I have a terrible confession to make

Better than missing the tablet and taking a chisel to the balls.

 

How much does it cost per day? Trying to figure out if it's worth it just for the beer.

 

I bought one of these so I get to feel like I'm using a typewriter without all the hassle.

Jet.com - Prices Drop As You Shop

 

Not typefitter, for sure.

 

Cranked out my 1,000-word quota, ate a delicious breakfast sandwich for lunch, and drank a boatload of coffee. Feel good! A little jittery but good!

 

Are you giving fiction a go?

If so, remember: If you are going to pay off a trait at the end, you have to establish that trait earlier. Goes for villains as well as protagonists.

 

Thanks for the tip.

The closest I will ever get to writing fiction is my monthly exercise schedule.

 

Gotcha. Writing 1,000 words in a coffee house seemed like a very burgeoning novelist thing to do.

 

I have a non-fiction book due on Dec. 1. I'm trying to treat writing it like a job. I have to write 500 words a day Monday to Thursday. (Friday is for editing and outlining.) That's 8,000 or so words a month. Something like 90,000 words, the publisher's target, in 11 months. Had to write 1,000 words today because I missed a day on Monday. I know the writer's life is supposed to be devoid of routine, but I have other projects going on, so I have to be disciplined about this. The coffee shop has helped me feel like I'm going to work.

Thinking about the whole book is hard. Writing 500 words a day, four days a week, is easy.

 

Really? I thought it was the opposite. You know, like Hemingway -- minus the alcoholism.

 

Well, one of the great appeals of writing for me has been the absence of routine in my life. I like not waking up to an alarm, and I like setting my own schedule. I like not knowing what any given day holds. I have a deadline, and so long as I hit it, no one gives a shit how I get there.

But I just had to pay back a substantial sum of money for a book deal that I signed, oh, seven years ago, without actually delivering a book. Because writing a book does take discipline. I don't plan on giving this advance back. Hello, routine.

 

Sounds a lot like underemployment, in my experience.