Writing Update

I've been writing every day since January 2nd, working on my Merwin novel. I have not been writing 500 words in a half hour, but I've been writing. When I get up in  the morning, Jace gets up too, so I can give him breakfast. I wash up or shower, dress, and take him for a walk. When we return, I make a cup of coffee and sit down to write. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. I usually do sit down, but I don't always get around to writing. Sometimes I have morning appointments and didn't get up early enough. I easily get distracted. Sometimes I get hung up on a detail--did they drink coffee in Connecticut in the mid 19th century? Other times, the distractions are external. 

I've been able to write at night on the days when I didn't write or didn't write enough in the mornings. It's harder for me to write at night with even more distractions. 

Last night was the worst. I decided to return to a piece about Helen Merwin. I decided I didn't like the tone--it was too historical. I made the tone more personal and deleted several sentences. I only wrote 149 words last night--my weakest showing. I was really disappointed in myself. 

Today I went back to the same piece and reworked it again and added information about the telegraph and the Morse Code. Researching the Morse Code was my distraction today. I worked for about an hour including the distraction and wrote 203 new words. 

I need to get into bed earlier and get up earlier to write. Then I need to take time later in the day to research, re-read my notes, etc. I'd also like to make a list of characters. I need to continue to write daily and improve my practice. I'm on a roll. I've written over 11,000 words this January.