Ahead of Schedule?

At the beginning of December, I gave myself a list of goals, extending over a two month period. Most of those involved reaching a certain chapter by a specific date. For example, I had to hit Chapter 30 by December 20th. I think that was the last one I got to by the date.

As I noted before, I had to trim out a sequence completely. As far as completion goals were concerned, this was the one thing slowing me down more than anything else. I did "cheat" in assembling blocks of text, noting what had to be changed, and then jumping past the bulk of the sequence entirely. It helped that a couple of the beta readers started to find time to read Vitamin F again.

It does wonders for a writer's motivation to hear that his readers are picking up on certain elements without being led to them. In ten pages, I convinced Angie that Adam John was the villian. In about 12 pages, Lyndsey got mad at Bridgett for spilling Delilah's secret.

My increased motivation has led to me cranking out completed chapters. Before I knew it, I found myself in the last 1/5 of the novel, the section where everything shifts from being subtle and subdued to being overt and violent. It's the part where most of the nasty things happen, containing some bits of text that, when I wrote them, made me step away from the computer for a few days. I'm also glad to say that I've already integrated the first piece of text I ever wrote for Vitamin F--it's the start of Chapter 41, when Adam John first speaks to Bridgett privately.