And the Winning Word Is...

Some of the things you read on CNN.com. Honestly, there are days when I set that page as my home page not just to be informed but to be amused ;-). Today I learned that Blog is the number-one word of the year, according to Merriam-Webster

Well, gee, seems I hopped on the bandwagon just in time!

Merriam-Webster happens to be my all-time favorite dictionary, too. I particularly like the Webster's Tenth because it gives the year of origin of the word. That's really helpful if you're writing any kind of historical piece and need to know if the word was around during your time period.

You will notice there is no photo of my chair. I didn't get all my writing done yesterday (had to pause to do some tax stuff--ugh) and am behind on my word count. Today, I have a dental appointment and doubt I'll be up to snuff after dental work, so I expect to have to catch up on my word count this weekend. Or write REALLY fast this morning in the twenty minutes I have left before I have to start waking everyone up ;-).

What I do to keep track of my word counts is keep a Post-It on my monitor that has my number (my "goal" for the day) on it. That way, I don't have to keep doing all this mental math to try to figure out where I should be. I know at a glance what number I should hit.

A lot of times, though, the pressure of that little piece of paper is too much. I'll leave the office, take my Quickpad (a portable word processor, a lot like an AlphaSmart) and go write in a coffee shop or a comfy chair or at a park or something. That way, I don't have e-mail interruptions or anything else to distract me from the creative process.

Ooh, I feel a helpful tip coming on (must be the caffeine):

Don't feel compelled to write at your computer or in your office. Just because you bought that two-thousand dollar machine doesn't mean every word has to be composed there. Most of my editing happens at my "big" computer (and FreeCell playing). The real first drafts often happen away from the pressure of the blinking cursor, in a cozy environment where I can get deep into the book and have a tall latte with extra whipped cream.

Someone e-mailed me and asked what kind of pie I had. They thought pumpkin. Sorry, I have to say I ate the last piece of pumpkin pie for breakfast the day before ;-) My final slice was a smidgen of apple. I was good, though, and at least refrained from putting ice cream on it.

I do, after all, have to start watching my calories somewhere.

Have a great Wednesday!

Shirley