Hey guys, welcome back! I hope everyone is doing great, staying cool (or warm, depending on where you are) and of course, ready for the weekend. We here had a string of some super hot days and as I’ve been rereading a book series, I was more than happy that the one taking place during the Winter holidays had been next in line. Reading about a snowstorm while temps had hit 101 heat index? Helped my mind do a little escape from the furnace I was living in. (Have I mentioned I’m not a Summer person?)

Anywhoo…for those who may be new here? Hello! Let me give you a little background first before I get to that one freaking word my title is talking about.

I’ve been working on a book for over a year. This site has been my way of documenting my progress and my struggles. It’s also been a way to, I hope, motivate others. Not just about writing, but about life stuff in general. And yes, every now and then, I vent out some things that needs to get out of my head.

I have been working so damned hard on editing this book. My initial hope last year was that it would have been published by the holidays. HA! What a freaking pipe dream that was!

First off, my initial word count was astronomical. What needs to be in the 100,000 area, (give or take 20,000 plus or minus) was in fact, well over 400,000. I’ve since shaved off a LOT but still need to cut another 150,000 or so to get it where I need it.

In last week’s post, I talked about progress and how not every day can be a day of cutting a few hundred or thousand words. Sometimes you need to go inch by inch. Which leads us to today…

Last night, I worked for HOURS on a ten chapter block, never getting past the first three. I cut paragraphs. I rewrote my sentences. I rearranged the text. I cut some more. I reworked some more. And in the end when I went and checked the word count for the day? I was only down ONE FREAKING WORD!

I had sworn I cut hundreds. But it turns out, all that rewriting and reworking had me adding more than I cut.

Now, this is not the first time my counts have been disappointing. Far from it. In fact, the last ten chapter block? I added a few hundred words to that several times until I went back and slashed a ton of things that never should have been there. I refused to get out of those chapters until a significant number had been chopped. When I was done with it, I had cut about 250 words. Not a lot in the grand scheme of things of course, but every read through brings more cuts, so I’m not worried.

I think the reason this one word thing is bothering me so much this time, is that I really worked hard all night on this. I was so sure that I was doing well and that my count was going to be significantly lower. I was on a roll! I also consumed more sugar in those few hours than I have in a month, so be sure to factor that into my mental state as well.

It was a kick to the gut that after all that work, all that time, the progress that I had hoped to make, didn’t happen. I need to remember what I wrote here last week, about how every little bit helps. That eventually, the numbers will add up. For now, I will wallow a little then get back to it.

I think my takeaway from this particular night is this…some days, no matter how hard you try, you may only move one inch. However, that one inch? Is still one inch more than where you started. (I hope that made sense.)

And that is where I will leave you for now. Thanks for visiting, reading, sharing, shopping the links, tipping and supporting. It means a whole hell of a lot to me that you do. It really does.

Until next time folks…Cheers!

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If you’ve made it this far? I thank you. See you soon!! 🩷