Track Your Time from the Very Beginning!

I'm writing my story for me, first and foremost.

I'm super clear on my 'Why' and the spooky, intuitive way I was called upon to write this #romancenovel .

My current and only true goal is to #write those two satisfying words that all #aspiringauthors crave to type; The End.

I am almost 100% focused on completing draft one of my first ever manuscript. I say almost because, I am also investing my limited disposable writing-time here in #bookstagram to connect with like-minded people like You. People I feel I belong with whole-heartedly.

But, and I'm not going to lie to Y'all (or myself), I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that the pragmatic, commercial side of my ego secretly yearns to create a product, a story, nay a conceptual philosophy that will be valuable enough, to be sought out by strangers who happily and with intent spend their hard fought dollars to consume it, because they believe that to be a fair trade for the words I have written.

There. I've said it! I would personally like to experience (and learn in return) the journey that is creating a book and putting it out into the world to understand the commercial realities of this (unknown to me) industry.

So? What do I wish I had done from the start?

I wish I had recorded my time spent on the development of this book!

I have recorded my word count by day, from the very beginning. But! I didn't keep track of all my hours plotting before I even wrote my first word, and now I really regret that.

Why? Because in my non-writing life I often deal with Profit & Loss statements and other commercial realities, and for me to understand the P&L of this #book I need to understand the time (aka cost) that I have invested. With that data point I can eventually calculate any profit, not that, profit is my goal, it's just that I geek out at this kind of stuff and having always dreamed of owning my own business so I could have my very own P&L to manage, this is my first real opportunity to make all that a reality.

So, yeah... I wish I'd tracked 'time-invested' in development. That would also have provided me with a benchmark to beat if I end up writing a second one 🤯.