS WRITTEN: 0 PUSHUPS: 0 TODO: reading, squash TV: firefly documentary, greys anatomy, scrubs BOOK: none GAME: none EXERCISE: squash WEIGHT: 176 BREAKFAST: bacon & eggs LUNCH: big ass salad DINNER: chicken quesa dias filling SNACKS: orange ALCOHOL: apple BEDTIME: 12:45 am AWAKE: 8:00 am