A new short story and a flash fiction drafted, and a second short story underway. Over 7,500 new words this year, with my average rising to 509 words/day.  The Honorable Mention nod and a personal rejection also came in. The year is off to a good start.

I felt a little blue this week, grousing over revisions and my sometimes fragile ego. I distracted myself by patiently refreshing the Writers of the Future blog and checking the mail every few minutes, hoping to see some word of the 2009 Q4 results. Well, the list of Honorable Mentions was released before they had a chance to update the blog.

When I kicked off the year writing 250 new words a day, I had a plan. A story. An outline, man. I finished that story yesterday. Plus an impromptu flash fiction piece. Today? I have no plan.

When I started out following Booklife and documenting my writing progress, I suspected the first few weeks would either be really easy or really hard. Establishing a habit takes times and it’s easy to make excuses to skip writing. We all hear or use them — I’m too busy, too much day job work, kids/family, etc. Then there’s the Resolutionists, who make a bunch of goals at the beginning of the year and waver after a few weeks. Also guilty as charged.

It’s really too early to tell how things are going to work out long-term but so far I feel good. Not overwhelmed by keeping my spreadsheets updated or gut checking my short-term goals. I’m right where I want to be. I hope I can say the same thing a week and a month from now.