Sorry, I'm a day late to post--some days it's harder to get my act together than others.

So at the end of last week, I was supposed to have a finished draft of my novel, and by the end of Boot Camp yesterday I was to have a polished manuscript. Not so much. Instead I am about halfway through after four weeks.

Now, when you consider that I was working on my previous book for about 3 years and ended up trunking it, I think that making it halfway through a book in 4 weeks is pretty damn good. I have kept up with my commitment to write EVERY day (even if, I am embarrassed to say, one day consisted of a whopping 4 words).

So I add to the things that I have learned from this experience:

11. Any day which includes writing on my WIP is a productive day, even if it's not as productive as I might have liked.
12. I just don't write as fast as Candy Havens, but when I put in the time to prep and outline, I can write a lot more and much faster than I thought I could.

I wish I had finished during Boot Camp, but it is okay that I didn't. I didn't make myself sick (well, actually, not quite true--I caught a cold yesterday, but I suspect that's due more to a week sitting in hockey rinks than writing) and my family is still speaking to me, which might not be true if I had pushed myself harder.

I will continue to plug away at the book.  I have a goal of November 1 to finish the draft, to be immediately followed by a weekend writers' retreat. I haven't decided yet whether I'll start edits there or do something new for NaNoWriMo (see how confident I am that I'll finish?).

Wish me luck!

Marin