Writer-Talk Tuesday: Writing with Accountability
Back at the beginning of May, I posted this about my summer writing goals:
So here’s my summer writing goal, and I need some accountability partners to help me stick to it.
My goal for An Honest Heart, Book 2 of the Great Exhibition Series, which is due October 15, is to begin writing it on June 1, write at least 1,000 words every single day and have the first draft finished by August 31. That, then, will give me until the due date to work on revisions/edits/rewrites. And to possibly even turn it in a little early.
Because of the time spent on revision to Follow the Heart and the need to take a break after getting that turned in, I haven’t yet started writing the second book in the Great Exhibition series, An Honest Heart.
- Also, last night when I went over to Storytoolz.com to set up a new wordcount tracker for AHH, I realized I’d never gone back and put in my final wordcount for FTH—which clocked in at 92,718 words when I finished the revised draft. That makes it my second shortest novel—coming in about 200 words longer than Stand-In Groom, which sits at just over 92,500 words.
This afternoon, I’ll be meeting up for what I hope will be come a weekly writing “date” with my friend Liz, who is published by Love Inspired Suspense and is working on a trade-length contemporary romance she’s had a couple of requests for from big Christian publishing houses. We’ll meet at Panera after work with our laptops and our ideas and spend at least one solid hour blitzing our stories to see how many words we can write during that time (a.k.a. 1k1hr). It’s a way of supporting each other, but also a way of being accountable to someone else to stay on track to meet our deadlines.
So, pray for me as I start this book and try my best to be diligent and disciplined and write on it every day. I’d still like to get in at least 1,000 words a day if I can. And I’d love for you all to watch that progress meter and get on me when it doesn’t move for more than one or two days. Don’t let me do that “wait till the last month” thing again!
What are you working on, and what kind of accountability do you have in place to make sure you meet your goal(s)?
And just as a reminder for you and for me, here’s the template for Dr. Neal Stradbroke, the hero of An Honest Heart:
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KayeDacus.com 
It’s a great idea Kaye. I check in with one of my colleagues every morning to tell her that I’ve been writing before I came to work. It started as a bit of fun but now it’s my conscience. I’m going to have a look at the word count trackers – they look cool. Good luck on your journey.
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Ah another aussie as a template. (gotta love that). Im not a writer but I know about deadlines etc. I am one off those who use to end up doing things at the last minute. I remember many projects at school that I was up at 5 am on the morning they were due in to finish. I did find studying the past few years I would set a deadline about 2 weeks before the end of the semester to have the work done knowing it allowed time if needed but I was able to keep to this schedule. I would struggle as a writer on a deadline.
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You’re really asking us to nag you? We can oblige!
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Right now my accountability is a crit partner as in love with the story as I am and constantly pestering me for more. The only way to make her shut up is to send her more. in all fairness I do the same thing to her.
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I’m learning that people like that are a HUGE blessing. 🙂
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With a doctor like that…
Alright, Kaye, we’ll do our best to keep you prodded and moving forward (hopefully with prayer, as that works better than anything else).
I wish they had word count-type things for editing. It just doesn’t seem to work the same way.
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Okay, accountability friends, I didn’t write much, but I did write. So that counts. And here it is. All 167 words of it:
Chapter One
Oxford, England
March 1851
The Siamese silk slid sensuously through Cadence Bainbridge’s hands, catching on the rough spot on her thumb where she’d pricked it yesterday. Two of her apprentices worked silently, hemming gowns hanging from dress forms in opposite corners of the workroom, in front of the large windows where the light was the best.
Nan, the youngest and newest girl to come and learn the seamstress trade from Caddy, hummed a monotone as she secured buttons down the back of a green muslin bodice. The sound crawled up Caddy’s spine to tingle under her collar at the back of her neck and tighten her shoulders until she thought she might scream.
Caddy cut into the expensive imported fabric with more trepidation than she usually experienced in cutting a new gown. She’d drawn the pattern from the fashion plate her customer brought to show her, and it was a more complex bodice than anything Caddy had attempted in the
It’s a little more prose-heavy than I like my openings to be, but it’s a start. Everything can be fixed but a blank page.
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Nice job, Kaye.
Loved the part about the sound crawling up her spine. 🙂
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