“Enthusiasm commitee, what is your status,” asked the foreman.

A young woman wearing faded, torn jeans and a black t-shirt that read “Iron Maiden,” stood, rifling through her notepad. “Varying levels, as usual. A whimsical quote from the History department entered the Mind when we tested. Something from a summer camp experience. ‘Boy, are we enthusiastic.’ I believe it represents a forced, sarcastic response.”

The foreman stroked the hairs of his gray moustache. “Did you cross-reference this with the Desire sub-team?”

The woman in the black t-shirt was about to reply when another young woman blurted, “desire’s good. Enthusiasm received a learned response, that’s all.”

The foreman arched an eyebrow and turned to the second woman. “So, he’s into it?”

“Yep. He’s just reacting to Stress,” she replied, sitting back comfortably in her chair. The woman with the torn jeans slowly sat, glaring at her interupter coldly.

The foreman looked at his watch. He knew his team was running out of time, but for some reason, a solution eluded them. Nothing to do but continue to eliminate possibilities. Maybe then they could find the brick wall that was preventing the Mind from creating.

“Folks, we must get this Mind to begin the brainstorming process immediately. Chop chop.”

This silly narrative contains approximately 207 words. It took me 15 minutes to write them. During this quarter-hour, I edited, googled words and stared off into space, “thinking”, my usual writing behaviors.

In order to complete the 50,000 word novel in the month of November, one strategy is to write 1600 words a day. If my little test is my benchmark, then it looks like a 1600 word session will take me around 2 hours. I seem slow.

My brain immediately jumps into scheduling-mode. Here’s November.

Monday - Friday
5 AM. Alarm goes off. Don’t hit snooze, it will drive everyone to madness. Get up. Dress in comfies. Make coffee and pet the cat. Sit and stare. Turn on computer. Do not

check email. Do not check blogs.
5:30 AM - Start writing. Just go. Don’t stop to criticize. Make it happen.
7:30 AM - Pencils down. Shower. Forget about the story. Don’t dwell on it all day.

Saturday
7 AM. Sleep in until now. Make coffee and brush the cat.
7:30 - Write and forget about the mistakes or the made-up peanut gallery that is critiquing your every word.
11:30 AM - Watch football. Play. Eat.

Sunday
Off!

Note to self: look into mental conditions that have over-scheduling as an indicator or symptom.