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Past Halfway

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Loni Townsend

I’ve reached a magical moment in my life. I’m past the halfway mark. No, no, it’s not my birthday, and I’m not planning on dying at age 70. But I’ve managed to pass some milestones and wanted to share.

At the beginning of the year, I started the 10-week long Colonel’s Challenge at work. That entails doing situps/pushups, lifting weights, and getting aerobic/high intensity exercise in. Last week started us on the second half, and I’m making really good progress despite my inability to do pushups.

One wouldn’t think a group of programmers would be high on the charts when compared to a bunch of state troopers, but me and my cohorts are pinging the top ten lists. I’m only on the top 10 for my situp count, but still, I’m continually upping the amount of weight I lift per session. Last night, I logged 8100 lbs, my best yet.

Brief update on the wrist: the pain from the cortisone shot wore off, and my wrist is in better but not 100% condition. I’m presently designing a gymnastic-style wrist brace with a steampunk flare for everyday wear to avoid the occasional twinge I still feel. That way I can do stuff like pick up my kid or pull out a pan to cook dinner. As a positive, though, my wrist only hurts when I bend it too far, so the pain doesn’t often arise when I’m at my job typing away at code or working on my book.

And now, the book!

Most of the time, I don’t write chronologically. I’ve got four POVs in Isto, and I write where inspired and keep the momentum going as long as I can. This usually means I’ve got gaps where I’ve put chapter placeholders. It was last year’s goal to figure out all the scenes I needed to get me to the end of the book, and I successfully did that. But my “plan” constantly shifts as ideas branch off when I write and I leap from limb to limb. So what might have previously been one chapter becomes four and vice versa.

Last week, I realized I was past halfway. Out of my 64 chapters planned, I’ve only got 19 more to write. I was a bit floored by that. I mean, I’ve only been working on this book for going on five years now. But the real shocker for me was that chronologically, I’m past halfway. The first half of my book isn’t missing any gaps and none of the chapters are flagged for toss-out-and-rewrite. And based on this, my monster of a book isn’t going to be as huge as I originally thought. Sure, it’s still going to be over 200K because my written “keepable” content (crossing fingers there) is currently sitting at 147K, but with only 19 more chapters to go, I probably won’t hit that previously anticipated 300 mark. (For those of you who grow wide-eyed and boggled of mind at that, I do write long and edit down.)

Isn’t that exciting? It’s enough to get this squirrel’s tail quivering. I’m actually making progress!

What’s your progress looking like toward your goals? Have you reached any milestones lately? What’s making your tail quiver?

23 thoughts on “Past Halfway”

  1. C.G.Coppola says:
    February 14, 2018 at 7:58 AM

    Yay! I’m happy you’re excited and beyond the half way mark πŸ™‚

    Only five years, eh? Tee-hee! Sometimes it takes that long but GOOD FOR YOU for keeping with it! I don’t know how you don’t write chronologically, but hey, if it works, it works πŸ™‚ Glad to hear your wrist isn’t hurting as much! Love how positive this post is πŸ™‚

    Reply
  2. Juneta says:
    February 14, 2018 at 10:35 AM

    Congrats on your progress and passing halfway on your book. WTG! Inspiring. Excited for you.

    Reply
  3. Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor says:
    February 14, 2018 at 11:12 AM

    Way to go on all fronts – exercise and writing! You’re an inspiration πŸ™‚

    Reply
  4. Alex J. Cavanaugh says:
    February 14, 2018 at 12:04 PM

    Glad your wrist is doing better. Now you know – don’t bend it too far. Going to take a picture of your steampunk brace?
    You can see the light at the end of the tunnel with your story now! Glad someone can write like that. I’d confuse myself doing anything out of order.

    Reply
    1. Loni Townsend says:
      February 16, 2018 at 8:17 AM

      Yep, you betcha there’ll be pictures. πŸ™‚

      Reply
  5. C. Lee McKenzie says:
    February 14, 2018 at 12:18 PM

    Whenever you get past that 50%, you need to do a dance! Great job on the writing, the wrist and the physical challenge you set yourself.

    Reply
  6. Arlee Bird says:
    February 14, 2018 at 12:19 PM

    Good for you! Progress infers that you have been actively doing something which is better than just sitting and waiting for life to happen.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

    Reply
  7. chemistken says:
    February 14, 2018 at 1:46 PM

    After ten years, I’m almost nearing the end of my story (or at least the first draft). Sounds like you’re matching my pace. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  8. Aldrea says:
    February 14, 2018 at 5:28 PM

    It’s good to hear the wrist is better than it was.
    And a big WHOO! for getting over the 50% mark on Isto! Can’t wait to read it!

    Reply
  9. Liz A. says:
    February 14, 2018 at 6:35 PM

    That is exciting. Awesome. It’s great when we get to that point where we can see the finish.

    Reply
  10. Elsie says:
    February 15, 2018 at 7:30 AM

    So many fantastic things! I love that you’re doing so well in fitness. Go You! That’s awesome. Also great news about your wrist. How cool are you designing your own steampunk brace? I can’t even sew on a button, so I’m very envious! Keep up the great work on your writing too. What a great post to read. I’m leaving here smiling πŸ™‚ <— see

    Elsie

    Reply
  11. Roland R Clarke says:
    February 15, 2018 at 5:18 PM

    That’s great progress, Loni. My fitness training is sadly lacking and my writing is meandering again. All the best for the weeks ahead. You are looking like a winner.

    Reply
  12. Madeline Mora-Summonte says:
    February 16, 2018 at 7:18 AM

    Yeh for progress! Keep going! πŸ™‚

    Reply
  13. Patricia Lynne says:
    February 16, 2018 at 11:06 AM

    That’s good your wrist is doing better. I want to see this brace when it’s done. Sounds like it will look cool.

    Reply
  14. Debi O'Neille says:
    February 19, 2018 at 8:23 AM

    Congratulations on the progress. Getting past the halfway mark is wonderful. I have a tendency to get there, and then jump ahead and write the ending, then backtrack…
    Sometimes I write very sparse, and then I have to fill in a lot of scenery and always more emotion because I never have enough, but other times I write long, and then have to edit down to size. But whatever works is the way to go. So again, congratulations.

    Reply
  15. J.H. Moncrieff says:
    February 20, 2018 at 1:40 PM

    That’s so amazing, Loni. Congrats! Your workouts are inspiring. I really want to get back into it after StokerCon. Until then, life is so busy that I hope the housework/laundry counts as exercise. It’s certainly exhausting enough.

    Congrats on the book too. I returned to a WIP this month that had been shelved for a couple years. It was really tough at first, since I couldn’t remember where I’d been going with it, but at last I’m making progress (which will no doubt be thrown off by StokerCon). Slowly but surely…

    Reply
  16. Erika Beebe says:
    February 21, 2018 at 11:49 AM

    I AM so very happy for you Loni. I am proud of my progress too this year! Hoping 2018 turns out to be great for both of us πŸ™‚

    Reply
  17. Jeri says:
    February 22, 2018 at 11:33 AM

    I finished a narrative nonfiction piece that I was working on before I got sick last year and it’s going to be published next month in Idaho Magazine, so yay for finally submitting and getting “officially” published!

    Reply
  18. Sherry Ellis says:
    February 22, 2018 at 12:20 PM

    You’re doing so well! Keep up the great work!

    Reply
  19. Melissa Maygrove says:
    February 23, 2018 at 9:04 AM

    I’m glad you’re making progress, ’cause I’m certainly not. I’m about to die from writing withdrawals.

    Hope your wrist gets better soon. Mommas can’t be sick. We have too much to do!

    Reply
  20. Nick Wilford says:
    February 24, 2018 at 12:03 AM

    Congrats! Hopefully you’ll be on a downward slope from now on. The wrist brace sounds very cool.

    Reply
  21. Mason T. Matchak says:
    February 25, 2018 at 5:17 PM

    I’ve heard a lot about programmer-types being fitness geeks too, so it doesn’t surprise me that you and your department are doing well at this. ^_^ And congratulations on making so much progress on your book as well. Hope it continues.

    Reply
  22. Julie Flanders says:
    February 25, 2018 at 5:40 PM

    It is exciting!! Yay!!! Congratulations and well done on both counts. You should definitely give yourself a pat on the back. πŸ™‚

    Reply

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Welcome to my blog. I post here on Wednesdays most of the time, but you can find me on social media any day of the week. My topics include my stories and writing, life at the Town's End, creating and tinkering with graphics, things I learn and think might be helpful to others, and the occasional amateur photo. Thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you around.

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