Steph Ellis

After a week of counting my hours, the main thing I've noticed is that my work ethic is not what I thought it was. I'm in a position right now where I have a lot of free time and the only thing I'm really focusing on doing is writing. And I'll say, I felt like I was writing a lot. A whole darn lot. Like, two or three hours a day minimum. It might've been because I've felt busy. When I have time like this I don't tend to focus on a single thing for more than two hours at a time (unless it's reading or writing) because it gives my depressions free reign. It gives the impression of a busy day and somewhere in that mix I must have gotten my times mixed up. Or maybe it's because the time I spend writing feels different. Ten minutes can feel like an hour or it can feel like five seconds depending on how I'm feeling about my work that day. And maybe I just don't have anything much to compare it to: I've never measured how much time ...

I've been starting and scrapping novels for about two years without much success. My goal has always been to finish one. By that, I would chose a word count to aim for. I'd try for 2,000 words a day until I got there. I'd achieve my goal, then I'd burn out and hate every word I wrote during that time and never think about it that project again. I always felt discouraged by the thought that every novel I gave up on was another failure. My mind works in numbers, and if my score resets every time I change my mind about something, am I really going anywhere? Is what I'm doing really worth anything? How was I ever going to achieve this goal if I hadn't the faintest inclination as to when I might achieve it. So, I thought - why not change the goal? Yes, 10,000 hours is a lot. It'll take several years at least and, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised or disappointed if I never reach it. But I still like it. 10,000 is a number. I love numbers. It'll ...