I was out with a sinus headache yesterday. I stayed home from work and fought that back until mid-morning, and then recovered (read: was lazy) until mid-afternoon, when my loving spouse said, “What are you doing wasting all this awesome writing time?”

And I had no answer. So I shut down Mass Effect 3 (no mean feat for me, by the bye), and opened up Microsoft Word.

So there I was, staring at a blank screen with a single, daunting, blinking cursor staring back. And he flinched first.

I managed about 1950 words on that project yesterday, and that’s after a major sinus headache kept me out of the game for the first part of the day. I did cycle back over those words as I went, and I did it in a few different sessions, so it’s not like that was a straight run from nothing in a single sitting.

But I did get them down and that’s a huge relief. I need to just get in there and hammer at it again tonight, but I can’t see getting another 2K before the weekend. It got exciting because I really want this series – at least the first three or four books – to be out there. I think it’s one people will like. And I don’t have another series, so there’s that.

Okay, technically I do have another series, but I can’t get any traction on that one right now either. Not to mention, I really need to fix the ending of that poor book. I don’t know why I dropped the ball so hard on that one, but there’s no two ways about it, I did punt on the ending, even without trying. It needs repair work, period. So until I do that, this is the one I have.

So tonight I have to do the second cycle-back run, then reverse outline everything, then move forward. I don’t know how I feel about trying to give myself guide points. I’ve heard lots of pantsers do that, but for me, whatever I try seems to backfire. I’m content to go into the dark, so long as I’m not recreating the first mess I made with this story back in 2007.

So, say a prayer for me if you’re of a mind to. I’d love to finally, after eight long years of playing with this thing, finally call it finished. REALLY finished this time. And when I finish it, it’s going to be gone forever, into the world, and come what may.

There is a third book in process, and the beginnings (from 2008, as I recall) of a fourth. But I’m not sure how much of that fourth I want to save. It really wasn’t moving along very well. I got stuck, which is likely an indication my creative mind didn’t like one of the turns the story took – or, possibly, the lack thereof. So it will be interesting to see what comes of it.

Anyway, got some words done. Thank You, Lord! Thank You Thank You Thank You!

Now…let’s finish strong.

-jdt-