In football, when a team is in control of the ball, they have 4 tries to get a “down,” which means moving the ball at least ten yards. When they reach the first down, the call is “first and ten,” meaning that they have reached the first down and have ten yards to go to make the next down.
For my book, I have set for myself certain goals, “downs” if you will, based on word count. It’s a good way for me to keep up with how far along I am and how far I have to go.
An average novel in my genre is around 80,000 words. If you break this up into quarters, it means 20,000 words is a quarter of the way through, 40,000 words is halfway, and so on.
I have reached my first down. A couple of nights ago, I hit 20,216 words!
My next goal is another 20,000 words, so I’m calling, “First and twenty.” First down and 20,000 words to go.
If you look at an average novel, I’ve written close to 100 pages.
I think this calls for some sort of celebration but I’m not sure what that should be yet, other than the little “happy dance” I did at my desk when I checked my word count.
I’ll let you know when I come up with something. And, I’m open to suggestions.
That’s it for now. Back to writing…
Hope Welborn 
Awesome. NO PUNTING or Hail Mary’s allowed!
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Way to go!!!! That touchdown will be here before you know it and knowing you the way I do, you will definitely go for 2. 😊. Love you!!!!
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Oh yeah… making my gears turn! *bes sneaky*
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The only thing I can say to that is… 😀
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Hope, I still can’t respond on your blog site, so I will respond by email:
I love reading your updates. I know that writing must be a long process and I can only assume that some days you don’t feel up to it and some days you are very enthusiastic about it. But I can’t wait to read the finished product. You really have a gift for writing and expressing yourself.
I pray that you will see this dream through and this will be the first of many books. Love to you! Toni/Mom/Oma
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Actually, Toni, this is working. So whatever you’re doing, keep doing that, because it shows up just fine. 🙂
Thank you so much for the encouragement! Yes, it is a long process, and you are exactly right. Some days are better than others. But I still love it, even on the tough days. I can’t wait for you to read it, too!
Thanks for the prayers, too. I certainly need them. And I’ve already got at least 3 more planned in this series, and then another, unrelated one that I want to write. Yay!
Hope to see you soon!
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Congratulations! Hang in there and stick to it. You’ll be celebrating 40,000 someday.
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Thanks, Chuck! Can’t wait till I get to 40,000. Half way there, and I’ll really have to celebrate! 🙂
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