I love deadlines. If I don’t know when something is due, I fritter time away until a deadline is forced upon me. Then watch me fly!

I also have a healthy respect for targets and goals. Often they’re too nebulous: lose weight, gain muscle, write more. But today the Romance Writers of Australia 50k in 30 days challenge begins. And I’m excited.

In 2009 I set my sights on Nanowrimo and exceeded the 50,000 target. I kept writing until my story (I shouldn’t call it a book. Not yet.) reached an end. That was late December. Since then, time has flown and my story (working title: The Beckoning Blood – read an excerpt) went through phases of editing and rewriting but was never really finished.

Over the past few months I’ve made more of an effort and I’m happy to report that right now I’ve written as much as I need to when it comes to the story outline. A whole third of the book needed rewriting so it took a lot of effort. Scenes and chapters are now sketched with dialogue and description and phrases itching to be recrafted. Or cut. It’s all there. It just needs some love and attention (and a firm hand).

And time is a pressing factor now.

The RWAus conference is in August. I want this story polished and submitted to a potential publisher before then. Going to RWAus with it still looming, still festering on my computer in its half-life, is unacceptable.

So the 50k/30day challenge is perfect. It’s winter in Australia, the nights are chilly and it gets dark around 5:30pm. I have 30 days to warm myself in front of the glow of my computer screen and edit about 90,000 words into something I can be proud of.

This blog is going to be of help. At least, that is the intention. I often post my general writing progress to Twitter but I’m looking forward to putting some thoughts (including dark ones of despair) down here, along with a progressive total. By the time the 30th of June rolls around, I’m hoping a habit has formed and this blog will grow.

Now, let the torment begin!

Target: 0/90,000