I sat down last night to pound the keys, as it were, and managed to bang out 700 words. I think I might have done more had I not broken my cardinal rule. Against my better judgment, I went back and read what I’d written the night before. I immediately found myself wallowing in a pit of despair, my shoulders slumped under the heavy burden of self-doubt. I usually never go back and read what I’ve put down until the first draft is done. Last night confirmed why I do this.

At this point, I can’t worry about it. I’ll just KBO (Keep Buggering On) until the initial draft is done. As I’ve stated previously, my goal is to finish draft one by March. That will give me nine months to revise before I have to send it off to the publisher.

Total word count for the manuscript thus far is 18,100 words.