Joyful June - 500 words a day writing/editing - all genres welcome

Saoirse, I am so sorry for your pain, but kudos on all the great words. For me, May was busy and eye-opening. I went to a con and met some agents ... I'll not hold my breath but the feedback so far on Paradox is good.

For now, I'm revising my third act so I can send this baby out as requested. The agent said, "Take your time," so I hope three weeks isn't too long. After this week, I'm starting my next book, Tricks of Light. That's where my word count goal of 8,000 will come in. For now, I've set aside all freelancing to focus on my long-neglected career as a novelist. (Did I say that? No, I did not quit the day job but still consider it secondary to my writing career.)

Best to everyone hitting the keys!

Thanks for starting the thread, Saoirse. I hope June is as pain-free as possible for you.

Good luck, lucie. I also love that title!

For me, May was a frustrating month. I got some good words and some great support, but I want to progress further and faster. I've set myself a challenge of finishing the first draft of this WIP by the end of October, which would mean I could do Nano in November with a brand new story. That will require a lot of effort on my part and I'll need to seriously up my output. But the idea of having finished two first drafts in a year is very tempting.

So in that spirit, my target for this month is a hefty 20,000 words.

Best of luck, everyone.

Well my goal for this month is to finish the first draft of the WIP. Which may be a tad ambitious, but do-able, as long as I am disciplined. I'm just under 50,000 words at present, and my first drafts are normally somewhere between that and 70,000.

Too many characters still left alive at present, though. There will be mass murder of characters this month. Heh heh heh...

Good start today with 1,056 words.

I'm sorry to hear about the eye pain, Saoirse. Chronic pain is so fatiguing. I hope you can find some meds that work.

Congratulations on the May progress, everyone! And commiserations on roadblocks and frustrations.

My May was sort of weird and emotionally volatile, but I do have a book proposal out right now. The book is getting written no matter what, so what's up in the air is how it makes it out to the rest of the world. I didn't get anything of substance done on WIP #2, which is a series book, because of the distractions of WIP #1 - and then a first pass edit for Book 3 showed up in my mailbox, and I have to get that back to them by <checks calendar> Oh, look! Tomorrow!

I also attended a con in Philadelphia over the weekend, which was part frustration and part fun, and I met some lovely people and spent way too much money on fannish jewelry and crocheted Pokemon.

So! June is going to be more words on WIP #1, which I'm hoping to have finished by the end of July so I can polish the daylights out of it and have it pretty much done by the end of September, so it can (if necessary) go out on general sub. And I want to work some on WIP #2, since I thought a lot about the series during the con, and it's on my mind. (I'm also thinking of a series short following a character from Book 3, but that may have to stay a thought for a while, until I can carve out some time to write it.)

My goal for May was to finish the 1st draft of my WIP, which I did. Admittedly, it's a very, very rough 1st draft, so my goal for June (and probably July/Aug/Sept...) is to reread and edit.

I hope all goes well for all of you! That your ails be seldom and brief and that your words be many.

I have about 5 chapters to go. If I could get 3 completed by the end of the month, I would be extremely happy. Last month went well. I didn't get as much done on my novel as I wanted but I got quite a lot of writing completed in general. Quite a few pieces of flash, which have now been submitted.

The only thing I see standing in the way of getting 3 chapter completed this month is that near the end of the month, I'm moving to Nova Scotia.

Good luck and good writing!

Wow, Brechin, that's quite a move, isn't it?? Good luck with preparing!

And on the freelance job, Saoirse! Here's to many more on the way.

I'm dithering, I think. I did a detailed outline of what I've got so far on WIP #1, and I think I know where I want to go next, but this one is really weird to write. I have a lot of little threads, and I have to pay them all enough attention without having my characters see connections that they shouldn't be able to see yet. It's sort of like I have to think very carefully about the story while I'm writing, while not thinking too much about the story at all. If I can pull it off, it'll be brilliant, but that's feeling like a big "if" atm.

I've had three consecutive writing mornings this week, and have achieved my 3000 words a week.

Brechin - good luck with the move


Saoirse - congrats on the job


Liz - your new WIP sounds interesting. Good luck weaving all those threads together.


I haven't been well for the last couple of days so nothing to report. Hopefully, tomorrow I shall get a chance to get my BIC and get some editing done.

2020 today, and I've broken 40K!

I also wrote a blog post that may or may not get posted. I don't know why I worry so much about blog posts; a popular one sometimes gets as many as 30 hits, so it's not like it's going to make a big difference.

Congrats on the words, liz.


Enjoy your vacation, Saoirse.

One scene edited today. Hoping to get more done this evening.

Hi everyone,

Newbie here!

This June, I reached my 30th year on this planet. As I blew out the candles on my cake, an epiphany had befallen me. I want my stories to be heard (or read).

My journey through the internet had led me to this haven for MTS writers. I've been bruised and bloodied by many forums. However, I will not give up on my quest in finding a guide that would genuinely provide constructive criticism on my writing.

For any oldies sitting in the darkened corner who are eyeing fresh new clay to mold and shape; please rise up and shout "Aye" if you are interested to my selfish request.

Loving the community so far.

Thanks in advance.

Brechin, good luck on the move! Shara and Liz, great counts! Muse I'm glad you're feeling better. Saoirse, congrats on the freelance work! I love seeing everyone's progress. On revision, I'm. actually down about 300 words so far, but that's okay. I'll pick it up at the close.

Welcome HeicMio! I'm so glad you are seeking critique as I think it's one of the best ways to inorove and keep your quality from slipping. Some NYT Best Selling authors could use a good critique by book 3! There's a critique room here where you can put up a scene after a certain number of posts. Not certain how many. Also, I recommend a local critique group where you can meet a couple times a month or so. Mine meets weekly most of the year, bi-weekly in summer. We really have helped each other improve.

Best to all,
Lucie

Excellent start on the edits, Saoirse! And I hope your vacation is going nicely.

Go, muse!

Welcome, HeicMio! Beware: we are stern taskmasters* here.

Posted my blog entry this morning, then just sort of noodled all day until I found myself with 4,574 new words. Plot bunnies are popping up thick and fast - I won't need them all in the end, but until I've got a first draft I won't know which ones I can get rid of, so: whee, words!

*not really

Hi HeicMio, and welcome.

Lucie - good luck with the revision

Liz - congrats on the words - and the blog post.

Another scene edited. It was a tricky one because I'd kinda glossed over it when getting down the first draft. There were a lot of plot holes that had to be filled, so while it was only 1 scene it was a LOT of work.

Lucie! Lovely to see you!

muse - I am very familiar with those "oops, I actually kind of need to write a scene or two here" types of edits. Well done.

I've done 1,616 words today, which Scrivener tells me is sufficient to keep me on goal, and I may stop for the night just to keep my head clear.

Go, team!

Yeah -- It's a pretty big move. Roughly 14 hours of driving. With three dogs.

604 words today.

I'm trying to get back into my rhythm. Recently, I feel like I've sorta hit a slump.

Brechin Frost said:

Yeah -- It's a pretty big move. Roughly 14 hours of driving. With three dogs.

604 words today.

I'm trying to get back into my rhythm. Recently, I feel like I've sorta hit a slump.

Click to expand...

As long as you're still getting words down, Brechin you'll do fine.

YAY to everyone who managed words this week and 's to those who are struggling.

I worked on a scene today, but I'm out tonight, so won't get much more done.

Happy writing everyone.

Hi everyone,

Took your advice and started looking for critique partners here in Dubai. Fingers crossed.

Done with 2,500 words today. Aiming for another 2K words tomorrow.

My eyes are twitching already, need some shut eye now.

On another note, girlfriend's been bugging me for the first draft of my novel. Should I show it to her?

Brechin - slumps happen, and it seems to me you have a LOT going on right now. The words will be there when you're ready for them.

muse, I hope your night out is fun!

HeicMio, I think whether or not you show your girlfriend depends entirely on what you're hoping to get from her reading your stuff, but I'm wary about sharing my early stuff in general.

I wrote 2,051 words today. With some luck/work, I'll break 50K tomorrow. Bashing my way toward a particular scene, and I'm still not quite sure when it's going to show up.