Testing My Limits by Scaring Myself

 
One of the things about my Big Plans for 2011 is that I'm doing something I haven't done in a while: I'm testing my limits.
 
I pushed against my limits–some–back in November when I participated in Nanowrimo. Not in the number of words I targeted each day (only 2000), but in writing every day, seven days a week. I know that's a limit, BTW. I learned it back in 2006 during A Short Story a Day. I can write every day … but not forever. 5-6 days a week is a better schedule for extended durations. And, really, for 2011, I'm hoping to be able to hit my goals in 4-5 days each week. I like doing (and need to do) "something different" on weekends. Call it a self-employment survival tactic (almost as important as having a good desk chair).
 
20,000 words per week is a solid bit of word production. Stretched across 5 days, that's 4000 words per day. I've done that before, most notably while writing the first draft of The Summoning Fire. I've never done it for a week, though. That'll be fun to push against.
 
I've tended to set my daily writing goals more in the 1000-1500 words per day range so that I can get the writing done in addition to everything else I have to do in a day. I wrote The Girl Who Ran With Horses about 1000 words at a time (though sometimes with long months in between days of writing). For 2011, I'm putting the writing first. Everything else is in addition to the writing.
 
Completing six novels is the more scary goal for me. I have my current project outlined to completion. And another non-linear-story-structure horror novel, as well, plotted from beginning to end. And that's it, so far. I have started plotting a tween girl paranormal novel, one that will be the first in a series, but I'm a long way from having the characters, setting and first story properly planned and ready to go. I expect I will have to write the non-linear horror novel this year simply because I'll need something to work on, but I want to work on the tween novel after I finish my current project. So I need to get that one ready.
 
That's 3 novels, leaving 3 more I'll have to plot out and, more importantly, finish in 2011. That's a bit of the somewhat scary part. I haven't worked on a novel from start to finish without some kind of gap (sometimes a long gap) since I finished The Summoning Fire. The Girl Who Ran With Horses got stalled due to self doubt for over 18 months. My current project got stalled for 3 years. Not so much from self doubt that time. I just had expected it to be a much quicker project, and I was in the middle of working on The Journal 5 and needed that to get done first. Anyway, I see working on a novel from beginning to end, nonstop, as the challenging part. Something I need to prove I can do again. And prove it five times in the new year. I expect that will be fun too. Much like riding in a rickety, wooden antique rollercoaster with worn out seat restraints is fun.
 
I haven't challenged myself this significantly since I launched A Short Story a Day. I'm excited. I get to see what I'm capable of.
 
-David