I’m an idea person. I’ve always gotten these crazy ideas and then lately, I’ve been convicted to follow through on them.

So when I got the idea to write my Mistletoe Key** novella in a week and - even better - to post updates on Facebook all week - I thought hey, why not? What’s the worst that could happen?

The worst that could happen, I reasoned, was that I got a big chunk of the first draft done. A lot of work is still a lot of work, even if my full word count goal wasn’t reached. 

But here’s another fascinating thing about my personality. I’m competitive. It’s not something most people identify about me, since I’m not an athlete or a salesperson. But I like to win. I really, really don’t like to lose. 

So even though I was preparing a concession speech, I knew deep down that I was going to do everything in my power to full this damn thing off.

And so I did. I wrote the entire first draft of my Mistletoe Key novella - 25,000 words- in 7 days. And I even took a day off in the middle of the week to take my kids to the water park. 

I’m tired. My wrists hurt. My ankles are swollen. Here are some things I learned.

• Writing 4000 words in a day, every day is doable, full time job doable, occasionally hard work doable.

• I would prefer to write 3000 words a day. Maybe 3500 when the kids go back to school.

• Setting public goals for myself works, big time.

• I’m still an introvert who would prefer not to film myself on Facebook every day.

• Squirrel brain is real.

• I’m still learning to trust myself, my intuition and trust that the words are inside me.

• Walking is really important.

• It feels amazing when I meet my hefty word goals for the day.

• Rewards are important.

• Caffeine is less important than I would have thought.

• Getting up early before the family wakes up is essential to getting all the work done.

• I can’t wait to write the next thing.

• I’m going to write my next book in three weeks…. Maybe.

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**Mistletoe Key is a magical place in the Florida Keys where Christmas is celebrated 24/7/365. My book and more books will be set here starting in 2017...!