Week Two is quickly coming to a close, and something’s not quite right. Your word count. That bar’s just a little below where it should be by now, and honestly, you’re not quite sure what happened. Every day you’ve vowed to crank out 1,667, but “I’ll write a little more tomorrow to make up for only writing a little today” seems to be the pattern your brain and body have preferred instead.

The good news is, the end of Week Two also means the weekend is almost here. It’s not quite the holidays yet and, depending on where you live, the weather’s probably not looking so great anyway. It’s the perfect weekend to spend catching up on all the words you haven’t had the time or energy to write this week.

So how should you go about doing that, exactly? Great question.

Today, focus on what absolutely needs to get done before Monday.

Do you have some emails to send or something to watch/read/finish before Monday comes back around? Don’t put it off any longer: get it done today. The less you have on your mind this weekend, and the shorter your weekend to-do list, the fewer distractions you’ll have when thinking about sitting down to write a few thousand words. Get your groceries, buy a few extra snacks, get some sleep tonight and get ready for a wonderful word-filled weekend ahead.

Plan on staying in (or camping out at a local library or coffee shop).

“I can’t, I’m writing” is a phrase you should be prepared to use a lot this weekend. Don’t worry about missing out: remember, the holidays are upon us. You’ll get your people fix five hundred times over in just one Thanksgiving weekend. For now, don’t plan on going out (or doing anything non-writing related) unless you have to. Plan on settling into your writing nook, your favorite coffee shop or a corner table in the library and dedicating your leisure time to your novel.

Block out an entire morning, afternoon and/or evening and just write like crazy.

It might seem overwhelming at first, and of course you’ll need a few breaks here and there at some point, but if you can, block out a few solid hours at a time and just start writing. Disconnect your wifi, put your headphones in (even if you don’t listen to music while you’re writing) and just write. Once you hit that 500-word mark, you’ll start flying through those words so fast you won’t even realize you’re almost caught up until you are. And if you need to break it up and do the same thing again tomorrow, go for it.

Catching up on word count does require a few minor sacrifices, but it will be worth it. You’ll hopefully end the weekend all caught up and motivated to stay on track as best you can as this next full week begins.

You might feel discouraged and probably not very confident now, but you are in control of your words. You can change that. Good luck!

Image courtesy of Novelty Revisions.