September Challenge – Write (More) Every Day!

Feel better, Magnus!!!!

Day 12
Another thousand words, but I was pretty tired after two migraines in a row so when I go back and reread them they might be pretty nonsensical. I was too tired to try to edit. I can babble out a (very) rough draft but revising requires bringing actual thinking to the task.

Pretty much nothing done today apart from deleting a few sentences. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.

Today seemed hard. I got in about 120 words in two WIPs & I started a job letter and wrote half of it.

underpope...hope you got something done yesterday with your extra time.
Magnus....sorry to hear you are battling depression. Please keep on putting up the good fight!
Keithy...still doing better than me. Better luck today!
Layla...keep it up. Each of those short sessions add up!

Me...nothing...again. The ideas are still fresh. My goal is to finish this sucker (well, the first draft at least) by the end of this year. I need a kick in the rear.

Hello, wonderful writers! I got my first round of edits back from my editor at the publishing press yesterday, so now I have a little less than 2 weeks to get my novella edited up. So far, I'm tackling the edits after work when I get home in the evening, and using any down time at work to continue putting words down, and it's working - I wrote about 1,000 yesterday and 1,400 today! (This will not continue this weekend with my visitors.) Spreading lots of good cheer to everyone~

OK, I have got chapter 5 under control now apart from a few loose threads. It's set at a funeral; there were two characters having a quiet intrigue, now there are three having an argument.

~300 new words today.

Next job is change the POV for chapter 17.

Keep it up everyone! I've had dud days and good days this week. I watched an inspiring video today, where the speaker highlighted the importance of setting weekly goals, as well as daily. That way, if you have bad days you can make up for them. Just thought it sounded like yet another good way to push oneself.

heykatydid...nice work. Are you excited to be starting the edits? I personally like editing my work better than trying to get that first draft down.

Magnus...that's a great plan! Hope you will be feeling better and raring to go in a couple of days.

Keithy...nice work! I can picture them fighting.

Mary Love...that sounds like a good idea. I'm trying five days a week / 4,000 words per week. I guess if I can't get my butt in gear, I can try to have a writing marathon on Saturday and still make my week's goal. (Not likely to happen, but hey, you never know!)

I did actually write something today. 223 words. So that's like 323 for the month. Not great, but at least I wrote something. Finally.

Magnus said:

Day 12
Something like once every 4-6 weeks I get into a pre-depression slump and have to spend my energy getting through the day and fighting off the real thing for a couple of days, at which time most of my regular stuff goes down the drain. So today I've mostly kept my nose above water. It'll be better soon, so don't worry too much. But the hugs do help.

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I'm in the same boat, but knowing my personal signs for depression and adjusting my expectations helps a lot. Way to be proactive about your care! I'm a married woman so I'll just give a high five

Katy - sweet progress!!
Magnus, ambae, do what you need to do
Kiethy, congratulations on the 300!
DL - nice, congrats on the 230 words. I was going to offer to kick your bum for you, but it seems I don't have to anymore.

Day 13: I did about 300 words in 3 WIPs.
I drafted one job letter.
and -
I got my car inspected. Even though it's stressful for me I did it without waiting for a major nudge like - getting a citation for example…

Hello all in the word trenches! How is the month almost half over already? I mean, really. Where did all the days go? I'm glad to see all of you are chipping away at your great stone monoliths. That's kind of what it feels like, doesn't it? Just remember that our challenge here is just to try and write every day. Even if at some point you resort to the poo haiku...

Day 13 gives me 243 words. Not really what my target for the day was, but it's 243 words that I didn't have yesterday. That's right, I got zero words (again) yesterday.

D.L. Shepherd said:

heykatydid...nice work. Are you excited to be starting the edits? I personally like editing my work better than trying to get that first draft down.

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I am actually have a really fun time with the edits! This is my first time being published by someone else (I have self-published my other works) and not having it be a business transaction (I hire a freelance editor for my self-pubs), and it's a fun and interesting experience so far. It's rewarding to go through and tighten things to make the story that much better.

It is, however, doubling up my writing workload by having both a desired word count goal each day and the timeline for my second draft turnaround, haha. But I'm hoping to get some more words in today!

ambmae...Will you be joining our challenge, or just popping in to say a few words of encouragement for Magnus? (Either of which is cool, of course!)

Layla...Did the car pass? If so, one *less* thing to stress about now, so that's good news! If not, at least you know what's wrong with it, right? (Hoping it passed though!)

Esmae...that's how I've been. 243 is a good day...and 20 words more than my 223!

heykatydid...that's awesome that you are enjoying the edits. Good luck with the book! Sorry about the double the workload thing, but at least you're pursuing your dream, right?

As for me, I worked today, cleaned the house, brushed one dog & cleaned his ears, fed all the four-leggers, did my bookkeeping work, cleared my desk, and checked all my social media...all in anticipation of getting some writing done tonight. Remember that *social media* was the last thing I did? Well, I got an email from my husband that he's coming home early tonight...

We work opposite schedules a lot, and it sucks, so I'm happy he's coming home, but I doubt I'll get as much writing done because we'll probably cook dinner earlier too, instead of eating at like ten at night.

Maybe I can at least crack out a paragraph before he gets in. I'll let you all know tomorrow.

If not, I guess I'm starting fresh again on the 15th with Magnus.

OK I have made some progress today on chapter 17 and how it relates to my new MC and her part in the previous and future chapters. And I have to say elevating her to MC is proving to be a very good thing: it has thickened and strengthened my main plot. The bad news is that I cannot simply replace one name with another when changing POV (for some reason I thought I could).

As far as new words go, I wrote 5 (five) words: "We need more intrigue here!!!"

Alas, Saturday looks like a washout as far as doing any book work :-(

day 13
Nothing. I woke up to some very brutal critique from a reader and it just killed my writing for the day.

Esmae - 243 words - that's an excellent day
Katy - happy editing, & I hope you get those other words in
DL - glad you had a productive day! & if you can spend time with the Mister, that sounds nice. Hope you have a lovely dinner - & more info below.

Day 14: 148 words in three stories
today was a thumbs up day

First, DL - the car passed, but I have one small repair to make asap, another small one I can get to more when I can, and a third that will probably fail me for next years inspection, but that's expensive so I can wait a year. BUT - my friend came to help me with the repairs, we couldn't get the parts but he helped me wash and vacuum it - so long over due, and I had been wanting to do it but it's such a big project, so I feel so good that I took nice care of my little car

I've written one job letter and I'm going to see if I can get another one in.

It's nice to keep on keeping on with y'all!

Day 14 - 111 words. At this rate I might crack 660 as a combined total by Saturday. *sigh*

Congrats everyone on getting this far... I think the next couple of days are going to be bad for me.

Keithy...glad changing your character is improving the story. Sorry the next few days are going to be a washout, but at least you know what you are working on when you do pick it back up!

Collie...so sorry about the negative critique. Hope after sleeping on it you're feeling a bit better today and will push past it!

Layla...so mostly good news about your car...plus it's squeaky clean! At least you've got a year to save. Hopefully you'll land an awesome job between now and then, and it will be less of a worry.

Esmae....I cracked out 200 words last night too, making my total for the month only about 523. So you've still got me beat. Let's try to *at least* double our word counts during the second half of this month.

Magnus...today is the big day. No pressure or anything, but hope to see you back here, feeling better and plowing ahead. Especially since you started this thread!

Fruitbat...you too. Where are you at? We miss you!

Day 14
Did some revision and wrote 1,000 words. Not in a project I especially care about but it's nice to keep the faucet going.

Magnus - I think the reader meant to be helpful but it wasn't. It read as if it were brutal for the sake of being brutal. I thanked her for her time and said I didn't think we were a good fit for one another as critique partners. I think she just generally dislikes the genre I like to write.

Today was tough. I *did* get in about 100 words in two stories in the morning, and then did another 100 or so when I got back, but - I started the day thinking I might have a well paying gig for next week that would take care of a lot of financial fear - but by the end of the day I had no response from the recruiter, and the start day should have been Monday...

I also have to find a new housemate, and that is very stressful.

ETA: After I posted this I had a go at another version of a job letter for a gig that I'd really like. So I'm glad I did something for my (more) part of the September challenge

Ah-ha, I just finished 513 words of wonderful (I hope) intrigue: one of those conversations that seems so polite yet is laden with meanings below the surface. It's just so much fun writing in such a naughty, teasing and oblique manner.

Onward... but probably not tomorrow. Too much to do.

Just keep swimming everyone!