15 May was the target date – I did not make it.
I’d like to come up with a really good reason for not meeting the target date, but I was the kid that didn’t bother with excuses, and I was always a lousy damn liar. No one ever bought my excuses or my lies, so I gave up on both. I simply went with the truth – it was usually more interesting anyway.
Usually. But, not this time. In this instance, I simply didn’t get the job done because I failed to use my time wisely, and I completely underestimated my research time. (Told you I was harder on myself than anyone else would ever be.)
Lesson Learned: If you are dumb enough to choose to step outside your background and scope of direct knowledge than you should double your time estimates.
I also found a problem at the three quarter point that is requiring me to make some adjustments, but that’s just the nature of the beast. While, it’s frustrating that I didn’t catch the problem earlier – I’m grateful to have caught the problem myself rather than have it pointed out later by someone else. Still, I now have to go back and do a few rewrites (to adjust for my idiocy) before I can progress.
One of my favorite beta readers Pat recently told me, “Quality is better than quantity. If it takes longer then it takes longer. Your readers will appreciate it.”
Bear with me folks, I’m getting there…
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