Disaster! Well, sort of. I only managed 1342 words today, mostly due to not knowing what comes next. Two days of that in a row really hurt me. I knew it was going to be tough, so I kept putting off starting until it was seriously late in the day.

But, I did finish Chapter 8, and I spent a good amount of time thinking about the next two chapters, so I now think I have a decent handle on what the next two chapters will be. My worry is that these might actually need to be split into more chapters, which will damage the chances of finishing the book in ten days.

I will do what the story needs, above all else. If I fail to finish within my ten day time frame because the story requires additional chapters and scenes, so be it. It’s not like I’ll be that upset if it takes fourteen days instead of ten.

Right now, I have eleven chapters left. I have five days to do them in. If the story doesn’t grow, I still have a good chance of finishing on time.

One thing I’ve learned. It is stupendously difficult to keep writing at a constant pace when you can hear your family in the other room and they’re doing something interesting. At 9 and 5, my kids are always doing something interesting. I want to join them, and they want me to join them.