500 words a day

So I've been trying to be more productive with writing.  I'm committed to making a career out of being a science fiction author.  The book I'm working on now I wrote a first draft of when I was about nineteen, the one I plan on finishing next I began shortly afterwards.  I did the math, at 500 words a day, I can write 50 000 words (about the length of my novel) in 4 months.  Why has it taken me over a decade?

Oh I did some other stuff in between, finished university, got married, had two kids.  I also logged a lot of hours of Tetris, Wii, Farmville, Farm Frenzy, and whatever else happened to be my game of the week.  Occasionally I did slightly more productive things.  I painted, I made flash cartoons, I blogged, I wrote for Today's Parent Toronto (thank you, mom).  For a while I wanted to work for a magazine, but ideas for articles don't come to me the way ideas for science fiction stories do.  I sent one query, which I wrote in magazine writing class.  It was kindly rejected.

I now have real excuses.  Adorable excuses named William and Jadzia, who demand my attention before I can complete a sentence.  As I was writing this post, William came to me crying because he had somehow put a chair on his toe.  Jadzia is sitting on my lap right now colouring.  There are pen marks all over her arms and mine.  I no longer have long stretches of uninterrupted time to myself.  I squandered those in my youth. I think my mother tried to warn me.  She has 28 books published.  I'd be happy with one or two.

I'm more committed now than I have ever been.  My book will be done by February 4th.  It's good enough to be published and I won't give up until it is.  And I won't stop writing, I will finish this book and the next and the next.  I will outline and plan.  I will sell.  I will be so ambitious and obnoxious that you won't recognize me.  I am talented.  I'm no longer going to sheepishly pretend that I'm not.  I'm no longer going to be so afraid of success that I won't even try.

BTW: To my friends and family: after February 4th, be on my case.  I recognize that selling the book will be the hard part, and I'll need lots of encouragement to stay on track.  Thanks.