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#1000wordsofsummer 2023, Day Five

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Photo by Vladislav Muslakov on Unsplash

One thousand words. On the nose.

No two ways about it: the only reason I wrote tonight was this challenge–that, and the support of the people who are following along with me. Because I’m so exhausted I can hardly stay awake.

I’m not certain whether or not it’s a good thing, this writing while barely conscious.

I suppose it is, because (a) the words are being written, (b) the scenes are being crafted, and (c) it’s imposing discipline. Without the challenge and your support, I’d likely get to the end of this week without knowing how things are going to play out between two hard-headed characters. Instead, I have a pretty good idea of where it’s all going, even if what I’m creating at this point falls short of any polished draft.

Nodding off here, so I’ll bid you adieu.

#1000wordsofsummer 2023, Day Four

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My supervisor, Ned

It occurred to me last night that I could get ahead on the challenge by writing more than 1,000 words per day. Then I reminded myself that the purpose of the challenge is not only to accumulate 14,000 words, but to develop a writing practice. A habit, if you will. Like brushing your teeth or washing your face. The point is to come back to it day after day until it’s an integral part of you, something you wouldn’t think of skipping.

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#1000wordsofsummer 2023, Day Three

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Sleepy Danny

One advantage of this challenge is that it forces me to do more than I would have done.

Take tonight, for instance. I’m exhausted. All I want to do is administer cat meds and bedtime snacks and go to bed myself. But before I could translate that urge into reality, I recognized that I hadn’t yet written my 1,000 words.

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#1000wordsofsummer 2023, Day Two

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Olivia, Editor-in-Chief of Tuxedo Cat Press

Quick note tonight.

An interesting weekend, and not just because I wrote over 2,000 words. Long conversation yesterday with a dear friend who’s had some huge news. Still dealing with the aftereffects of last weekend’s surgery, including ongoing fatigue, minor pain, and reactions to anesthesia. Meeting with the first of several potential house painters. Return of the “check engine” light, including vibration and rough idle, after spending literally thousands to fix my fifteen-year-old car barely two months ago.

And Olivia, Editor-in-Chief of Tuxedo Cat Press, deigning to recline on the back of my chair.

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#1000wordsofsummer 2023, Day One

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On my refrigerator

In the words of that great philosopher, Roseanne Roseannadanna, it’s always something.

I was on the fence about doing #1000wordsofsummer this year, because much of what I need to do with my book now is editing, not creating. Writing 1,000 words every day for fourteen days is great if you need to add 14,000 words to your project, but not so good if you really need to be paring down, replacing, rearranging, and reworking.

Parenthetically, I’d forgotten today was the start date. I’m still post-operative (appendectomy last Sunday morning), which means I’m low enough on energy that practically anything other than watching television requires genuine effort. I’ve been blessed with the assistance and support of amazing friends who’ve done everything from hang out with me at the hospital to driving me around and watering my garden so I could attempt to honor the 5-lb. lifting restriction imposed by the surgeon. In the end, though, I still need to pay for cat food, electricity, and car repairs, so by Tuesday, I was working part-time. As a result, by late evening, my post-operative brain wasn’t good for much more than computer solitaire.

All of which meant that the last thing on my mind was #1000wordsofsummer.

Until Jami Attenberg’s first email arrived this morning.

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Glimmer

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Photo credit: Arek Socha on Pixabay

I really thought my online expedition would do the trick.

At least once or twice a day, I get an email from Road Scholar. This is a company that leads tour groups all over the world. One of the differences between Road Scholar and other tour companies is that Road Scholar is all about education. They don’t just show you the animals—they tell you what they are and lots of information about them. You may also learn about the history of the region where you’re traveling. For a certain species of geek (me), this is a ton of fun.

In late winter, I received an email for an online expedition to the Arctic. Four days, three hours per day, plus lists of reference materials and suggested reading.

By this point, I was painfully aware that despite my internet research, I knew practically nothing about the Arctic. When you’re writing a book set largely at the North Pole, this can be problematic. After all, it’s not realistic to assume that the characters will never go outside, so what will they see? What birds and animals will be around? Also, what will they eat? It’s not as though they’re going to be having chicken and pork since they don’t have pigs and chickens, so what will the menu look like?

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#1000wordsofsummer 2022, Day Fourteen

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Photo credit: Gerd Altmann on Pixabay

And that’s a wrap, folks.

Somewhat unbelievably, I did it. In spite of major personal challenges that offered me every reason in the world to quit—or simply not to start in the first place—I finished this year’s #1000wordsofsummer challenge.

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#1000wordsofsummer 2022, Day Thirteen

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Photo credit: Joshua Lanzarini on Unsplash

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, the temperature was in the mid-eighties, and I had the air conditioner on as I wrote inside. Today, it’s 64F plus a periodic strong breeze. I’m back to writing on the porch, but this time I’m wearing a sweatshirt and my tea has long since gone cold.

Ah, well. The writing is coming, and that’s what counts.

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#1000wordsofsummer 2022, Day Twelve

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Photo credit: Matthew Bornhorst on Unsplash

Late posting today, because late writing.

I instituted summer hours today. My plan for the summer is to shut down the office at 2:30 on Fridays. It’s nearly impossible to find people on Friday afternoon in the summer anyway, and inevitably I end up leaving messages for clients and their staff that nobody’s going to listen to until Monday, so why not join the crowd?

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#1000wordsofsummer 2022, Day Eleven

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Photo credit: Jack Hodges on Unsplash

So far today, I’ve talked with a lawyer whose opposing counsel thinks jurisdiction doesn’t matter (spoiler: it does) and learned that I might need to quarantine after the friend with whom I had dinner last night tested positive on her home test for covid this morning. On the upside, she tested negative on the rapid test at the walk-in. Since she had a false positive a few weeks ago, and false positives are extremely rare, it’s been suggested that she might have gotten a corrupted batch of tests. So she got a PCR test as a tie-breaker. We’re awaiting the results with crossed fingers.

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