I have finally reached some regularity with writing. Six days a week. Around 800 words a day. Sometimes more; sometimes less.

I’m always curious about other writers’ schedules, so I thought I’d put that out there.

The first draft of my next novel is now at 25k words. It’s satisfying to make progress, fun to experiment with character and scene and plot, but there are still a lot of unknowns and potentials at this point in the process.

Those unknowns can be thrilling but also unnerving –– and for some writers, terrifying. Luckily, I’ve pretty much stayed ahead of the anxiety and self-doubt this time, but I know I haven’t lost that monster completely.

It’s still on my scent trail, nose dripping, mouth frothing. But the longer it stays at my back, the more confident I am that I’ll bag its ass if it ever reaches me.

That wasn’t always the case. Doubt and anxiety overwhelmed me and scared me from writing many times. But now, I’ve learned how to not think too much beyond the next few steps.

Writing, like many difficult and precarious endeavors, is a network of foggy passages. Try to see too far ahead, into the soupy murk, and you feel lost and hopeless.

But if you bring your attention closer to the task at hand–––the next chapter, scene, paragraph, sentence––you’ll find there is solid ground before you, enough clarity for another couple of steps.

With each run through, or draft, the fog clears a little for you to choose the right passages and seal up the wrong ones. And by the sixth, seventh, or twentieth draft, it will be totally clear.

That clarity will still reveal rough patches and inconsistencies in what you’ve kept, but they will be visible. Focus on them and fix them as best you can.

Will it be perfect? No. But it will be a real story. And probably one worth reading.

There’s always more to learn in writing. Gotta keep at it…