6,000 more words to go...

6000 more words to go, 6000 more words…if somehow I should manage to turn back the clock I’d have finished this earlier and saved myself some trouble!

And aches…
And pains…
How hard is it to hit an 11,000 word a day target? Really hard when you’re in tip top shape but really really really hard when you aren’t feeling your best, have stress in your personal life and when you have to do it while looking after an energetic three year old.
I left it too late…I had enough time to do it based on when that project started but life truly got in the way so here I am, slaving away to hit my deadline.
That song won't leave my head but soon enough it'll be 1,000 words to go, 1,000 words...I won’t ask for an extension for this one, I will persevere.


I wrote that last night and saved it on my desktop. I was aching from head to toe and on the verge of tears for the last hour that I wrote. I resisted the urge to post it last night because I really did have to focus on that deadline and had to resist the temptation to sneak into another tab and peak at one of the many things I look at throughout the day when I need a breather. I managed 11,000 words the last two days each and about 7,000 or so each day for several days before. Those numbers aren’t straight typing either. That doesn’t include research time and all the other things I have to do in a day around the house, not to mention having to muster the creativity to think about writing those 7,000 to 11,000 words from scratch.

I wrote that during a one minute break from writing because I felt like I had to write it down otherwise I’d go mad. I was chanting that in my head to the tune of 99 bottles of beer on the wall.

The urge to open a new tab…I fought it and had a rough go of it. It’s kinda like flicking the remote during commercials…because I use firefox, I can stop what I’m doing and open a new tab when I need a brain breather and browse my mybloglog stats, check for comments, see what family and friends are doing on facebook, check e-mail, double check my favourite blogs to see if there are new updates and check my google adsense stats.

Last night was really hard and taught me that I really want to avoid waiting till the last minute whenever possible. This time it couldn’t be helped but it still made me want to work to find myself in that position as little as possible!

During times like that, sometimes when I’m really truly stressed, I write a blog entry or do something else for a few minutes and it gives me the juice I need to soldier on. But sometimes, it is non-productive because I’ll sit down with a goal in mind and spend more time distracted by the blogosphere than I do working. I’ve started giving myself a reward system so sometimes when I write for 30 minutes straight I’d give myself a five minute reward of flicking around the “channels” and if I hit a deadline that was really hard, I'll give myself a half day off the next day to do as much channel surfing as my heart desires. That's what this morning is all about.

As a work at home mom, I’m faced with constant interruptions. That can make some days feel like an unproductive blur. My three year old won’t let his father put him to bed and last night bedtime was a hard battle. Because of that, I was in sheer panic over my deadline of finishing a large project last night. I managed it but really had a migraine by the end of it and was fully aware of every nerve and muscle in each of my arms from my collar bone right down to and beyond my finger tips (yes, beyond!!) There are times when I have asked for an extension if I was faced with a circumstance like that but this was one of the times that I absolutely could not otherwise I would have seriously impacted an important business relationship. It was torture but it was because of circumstances I couldn’t control that I was running so late.

When I finally collapsed into bed it took me about 45 minutes to wind my brain down. I wondered if I’d be out of commission for a few days.

Today, I feel excited and refreshed because I did meet my goal and because I love my job. Despite feeling repulsed by the computer by 11:45 last night, this morning I was writing before my coffee maker had even finished brewing.

If you're thinking about taking the plunge into the world of freelance writing...this is a crazy (borderline insane) job with crazier hours than I had when I was in a professional “suit” position.
But...
having creative control over my own life is *pause for a thoughtful, reflective moment*...

bliss.