So I need to write a book.

Another one. Forget that one for a while. I’ll tell you when it’s commercially available, don’t worry.

THIS book, this unwritten one, I need to write a draft of by about September 1. Give or take, since I might be doing some edits on that other book you’re supposed to forget about for a while this summer, too. You know, to make it commercially available. But having a book getting published (FINALLY) doesn’t change the fact that Mama needs another book drafted before fall.

If you’ve been reading here for a while, you know what that means. Sing it with me:

BOOK MATH!

I’ve written about 37,000 words of the current work in progress. It’s probably going to be about 85,000-87,000 words when it’s done. How do I know? Because it’s a series mystery, and I know what those look like on the shelf, and they are maybe even a bit shorter than that, but let’s do worst-case scenario, rather than plan for short and then run out of time. So let’s say I have about 50K words to write to finish the first draft, just to be safe.

There are 89 days of summer left. If I wanted to write the rest of my WIP, a little every day without fail, I would need to write 561 words a day, EVERY day, until September 1.

Hmm. I’m not really a “without fail” kind of girl, are you?

I have 58 working days left of the summer. (I personally work best during lunch hours, not on weekends.) If I wanted to write the rest of my WIP during lunch hours, without fail, I would need to write 862 words every week day (minus vacation) until September 1.

That would make any writing on the weekends, evenings, and during that vacation bonus words. I like it.

Maybe I should call it 1,000 words for symmetry’s sake, and put the calculator away.

So, 5,000 words a week, every week, until the thing is done. Who’s with me?