Hangover Edition

10 Days to 20k, Day 2

Allison Temple
Jul 30, 2017 · 2 min read

At 36, I’m getting old. I know there are some of you who will roll your eyes at this statement, but we all have to acknowledge that at any age, there are things we could do ten years ago that we can’t do anymore.

Like stay up until 2 am, and still be a fully functioning adult the next day.

An old university friend talked me into going out last night to see an old cover band that used to play at our school regularly. We hadn’t seen them in probably close to ten years and in that time it turns out we’ve all…well…aged. Me, her, the band. We’re all a bit slower and bit a greyer.

I cut myself off at two drinks and told people it was because I can’t write hungover. This is true, but even without the alcohol hangover, it was a slow day. Turns out taking the last subway home makes for a late night. Also, it turns out ‘because writing’ is a totally plausible excuse for just about anything when hanging out with non-writers. Writing is a mysterious craft and if you blame just about any behaviour on writing, many people will believe you.

A little mushroom toast and much coffee later, I felt up to tackling more words. I was worried about another kind of hangover though. After a very successful day yesterday, I was worried it wouldn’t flow so well today. But I got myself set up. Laptop, pomodoro timer, feline critique partner. Off I went.

I wrote about an awkward brunch and found new conflict points. Martin’s finally pushing back, and Seb’s maybe deciding to be less of an asshole. There might be a romance in here after all.

Best part is, I’m checking off scenes on my outline one by one. I was worried that I’d overwrite the hell out of this story, but I’m becoming increasingly confident that 20,000 words really will take me to the halfway point of this story.

Live and hope.

Now, for a nap! I’m too old for this shit.

10 Days to 20k Summary
Day: 2
Words Written Today: 3,391
Total Words Written: 7,067
Words Left: 12,933
Percent Complete: 35%


Allison Temple is a romance writer, novice cat lady, and expert couch potato from Toronto. Her debut series will be published by Riptide Publishing in 2018.

Originally published at allisontempleblog.wordpress.com on July 30, 2017.

Allison Temple

Written by

Writer, wife, wrangler (no particular order). I like to keep busy. Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/cjANow https://allisontempleblog.wordpress.com

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