3K

At long last, the end is in sight. I've almost finished writing the Fantasy Western that I've been constructing over the last few months. With 7 completed parts, and the last installment started, I hope to have this thing done by the end of next week. It's not a really long piece, but it sure did take time to write.

There were times I yearned for the old days, when 3,000 words on a novel was a slow day. That was the sort of progress I was making when I wrote The Guns of Mars, and I had a 10,000 word night when I was doing Prisoner of Time, though this latest work has seen days where 1,000 words was speedy.

Research has been one factor that has slowed me down, though divided attention has also played a key role. I've spent far too much time researching my genetic line, and I've also been writing other things (like this blog every day). If you add up all the words I've been cranking out with letters, blogs, and assorted stories, they would probably add up to about 3,000 words a day. The only thing is, they're not focused on a single work of fiction, and that is why progress has been stymied at times.

I'm still well ahead of schedule, though. The contract gives me until June to have the Fantasy Western submitted, and I shall most certainly have a finished draft submitted sometime in April. No worries there.

I expect my word count will dip a bit once I'm back to my "day job." There is only so much you can write when you're working for a living. Physical labor leaves less time for intellectual pursuits, and there are days when I'm just too tired to work a keyboard. Still, it beats starving. Let's hope I can stay strong.