Sunday, December 03, 2006

Preparing the Tally sheet

Okay, I've been trying to get more stuff done around here (buy Christmas tree, make Advent wreath, etc), reread and revise my proposal and prepare for a writing blitz to knock out a first draft of the book. I used a similar formula that my friend LauraP came up with to help me write Plain Jane's Prince Charming in six weeks:

Pages already written = 64
Total pages needed = 200
Need to write = 136 pages

I want the complete done by the end of the month, but I know I won't be writing on Christmas Eve, Christmas day or my hubby's birthday and I'd like to take each Sunday off so that leaves me with 22 days. So I need to write 6.2 pages a day to have a complete by January 1st so I'd have a month to revise the manuscript and start figuring out my storyline for the next book. This page goal isn't a lot different from Plain Jane, which had a goal of 6.4 pages a day, so that's a good thing.

Also here's what I kept track of during the last time I had a tight deadline to reach:

New pages written: (goal)
Old pages revised on paper:
Pages of revisions typed in:
Pages lost or gained due to revisions:
Total page count to date: (goal: 200)
Days remaining until D-day:

Emails from editor in UK:
Emails from agent in NY:

Chocolate consumed:
Junk food consumed:
Exercise:
Television watched:
Pictures of Hayden downloaded:
Tears:

Since Hayden is not who I am using for inspiration for this hero, I'm debating whether to keep him in the tally. What do you think? Does anyone have any changes or things they'd like to see?