Weekend Challenge: Kudos to Uppington

When uppington created a weekend challenge this last Friday, I tucked the thought away into a corner of my brain: good idea, for sure, and yes, I wanted to participate, but actually set a word count goal? After all, it wasn't like I had just blogged on list-making, goal-setting, and focusing on where you want to be, or anything... Ahem. Anyway, I typed up a nifty little comment on her blog and hit Submit. The computer froze or the Internet belched or Fate intervened. Regardless, the comment didn't save, and I was left thinking, "Coincidence?"

I spent Friday night perfecting those articles I talked about earlier. Saturday morning I jumped up to get cracking away on them again and discovered that I had saved none of my changes. For being an old hat at tech stuff, this was startling. mortifying. and, of course, depressing. Coincidence?

There was nothing left to do: I brought out my assorted thoughts and notes on "The Last Marine" and started typing. Oddly, the story stands complete in my head -- has for over a year -- but thus far resists a capture in print. I didn't dare look at the several false starts that litter my notebooks; I simply started in the middle of a scene and let the moment carry. I set no goals beyond "butt in chair, hands on keyboard." Oh, and uppington? I finished the weekend with over 3,000 words and a clear sense of where I'm headed next. Coincidence? I think not.