I often joke with my friends that ha, ha, ha, I write lesbian porn (they’re mostly gay men so they don’t have a clue). But, of course, I don’t write porn. I write romance. Extremely erotic romance, yes, but definitely romance. And writing romance takes quite an emotional investment, because the emphasis is never totally on the sexual actions, it’s very much on what the characters are feeling. I can’t just sit down and put some words on paper (screen, actually) without feeling what the characters are feeling. In fact, if I’m not feeling it, I may as well not write it because then it might as well be porn. Half of the time, this is an easy process which I often breeze through with a smile, mentally fist-pumping and generally being happy for my characters because, well, they’re getting some a lot. But today, unlike yesterday, it was not easy.
Today it felt as if I had to fight for every word. I never entered ‘the zone’ and I was so riled up by 5 p.m. that I put on my running shoes and had to go work it off in the park. But hey, I reached my word count nonetheless. Started at 8 a.m. and got 3000 words in before lunch and then, while hanging on by the skin of my teeth, pounded out another 2000 between 3 and 5 p.m.
The reason why I managed to write 5000 words on a severe off day was because, quite possibly, this is now going to turn into a 9 Day Challenge and I couldn’t afford to waste time and, well, I’m a writer. And writers write. It’s what separates me from non-writers. It’s what I do, so I did it. It really is that simple. Obviously, this is not my first off day, and while I do sometimes throw in the towel early (and focus on more publishing-related tasks for Ladylit and A Hotter State instead) I do know that, despite having to struggle for the words, this doesn’t necessarily mean they end up worthless. And it’s always good to power through, even when it’s difficult.
But hey, the weather was nice today.
The view from my office/bedroom
To make things better (because my wife’s not here and she usually makes things better for me), I listened to this song on repeat and discovered lyrics that go perfectly well with this novella.
Hot summer nights
Mid July
When you and I were forever wild
Well, Summer’s End is set at the end of August (hence the title), but you catch my drift. I’ll stop moaning now because tomorrow can only be better.
The numbers:
Day 1: 1000 words
Day 2: 3600 words
Day 3: 2400 words
Day 4: 0 words
Day 5: 6000 words
Day 6: 5000 words
Total: 18.000 words
