October: The Month of Lazing & Writing

In September, I talked about author's pride and how that has hindered me in my writing. In October, I did the dumbest thing ever. I was proud with myself for a couple of days then Lo! And behold! We were at the end of the month and I had only written some 2,000 words!

I made a challenge to myself that I could finish 8,500 words in 4 days. Naturally, I failed. I could have succeeded and was moving at a great pace with around 2,000 words per day, but because of the short time span, when things pop up you're literally at odds with yourself. You want to do everything at the same time, and that simply doesn't work.

No matter how hard you try and no matter how much you reprimand yourself. Doing everything at the same time just doesn't work. As humans we can multi-task but not forever.

My new notebook at Ain Sokhna. Photography by Nada Adel Sobhi

Luckily, I was able to snatch a couple of days as a short holiday in October. I did some creative writing with inspiration coming out of nowhere after a friend and cozy mystery author Cathy Ace post pictures of her garden in British Columbia, Canada. Inspiration took hold of me and I just had to write.

You can check out my piece inspired by Ace's pictures (along with the stunning garden) in my blog post titled Underestimating Autumn.

Photography by Cathy Ace, which inspired Underestimating Autumn

I was also able to write a short chapter in my NaNoWriMo project and a few poems – most of which I have not copied yet!

So what is my overall word count for October?

Let's see the numbers!

Photography by Nada Adel Sobhi.
Notebook, nail polish and the beach

Darya's story: 6249 words

The November project: 2190 words

Articles, posts, including Underestimating Autumn: 1174 words

Poetry: 4 poems

Book reviews: 3 done

Overall word count for October: 10,324 words!

Check out reviews for short story collection Rusticles by Rebecca Gransden, horror novella The Die-Fi Experiment by M.R. Tapia, and children's picture book Puppy, 12 Months of Rhymes and Smiles by Patricia Furstenberg.

More good news?

I made a roundup of all the words I've written so far in Darya's story and guess what?

What? You say.

I've passed 18,555 words in the story that's been stuck in my head for over a year!

18,555 words! Do you see this number?

I'm thrilled, excited, and just in love with this number.