A fairly mild heart attack? That's like being sorta pregnant. There is no such thing. It may not have knocked you out of life's game, but all heart attacks are serious.
Take care of yourself James. Please!
84 days and counting
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A fairly mild heart attack? That's like being sorta pregnant. There is no such thing. It may not have knocked you out of life's game, but all heart attacks are serious.
Take care of yourself James. Please!
Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it. It feels really great to finally have finished it.
I'm glad I decided to stop treating my writing like a part time hobby. I'm almost ashamed to admit how long that 96063 words took to write completely. I started it in Feb. 2008 and of course I put it aside dozens of times and ignored my writing many more times than that. A little over seven years to write the thing. In spite of all that I never gave up on the story. I know it's a good story and I just needed to get it done.
I'm really glad I had my epiphany 194 days ago. I've decide to set a new goal for myself. I'm at 194 days in a row so I think I'll shoot for a full year. That will give me 171 days to work on my current WIP Spark of Life. And, if I ONLY keep my same / current word count average of 234 words per day it will give me a little over 40,000 words by the end of my year. But I assure you, I have no intention of just idling through this next WIP. I think I'll throw a new wrinkle into my writing exercise and shoot to improve my word count by 10% every month.
Cathleen T - Thanks for rooting for me, I'll take any and all support I can get!
bearilou & Scribhneoir - Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it!
jamesaritchie - Thanks James, I appreciate it. Sorry to hear about the medical problems, hoping you come through it better than ever. At least your having a positive experience with the morphine. My wife had it with very different results.
And yes, it can be done but you really have to want it - that much I've learned for sure.
Thanks for the comments and support, I really appreciate it.
Have a great evening and don't let the blank page win.
Adrian
I'm glad I decided to stop treating my writing like a part time hobby. I'm almost ashamed to admit how long that 96063 words took to write completely. I started it in Feb. 2008 and of course I put it aside dozens of times and ignored my writing many more times than that. A little over seven years to write the thing. In spite of all that I never gave up on the story. I know it's a good story and I just needed to get it done.
I'm really glad I had my epiphany 194 days ago. I've decide to set a new goal for myself. I'm at 194 days in a row so I think I'll shoot for a full year. That will give me 171 days to work on my current WIP Spark of Life. And, if I ONLY keep my same / current word count average of 234 words per day it will give me a little over 40,000 words by the end of my year. But I assure you, I have no intention of just idling through this next WIP. I think I'll throw a new wrinkle into my writing exercise and shoot to improve my word count by 10% every month.
Cathleen T - Thanks for rooting for me, I'll take any and all support I can get!
bearilou & Scribhneoir - Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it!
jamesaritchie - Thanks James, I appreciate it. Sorry to hear about the medical problems, hoping you come through it better than ever. At least your having a positive experience with the morphine. My wife had it with very different results.
And yes, it can be done but you really have to want it - that much I've learned for sure.
Thanks for the comments and support, I really appreciate it.
Have a great evening and don't let the blank page win.
Adrian
For 200 consecutive days I have refused to allow the page to win.
My commitment to write every day was the best decision I've made about my writing in a long time.
I have to say that my decision to not take a single day off until my goal was realized and then extending it has had an added benefit that I couldn't have foreseen. It really has become, to me, a badge of pride that I'll not likely relinquish any time in the foreseeable future. I needed something to make me focus and I truly think I have found what really works for me.
I have continued to work on my new novel at a near frantic (to me) pace. To be honest, it's almost overwhelming trying to juggle the aspects of this new work and to continue to move forward with the text. I'm putting together outlining guides to help me keep everything straight.
I have decided to tackle this novel differently than my recently completed one. The work I just completed was a more linear work. This new WIP I am putting together in an episodic (?) format. The problem I am wrestling with (and winning BTW) is trying to keep track of what I am doing and what I need to do on six separate episodes. And of course, in which order I want to present the episodes in regards to chapter selection. I think I'm getting it down pretty well for now.
To top it all off, I have multiple characters vying for my pen's attention all at the same time but I'm outsmarting them for the time being.
I've written 4032 words in the last 7 days in addition to quite a few notes. I started this WIP off on the right foot with a 1001 word day and nearly repeated that last night with 936 words. I am averaging over 400 words per day and I am continually striving for more.
The new set goal I set after I completed my novel was to write for 365 days without stopping. I'll add to that goal tonight.
I have estimated the word count for my new WIP Spark of Life to be 80,000 words.
The new goal to go along with the next 165 days of uninterrupted writing will be to finish Spark of Life.
My target date for completion is November 21st and I'll have to average 485 words per day.
I have also dedicated my lunch hours at work to editing and typing the 45000 handwritten words for Lincoln Island.
It's a lot to handle right now but I really want to finish this and get some of my stories out and on the page.
Have a great evening and remember, don't let the page win!
Adrian
My commitment to write every day was the best decision I've made about my writing in a long time.
I have to say that my decision to not take a single day off until my goal was realized and then extending it has had an added benefit that I couldn't have foreseen. It really has become, to me, a badge of pride that I'll not likely relinquish any time in the foreseeable future. I needed something to make me focus and I truly think I have found what really works for me.
I have continued to work on my new novel at a near frantic (to me) pace. To be honest, it's almost overwhelming trying to juggle the aspects of this new work and to continue to move forward with the text. I'm putting together outlining guides to help me keep everything straight.
I have decided to tackle this novel differently than my recently completed one. The work I just completed was a more linear work. This new WIP I am putting together in an episodic (?) format. The problem I am wrestling with (and winning BTW) is trying to keep track of what I am doing and what I need to do on six separate episodes. And of course, in which order I want to present the episodes in regards to chapter selection. I think I'm getting it down pretty well for now.
To top it all off, I have multiple characters vying for my pen's attention all at the same time but I'm outsmarting them for the time being.
I've written 4032 words in the last 7 days in addition to quite a few notes. I started this WIP off on the right foot with a 1001 word day and nearly repeated that last night with 936 words. I am averaging over 400 words per day and I am continually striving for more.
The new set goal I set after I completed my novel was to write for 365 days without stopping. I'll add to that goal tonight.
I have estimated the word count for my new WIP Spark of Life to be 80,000 words.
The new goal to go along with the next 165 days of uninterrupted writing will be to finish Spark of Life.
My target date for completion is November 21st and I'll have to average 485 words per day.
I have also dedicated my lunch hours at work to editing and typing the 45000 handwritten words for Lincoln Island.
It's a lot to handle right now but I really want to finish this and get some of my stories out and on the page.
Have a great evening and remember, don't let the page win!
Adrian
- Joined
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- Dusseldorf, Germany
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- www.tollins.blogspot.de
Good to hear this is working for you, and more importantly, you are sticking with it. It is incredible how the words stack up when you just do even a little a day. Even though I can't write every day because of a heavy work schedule, on my freer days I always try to get a thousand or more words done. I think I nailed 30,000 words in April, even though I didn't feel like I was doing much.
Keep going. It's addictive.
ps. Jamesaritchie. Sorry to hear about your health problems. Best wishes for a fast recovery.
Keep going. It's addictive.
ps. Jamesaritchie. Sorry to hear about your health problems. Best wishes for a fast recovery.
Well, I had two year before last, so I'm kind of getting used to them. But, yeah, they're all serious. Thanks for the kind words. I'm doing my best. If nothing else, heart attacks focus you wonderfully.
I've pretty much always taken weekends off, unless a deadline loomed. Do you think you'll reach a point where the pressure to not miss a single day will become a problem?
Adrian, I suggest you consider looking at Scrivener (click on the blue) to help you organize what you are doing. It is not very expensive and is available for Windows or Mac. I love it. I don't write linearly. I like to write in whatever scene I'm inspired to write and I use Scrivener to organize it. (I also back it up to dropbox.)
I have been writing in spurts but reading how well the every day thing is working for you, I'm thinking of doing something similar, however, I need to work on editing what I have written as well... so I might just make the goal to work on WIP every day even if it is editing or developing character backgrounds, etc. Thanks your creating this thread and congrats on your progress.
Thanks for the replies everyone, I sincerely appreciate it.
GraemeTollins - I know what you mean about work schedules, that's what had me over a barrel for years in regards to my writing. I have a 2 hour round trip commute every day, work a 9.5 hour day, when I come home I then have a list of things to do because my wife is handicapped so I must wash / dry clothes, cook occasionally (grill) among other things, then all the yard work to boot. And don't even get me started on my gardening. Most days it 10:30 - 11:00 PM before I get a chance to sit down and write. Let me tell you it made it very easy and convenient for me to make excuses not to write.
Congrats on 30,000 words in April. I know what it took to do that with a heavy work schedule.
And yes - it is addictive.
james - take care of yourself man. Best of luck for a speedy recovery. I don't think I'll reach a point where it becomes a burden anytime soon. Mainly because I don't consider it a burden at all. I don't look at it that way. For many years I made all the right excuses. But the excuses didn't get the job done. This is something I really and truly have wanted to do since I wrote my first story when I was 9 years old. Writing every day has become something I look forward to each day. I love trying to anticipate which character will win the battle for the pen today - and THAT'S something I don't have planned. Mike won last night & he surprised me by linking to my first episodes character through his receptionist. I don't go into my writing each night unfocused. I have thought out a number of different scenes and jotted down notes so when I sit down to write SOMETHING flows. Going into last nights writing I had already completed 3 characters initial episodes, I have the 4th - Monk - about 1/2 finished. My 5th & 6th character's have not been started. But it was the 5th character Mike who spoke to me last night - "It's my turn, bro." so I wrote him.
I guess if the pressure gets too much I'll have to back down, but to be honest I'll really try to grit my teeth and battle through it. At least until Spark of Life is complete.
sienna - Thanks, I know what you mean about writing in spurts. It took me writing every day to fight through that. Will it work for you? Maybe, Maybe not. BUT it doesn't hurt a thing to give it a try for a couple of weeks. The absolute worse that can happen is you write something that turns out to be crap. But I've written crap anyway so it wasn't surprising.
If you do write every day, start off by giving yourself permission to write crap if you have too. Don't TRY to write crap but don't fret if it does happen.
As for the Scrivener program, I may look into it shortly but unless it's really super simple, I KNOW I just don't have the time right now to learn a new / complicated program. And to be honest, it's not something that is urgently need in my writing (unless of course it IS super simple. I am what my son calls 'electronically challenged')
I have too many stories that I want to write and, for now, I don't have time for the same old tired-ass excuses I used for the last 20 years. The only person that will ever write my stories - is ME. And the clock is running, every day. I'll never get today back.
I have a time travel novel half written, also a half written revenge western novel. I have a historical fantasy set in Phoenicia half outlined with a ton of notes, plus a host of others that are workable.
I have a completed novel Thunder Bay just waiting to be edited & re-written.
Finally finishing Lincoln Island was a benchmark for me. I did it again - finally.
Now, I just need to do it again with Spark of Life.
Then I need to do it again with Sequence Gambol.
Then again, and again.
I'll take a break eventually, more than likely after Spark of Life.
But for now, I must continue to refuse to let the blank page win.
Have a great evening everyone.
Adrian
GraemeTollins - I know what you mean about work schedules, that's what had me over a barrel for years in regards to my writing. I have a 2 hour round trip commute every day, work a 9.5 hour day, when I come home I then have a list of things to do because my wife is handicapped so I must wash / dry clothes, cook occasionally (grill) among other things, then all the yard work to boot. And don't even get me started on my gardening. Most days it 10:30 - 11:00 PM before I get a chance to sit down and write. Let me tell you it made it very easy and convenient for me to make excuses not to write.
Congrats on 30,000 words in April. I know what it took to do that with a heavy work schedule.
And yes - it is addictive.
james - take care of yourself man. Best of luck for a speedy recovery. I don't think I'll reach a point where it becomes a burden anytime soon. Mainly because I don't consider it a burden at all. I don't look at it that way. For many years I made all the right excuses. But the excuses didn't get the job done. This is something I really and truly have wanted to do since I wrote my first story when I was 9 years old. Writing every day has become something I look forward to each day. I love trying to anticipate which character will win the battle for the pen today - and THAT'S something I don't have planned. Mike won last night & he surprised me by linking to my first episodes character through his receptionist. I don't go into my writing each night unfocused. I have thought out a number of different scenes and jotted down notes so when I sit down to write SOMETHING flows. Going into last nights writing I had already completed 3 characters initial episodes, I have the 4th - Monk - about 1/2 finished. My 5th & 6th character's have not been started. But it was the 5th character Mike who spoke to me last night - "It's my turn, bro." so I wrote him.
I guess if the pressure gets too much I'll have to back down, but to be honest I'll really try to grit my teeth and battle through it. At least until Spark of Life is complete.
sienna - Thanks, I know what you mean about writing in spurts. It took me writing every day to fight through that. Will it work for you? Maybe, Maybe not. BUT it doesn't hurt a thing to give it a try for a couple of weeks. The absolute worse that can happen is you write something that turns out to be crap. But I've written crap anyway so it wasn't surprising.
If you do write every day, start off by giving yourself permission to write crap if you have too. Don't TRY to write crap but don't fret if it does happen.
As for the Scrivener program, I may look into it shortly but unless it's really super simple, I KNOW I just don't have the time right now to learn a new / complicated program. And to be honest, it's not something that is urgently need in my writing (unless of course it IS super simple. I am what my son calls 'electronically challenged')
I have too many stories that I want to write and, for now, I don't have time for the same old tired-ass excuses I used for the last 20 years. The only person that will ever write my stories - is ME. And the clock is running, every day. I'll never get today back.
I have a time travel novel half written, also a half written revenge western novel. I have a historical fantasy set in Phoenicia half outlined with a ton of notes, plus a host of others that are workable.
I have a completed novel Thunder Bay just waiting to be edited & re-written.
Finally finishing Lincoln Island was a benchmark for me. I did it again - finally.
Now, I just need to do it again with Spark of Life.
Then I need to do it again with Sequence Gambol.
Then again, and again.
I'll take a break eventually, more than likely after Spark of Life.
But for now, I must continue to refuse to let the blank page win.
Have a great evening everyone.
Adrian
Wow, just wow... congratulations are definitely in order. Thank you for writing this down to inspire others (like me). The blank page is still winning most of the time for me but I am working on it. Like you said, excuses are easy to come by but the story won't write itself. I take solace in the proof you offer that it is possible to do it. It makes me want to put more effort into writing every day.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks for the kind words Michel, I appreciate it.
I am thankful my story has inspired you and some others. I wish you all the best in your writing.
Like you, I was allowing the blank page to win far, far to often. I treated my writing like a hobby for many years. Unfortunately, from how much I had written in the past, it looked like a hobby I really didn't care for.
And believe me, when it's 11:00 PM, you've had a terrible day, you're exhausted and you just haven't stopped since 5:00 AM - excuses are so easy that they don't even seem like an excuse at all.
So, my advice to you is to give it a try for a couple of weeks. Make the decision to not let the blank page win and then just do it. Try it for 14 days, don't worry about word counts, just make sure you put words down every day. My worst day was 39 words. You know why? Because it was late and I wanted to go to bed, but just couldn't allow myself to fail.
What's the worst that can happen? Other than some writing that would not have been written - probably nothing.
I equated the blank page winning to me failing. I just decided failure wasn't an option for me.
Today, it has been 215 days in a row that I have not allowed the blank page to win.
Today also makes it day 23 on my new WIP - Spark of Life. My word count currently stands at 11,720 words and my goal before I go to bed is to make sure I've got at least 12,000 down.
Yesterday was a pretty good day and I managed to write 729 words. I've had a couple of 700+ days on this WIP so far.
My average for this one is currently 532 words per day and my goal is to continue to increase my average.
I have found that since I started this, it has become a lot easier for me to be able to write every day. I don't have to force myself as much and I really look forward to getting farther along in the story.
Now, when I write daily, I have begun to push the boundaries more. Last night when I put my pen down I was at 641 words. I looked at that and said to myself -
"Self, if I write just 59 more words, I'll have a 700 word day."
and I thought, a 700 word day beats a 641 so I sat back down and wrote another part of the scene. It turned out to be 729 and that was even better.
And what's even better is that after tonight's scene wrap up, I'll start back up with my last remaining character's initial episode. It's a character that I've already started on and put aside to let other voices be heard. So tomorrow, I will continue with the most vile and utterly despicable character I've ever written. Munk will be my most vicious and blood-thirsty villain, so much so that I've decided not to kill him off.
So anyway, I guess that now I'm more apt to push it a little harder - after all, I've got a new novel I want finished for Nov. 21st.
Good night, have a great evening and as always, don't let the blank page win.
Adrian
I am thankful my story has inspired you and some others. I wish you all the best in your writing.
Like you, I was allowing the blank page to win far, far to often. I treated my writing like a hobby for many years. Unfortunately, from how much I had written in the past, it looked like a hobby I really didn't care for.
And believe me, when it's 11:00 PM, you've had a terrible day, you're exhausted and you just haven't stopped since 5:00 AM - excuses are so easy that they don't even seem like an excuse at all.
So, my advice to you is to give it a try for a couple of weeks. Make the decision to not let the blank page win and then just do it. Try it for 14 days, don't worry about word counts, just make sure you put words down every day. My worst day was 39 words. You know why? Because it was late and I wanted to go to bed, but just couldn't allow myself to fail.
What's the worst that can happen? Other than some writing that would not have been written - probably nothing.
I equated the blank page winning to me failing. I just decided failure wasn't an option for me.
Today, it has been 215 days in a row that I have not allowed the blank page to win.
Today also makes it day 23 on my new WIP - Spark of Life. My word count currently stands at 11,720 words and my goal before I go to bed is to make sure I've got at least 12,000 down.
Yesterday was a pretty good day and I managed to write 729 words. I've had a couple of 700+ days on this WIP so far.
My average for this one is currently 532 words per day and my goal is to continue to increase my average.
I have found that since I started this, it has become a lot easier for me to be able to write every day. I don't have to force myself as much and I really look forward to getting farther along in the story.
Now, when I write daily, I have begun to push the boundaries more. Last night when I put my pen down I was at 641 words. I looked at that and said to myself -
"Self, if I write just 59 more words, I'll have a 700 word day."
and I thought, a 700 word day beats a 641 so I sat back down and wrote another part of the scene. It turned out to be 729 and that was even better.
And what's even better is that after tonight's scene wrap up, I'll start back up with my last remaining character's initial episode. It's a character that I've already started on and put aside to let other voices be heard. So tomorrow, I will continue with the most vile and utterly despicable character I've ever written. Munk will be my most vicious and blood-thirsty villain, so much so that I've decided not to kill him off.
So anyway, I guess that now I'm more apt to push it a little harder - after all, I've got a new novel I want finished for Nov. 21st.
Good night, have a great evening and as always, don't let the blank page win.
Adrian
Good going. I'm in the same boat. Been writing on and off for 40 years as well.
About 30 years ago I completed three novel manuscripts and though I cleaned them up and sent them out a few times, I got discouraged. In 1990 I started a new career as a journalist; first at a paper until '95, got laid off and I've been freelancing every since. Has it been 20 years? My God!
Anyway, every New Year's Eve for the past 20 years I told myself I was going to start writing a novel that year and didn't.
Three years ago (or is it four?) I told myself I would at least write a journal entry every day of the year and have been doing that.
In 2013 I had a five month job on a wildlife research crew. I thought about that for almost 18 months, trying to find ways to spin that experience into a novel. Without saying too much about it (I'm superstitious about yakking about the details of a WIP) this year I started writing something every day, 500 words a day for several weeks -(Maybe more I'd have to check my journal) and then bumped it up to 1000 words a day and sometimes a little more and holding. I've done at least 27,000 words this month for a total of 71,222 hammered into the WIP so far.
Before actually starting at the beginning, earlier in the year I started writing a few scenes or you might even call them mini-chapters as a way to get revved up to see if there was a story there and if I could really buckle down and do it again. Some of those chapters are now kind of targets I am aiming to catch up to so that my characters work towards them. One of those may have to be left in the dust as it doesn't fit any more as the story evolved but one key one is still very valid and may very well be my key pivotal scene even though I have encountered a physical problem that will prompt quite a rewrite.That has to do with the characters names and sexes. I started out with that scene populated with a mixed gender cast and when I got down to writing the actual story I renamed almost everybody and reshuffled the gender mix. --- Not too worried about it right now. Ploughing to the end and aiming for a 90,000 word first draft. Then we'll see what happens in draft two.
If I don't get called out to work in the field again this summer, barring distractions, I'm 19 days from getting there. Who knows...Perhaps the first draft wants to be 100,000 words. No problem. More to work with. Some of my monologues I know already are too long. I've been "kitchen sinking" it. If something occurs to me, I put it in.
Thanks for the opportunity to participate.
It's nice to know I'm not doing this in complete isolation.
About 30 years ago I completed three novel manuscripts and though I cleaned them up and sent them out a few times, I got discouraged. In 1990 I started a new career as a journalist; first at a paper until '95, got laid off and I've been freelancing every since. Has it been 20 years? My God!
Anyway, every New Year's Eve for the past 20 years I told myself I was going to start writing a novel that year and didn't.
Three years ago (or is it four?) I told myself I would at least write a journal entry every day of the year and have been doing that.
In 2013 I had a five month job on a wildlife research crew. I thought about that for almost 18 months, trying to find ways to spin that experience into a novel. Without saying too much about it (I'm superstitious about yakking about the details of a WIP) this year I started writing something every day, 500 words a day for several weeks -(Maybe more I'd have to check my journal) and then bumped it up to 1000 words a day and sometimes a little more and holding. I've done at least 27,000 words this month for a total of 71,222 hammered into the WIP so far.
Before actually starting at the beginning, earlier in the year I started writing a few scenes or you might even call them mini-chapters as a way to get revved up to see if there was a story there and if I could really buckle down and do it again. Some of those chapters are now kind of targets I am aiming to catch up to so that my characters work towards them. One of those may have to be left in the dust as it doesn't fit any more as the story evolved but one key one is still very valid and may very well be my key pivotal scene even though I have encountered a physical problem that will prompt quite a rewrite.That has to do with the characters names and sexes. I started out with that scene populated with a mixed gender cast and when I got down to writing the actual story I renamed almost everybody and reshuffled the gender mix. --- Not too worried about it right now. Ploughing to the end and aiming for a 90,000 word first draft. Then we'll see what happens in draft two.
If I don't get called out to work in the field again this summer, barring distractions, I'm 19 days from getting there. Who knows...Perhaps the first draft wants to be 100,000 words. No problem. More to work with. Some of my monologues I know already are too long. I've been "kitchen sinking" it. If something occurs to me, I put it in.
Thanks for the opportunity to participate.
It's nice to know I'm not doing this in complete isolation.
Last edited:
It's been a while since I looked in and a lot of things have happened - new job, house repairs, and the never ending distractions of normal everyday life.
Sorry to have taken so long to respond Hublocker, my apologies for not getting back to you.
Congrats on your current project, I hope everything went well for you. Just hang in there and keep at it.
I am currently on day 291 of my writing daily goal.
I started Spark of Life on June 2, 2015 after finishing Lincoln Island and I'm currently at 36,823 words on it.
I've worked for 98 days in a row on this project and still have the completion date of Nov. 21, 2015 in my sights.
I've slowed down some for the last 5 or 6 weeks due to the new job but it looks like I should be getting back to a little higher word count over the next week or two. My word count dropped from 500 - 600 (& sometimes higher) a day to the low 200's a day since the job change. But it looks like things are leveling off at work and getting into the new swing of things so it should take some pressure off.
I am devoted to completing this new manuscript for 2015. And, while I am holding firm to my Nov. 21 deadline until the very end, I fully intend to extend that deadline to Dec. 31 if need be. But I'll make that decision if I can't pull it off in Nov.
This will be the first time I am in position to complete two novels in one year and I don't intend to let it slip through my fingers.
At least not without a fight to the very end.
Thanks for looking in and remember - don't let the page win today.
Adrian
Sorry to have taken so long to respond Hublocker, my apologies for not getting back to you.
Congrats on your current project, I hope everything went well for you. Just hang in there and keep at it.
I am currently on day 291 of my writing daily goal.
I started Spark of Life on June 2, 2015 after finishing Lincoln Island and I'm currently at 36,823 words on it.
I've worked for 98 days in a row on this project and still have the completion date of Nov. 21, 2015 in my sights.
I've slowed down some for the last 5 or 6 weeks due to the new job but it looks like I should be getting back to a little higher word count over the next week or two. My word count dropped from 500 - 600 (& sometimes higher) a day to the low 200's a day since the job change. But it looks like things are leveling off at work and getting into the new swing of things so it should take some pressure off.
I am devoted to completing this new manuscript for 2015. And, while I am holding firm to my Nov. 21 deadline until the very end, I fully intend to extend that deadline to Dec. 31 if need be. But I'll make that decision if I can't pull it off in Nov.
This will be the first time I am in position to complete two novels in one year and I don't intend to let it slip through my fingers.
At least not without a fight to the very end.
Thanks for looking in and remember - don't let the page win today.
Adrian
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2014
- Messages
- 269
- Reaction score
- 27
This is fantastic! I wrote my first novel in four months last year but it only came out at 49,000 words. That's less than 500 words per day. If I work from an outline I know I could easily beat that. The next four months don't look too busy for me, maybe I can have another novel finished by the end of the year if I hammer out something everyday? I came up with a list of interesting characters the other day for fun and today I had the idea of writing full scenes one at a time rather than writing chronologically by chapter. I could probably come up with a really interesting tale if I just wrote a bunch of cool scenes with interesting characters and worried about how they fit together later. I'll see if I can come up with some ideas tonight and maybe my Christmas present this year will be a new novel.
You are a very inspiring person. Keep the updates coming!
You are a very inspiring person. Keep the updates coming!
For 365 consecutive days I have not let the page win.
Thanks for the kind words HeavyAirship, I appreciate it. Sorry for the long delay in responding.
Last night marked my 365th day in a row that I have written.
It is the second major goal that I have reached this year.
My first goal had been to finish Lincoln Island - which I did at 96,063 words.
My second goal was to write every day for a full 365 days - which I completed last night.
I am currently at 65,843 words on my current WIP Spark of Life.
I did not meet my goal of completing it on Nov. 21st but that's okay for now.
It's just a minor setback, not a major defeat.
My next goal will be to wrap this WIP up by Christmas at 80,000 + words.
Once that goal is attained I will have successfully completed two Novels this year.
My completed word count as of last night - for the year - was 110,423 words.
Throughout the year, I never let my focus on writing waver.
I wrote though a job change, vacations, house renovations, etc. and never missed a day.
I am now considering taking a day off but I'm not sure I want to let my consecutive streak end.
My commitment has helped my progression so much I can hardly believe it.
I am currently averaging 400 - 500 words a day, every day (with a few minor diversions into the mid./high 300's).
This past week I have averaged 656 words per day. It's my second best week so far!
So, I am quite happy with my progress and the direction my writing has taken.
To all who have commented so far and urged me on, your kind words and support are deeply appreciated.
Thank you.
Thanks for looking in.
Don't let the page win today!
Regards,
Adrian
Thanks for the kind words HeavyAirship, I appreciate it. Sorry for the long delay in responding.
Last night marked my 365th day in a row that I have written.
It is the second major goal that I have reached this year.
My first goal had been to finish Lincoln Island - which I did at 96,063 words.
My second goal was to write every day for a full 365 days - which I completed last night.
I am currently at 65,843 words on my current WIP Spark of Life.
I did not meet my goal of completing it on Nov. 21st but that's okay for now.
It's just a minor setback, not a major defeat.
My next goal will be to wrap this WIP up by Christmas at 80,000 + words.
Once that goal is attained I will have successfully completed two Novels this year.
My completed word count as of last night - for the year - was 110,423 words.
Throughout the year, I never let my focus on writing waver.
I wrote though a job change, vacations, house renovations, etc. and never missed a day.
I am now considering taking a day off but I'm not sure I want to let my consecutive streak end.
My commitment has helped my progression so much I can hardly believe it.
I am currently averaging 400 - 500 words a day, every day (with a few minor diversions into the mid./high 300's).
This past week I have averaged 656 words per day. It's my second best week so far!
So, I am quite happy with my progress and the direction my writing has taken.
To all who have commented so far and urged me on, your kind words and support are deeply appreciated.
Thank you.
Thanks for looking in.
Don't let the page win today!
Regards,
Adrian
For 405 consecutive days I have refused to let the blank page win.
Last night I completed Spark of Life!
This is the second novel that I completed in 2015. Woo Hoo!!
Thanks for the encouragement and comments PandaMan, Jamesaritchie and IntiaNova.
I sincerely appreciate it.
As of today I have met all of my goals that I set for myself this past year.
Last night I had to write overtime to meet my goal of finishing Spark of Life.
I ended up with 2,505 words last night! A record for me.
Spark of Life wrapped up at 84,019 words.
Over the past 405 days of my writing odyssey I have written 128,589 words to complete my novels
Lincoln Island and Spark of Life.
Spark of Life was completed in 218 days with an overall average of 385 words per day.
I am currently at a cross-roads in my writing.
All of my goals have been met but I currently have a great writing streak going on that I'm hesitant of stopping.
My current goal is to start editing Lincoln Island to get it ready for submission.
However, I feel that I could continue my streak by working on my partial Sequence Gambol to keep both my streak going and my creative juices flowing.
Thanks for looking in, I appreciate it.
Have a Happy New Year and remember, Don't let the page win!
Regards,
Adrian
Last night I completed Spark of Life!
This is the second novel that I completed in 2015. Woo Hoo!!
Thanks for the encouragement and comments PandaMan, Jamesaritchie and IntiaNova.
I sincerely appreciate it.
As of today I have met all of my goals that I set for myself this past year.
Last night I had to write overtime to meet my goal of finishing Spark of Life.
I ended up with 2,505 words last night! A record for me.
Spark of Life wrapped up at 84,019 words.
Over the past 405 days of my writing odyssey I have written 128,589 words to complete my novels
Lincoln Island and Spark of Life.
Spark of Life was completed in 218 days with an overall average of 385 words per day.
I am currently at a cross-roads in my writing.
All of my goals have been met but I currently have a great writing streak going on that I'm hesitant of stopping.
My current goal is to start editing Lincoln Island to get it ready for submission.
However, I feel that I could continue my streak by working on my partial Sequence Gambol to keep both my streak going and my creative juices flowing.
Thanks for looking in, I appreciate it.
Have a Happy New Year and remember, Don't let the page win!
Regards,
Adrian
This is great news for you, Tnonk. Thanks for keeping us updated on your progress.
Okay, now that you know you can do it, it's time to rack 'em up and do it again for 2016!
Okay, now that you know you can do it, it's time to rack 'em up and do it again for 2016!
Wow everyone here is amazing! I'm a teen, so that means often days school wins. However, I do write when I can. I don't force myself to write everyday, but that's what I aim for. Most time I write before school starts, and I manage to get in about 200 words on a school day. On Friday evenings all I do is write. Sometimes the page does win, but I know that I'm doing all I can to combat that given my life and my circumstances; and I'm pretty happy with what I've accomplished and will continue to accomplish.
Writing 39 words is infinitely better than writing zero words.
As a mathematician, I can vouch for this.
The math checks out.
Wow, it's hard to believe its been 60 days since I've visited this old thread.
I think after tonight I'll just let it die
I've accomplished everything I set out to do when I started this thread.
From now on I think I'll just continue this streak as a personal journey for myself.
For 465 days in a row I have not let the page win.
Thanks for the replies, I appreciate them and apologize for not responding sooner.
Pandaman - I'm hoping (and working) on doing exactly that this year. I don't know if I'll do another two but if I can finish another, I'll be happy.
WriteMinded - Thanks for looking in, I appreciate the support.
Breeny19 - Keep it up. I only wish I had the focus when I was a teen that I do now. Life does get in the way so you can expect that. Work past it and continue on your own personal path at your own personal speed.
IWriteWeirdStuff - Yes it does. And a bunch of 39 word days will get a piece written. I've been lucky and have managed to do considerably more than that on many days. BUT, I'll take a 39 word day to a blank one any day of the week.
A friend of mine once told me, 'the harder I work, the luckier I get'.
I gotta tell ya I can vouch for that.
So far this year I've written 11,230 words. I'm not averaging as much as before but I am getting some done.
I haven't focused on any specific work yet but I've piddled with a couple stories.
I had intended to wrap up a time travel novel I started years ago title Sequence Gambol but I just can't seem to catch the fever for it.
At this point I'm doing some work on a romance that I wanted to get a few scenes fleshed out.
I also wanted to do some editing on Lincoln Island but continued computer problems has slowed that to a crawl.
I think I'll have to dust off an old historical fantasy based in ancient Phoenicia and do some work on it.
I'm also considering sequels to both Lincoln Island and Spark of Life.
Thanks for looking in and remember - - - Don't let the page win!
Regards,
Adrian
I think after tonight I'll just let it die
I've accomplished everything I set out to do when I started this thread.
From now on I think I'll just continue this streak as a personal journey for myself.
For 465 days in a row I have not let the page win.
Thanks for the replies, I appreciate them and apologize for not responding sooner.
Pandaman - I'm hoping (and working) on doing exactly that this year. I don't know if I'll do another two but if I can finish another, I'll be happy.
WriteMinded - Thanks for looking in, I appreciate the support.
Breeny19 - Keep it up. I only wish I had the focus when I was a teen that I do now. Life does get in the way so you can expect that. Work past it and continue on your own personal path at your own personal speed.
IWriteWeirdStuff - Yes it does. And a bunch of 39 word days will get a piece written. I've been lucky and have managed to do considerably more than that on many days. BUT, I'll take a 39 word day to a blank one any day of the week.
A friend of mine once told me, 'the harder I work, the luckier I get'.
I gotta tell ya I can vouch for that.
So far this year I've written 11,230 words. I'm not averaging as much as before but I am getting some done.
I haven't focused on any specific work yet but I've piddled with a couple stories.
I had intended to wrap up a time travel novel I started years ago title Sequence Gambol but I just can't seem to catch the fever for it.
At this point I'm doing some work on a romance that I wanted to get a few scenes fleshed out.
I also wanted to do some editing on Lincoln Island but continued computer problems has slowed that to a crawl.
I think I'll have to dust off an old historical fantasy based in ancient Phoenicia and do some work on it.
I'm also considering sequels to both Lincoln Island and Spark of Life.
Thanks for looking in and remember - - - Don't let the page win!
Regards,
Adrian
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