Daily Writing Goals

When my son was an infant, I would set us up on the couch with him in my left arm and my lap top on the cushion to my right. While he slept or ate or wiggled, I would type. Back in those days, I could get 3 k words, easy. What else did I have to do? (Well, cooking, cleaning, yard work, but what did that matter compared to creating new worlds?)

Then, as children tend to do, my son got older. I could still get a decent amount of words in once he turned one. When that second birthday hit, he was more playful, so I went down to 2 k words a day. Then, I got a job and he turned three. My word output went down to 1 k a day, which I did at night once the kiddo was in bed.

And then he turned four. Four-year-olds are exhausting, yo. I go to bed at 9-o-clock when he does and have no time to write on the weekends. My goal, which was once 3 k a day, has dwindled to 500 a day. But let me tell you, I am proud when I reach that goal, because it is hard won.

I'm still writing. I'm still plodding along. But I am glad I haven't traded time with my kiddo. He won't be little forever, and the words will still be there.

What are your goals for each day, and how have they changed over the years?

Tracy Tam: Santa Command

Well, I had planned a blog about my writing process and how it's changed over the years as my family has changed and grown, but then something cool happened. Here is how Publisher's Marketplace put it:

Krystalyn Drown's TRACY TAM: SANTA COMMAND, about a young girl who doesn't believe in Santa, yet must rely on the magic of the season and the miracle of science in order to get out of a jam in time for Christmas, to Georgia McBride at Month9Books, with Ashlynn Yuhas editing, for publication in Fall 2014 (World).

Tracy Tam is my first middle grade, and I'm super excited to see it find a home. I'll be sharing more details as I go.