So have I mentioned I work at Intel for my day job? I do and although I harbor the dreams that most writers do of working in my jammies and eating bon bons while my books compete with each other for the #1 slot on the NYT bestseller list, the reality of it is, I'll probably be working there for many moons to come. It's not a bad place, I like my job and it's a great company.
Why I bring it up now is because I've been thinking of how Intel has changed me. Intel is one of those data driven establishments. You want to make a point, show me the data to support it or get the hell out of the conference room. So I decided to apply that thinking to my writing. I took my creative process and put it on a spreadsheet. That's right. I began to track my productivity. How many pages in how many hours? What projections can I make from the average of a month's worth of writing? How can I match my goals to my output for success?
And guess what? It's working. I've had myself on a timeline for two months now and I am (drum roll please) one scene shy of THE END. Actually, I hit the end this morning and then realized it was a screeching stop that needed a bit more build and alot more wind down so I'm doing that. But wow, I wrote it in record time and I'm here to tell you, IMHO, it's my best work yet. Time will tell if anyone else thinks so, but I'm very pleased with it.
Anyway, it's late and I have an early morning appt with my laptop, WIP and my spreadsheet.
Wednesday I'm off to NYC for Thrillerfest and 4 days of solitude for rewrites. Sick woman that I am, I can't wait.
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