On Sunday morning, my almost-2-year-old daughter and I bundled up in jackets and hats and mittens—because it was in the 50s, and we Texans are wusses about cold weather—and we walked to the end of our block to watch the Austin Marathon. We set up camp at about the 70% mark with some neighbors and friends, cheering runners on for three hours straight.

I just passed the 25% mark of my own personal marathon: my 8-week revision plan. As I yelled out the names of complete strangers yesterday, I fantasized about getting some hot pink puffy paint to write my name on a t-shirt and walking down the street with my laptop on a rolling cart, hordes of friends and fellow writers screaming my name out and encouraging me to keep going.

But then I remembered that I can’t even stand it when my husband reads over my shoulder while I write. So that would foster some serious performance anxiety. And who really wants to be picking at pink paint stains under their fingernails for days after?

How Far I’ve Come

I started a spreadsheet to track my progress, which I know will come as a shock. But the prospect of revising my first draft has been so overwhelming that I wanted to quantify the actual amount of effort it takes from me. Then next time, I’ll know about how long a full revision might take.

Some fun stats for you:

  • On average, I’m spending about an hour a day working on my novel. Or, to be exact: 1.074358974.
  • I started out with 49,944 words. I now have 46,652. So I’ve lost about 6% of my total words.
  • I set out to write a 1-page plot synopsis and ended up with 4 pages.
  • After finishing my first read-through of the entire draft, I’m in the process of entering easy edits and recording harder ones for later. I’m about 57% through my marked-up copy.

What’s Down the Road

Short answer? A whole heck of a lot. Probably more than 75%, if I’m being honest with myself. My goal is to increase my daily effort to at least 1.5 hours to get back on track.

Your Turn

What project are you working on right now—writing, home improvement, or otherwise—and how’s it going?

Photo by djwhitebread.

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