Writing is going well in terms of quantity. I’m nearly halfway done in terms of words written, which I can hardly believe myself. However, given my ineptitude when it comes to citing sources properly, I will definitely have a lot of post-writing work to do. I also haven’t given a thought to what figures and screenshots I need and where I’d want them to go, but I figure I’d save it for the editing phase so I can better see the big picture. All I see right now is a whole lot of very tall trees… no forest.

I’m kind of in a “sick of writing” mood right now. I would rather be doing anything right now other than working on the book (even writing in my blog, which I have never gotten sick of doing). I don’t remember ever being sick of writing before in my life, but then again, I haven’t had to write thousands of words literally every day. I’ve been writing for many hours every day of this vacation and every day, I have had to force myself to do it. I blazed through the first few chapters, but this one is taking me forever (it’s the longest chapter of the book) and I just want it to end. I don’t even know if what I’m writing is even good anymore, but Adam’s taken a few glances at previous chapters and thought they were well written. I know I’ll get the book finished by my deadline, but my big fear is that it won’t be good. It’s one thing to write a sucky article that no one will remember a year later, but a sucky book will be on Amazon for a good long while and will be a constant reminder of your suckitude (don’t worry — I don’t write like this in the book!). I know I’m never happy with my writing and am just being paranoid, but I guess I’m just starting to become aware of the weight of what I’m doing. A book is a big deal.

I’m going to be taking a well-needed break from writing (and thinking about writing) for a few days, though. Adam and I are taking a trip up to Montreal tomorrow and we are NOT brining the laptops! It’ll be nice to get away from anything related to the book for a few days and hopefully I’ll come back with my batteries recharged and ready to jump into the next chapter. Luckily it’s a chapter I’m pretty psyched about writing so the timing is good.

I’ve never been to Canada before (!) so I’m really psyched to spend some time in Montreal, practicing my French, eating croissants, and doing some well-deserved shopping. With only one Banana Republic in the entire state of Vermont, I’ve been very well-behaved when it comes to spending money on clothes. My only clothing purchases have been gloves, a jacket, and snow boots. I think I can do a bit better than that in Montreal. 😉

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season.

writing, Montreal, book, Canada