Well, people, it’s time to start again. There’s a world of words ready for mining, and I’ve had a lovely and productive break since last year’s 2 pages a day campaign. I’m in good shape, and ready to start all over.

As with all projects, I spent today laying out the tools and ingredients I’ll need for the next bit of a run. For me, it works best if I have a writing idea or two in mind. I also keep a few half-baked ideas around as well. I’ve picked a few and set them around my computer desktop so I can find them easily.

Here are the guidelines for this gig:

1. Two pages a day, with one day off a week. That’s 500 words a day, six days a week. January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2017. That’s 26 weeks of 3000 words a week, or 78,000 words.
2. These two pages are “crappy first draft” pages. We don’t worry about grammar, spelling, or any other standard.
3. We don’t go back and edit other days’ drafts, unless we happen to have extra time and inclination. Revision is something we save until after the end of June.
4. We are allowed to switch projects. If you get a little stuck on one, have another handy that will let you keep your 500 word daily commitment.
5. If you have a good day, and write 1000 words, you can bank those words against other days. I prefer to keep my 500 words a day promise, no matter how good specific days go. The regularity helps me stay disciplined.

I mention all of this, because it is time to prepare everything so come January 1, 2017, we’re off to a ripping start.

Brace yourself. It’s all about to start.