Fantabulous February 500 words/day--all genres welcome!

I don't really expect much of February, being a shorter month, plus I'll be away to Bournemouth to the SciFi Ball for a few days, and will need to start work on the blog and facebook stuff for my boss. But I would like to maybe churn out a couple more shorts and get at least a little bit more done on my WIPs.

I did OK in January--not spectacular, but I did make forward progress in writing and editing. Hope February is more consistent in that.

937 new words today, bringing my WIP up to 31,820. Will have to break soon to write that novella. But I have it all plotted, so I'm hoping that will go quickly.

And 830 more words in a rare second session.

January was a waste of time in all senses. No NetBook, so no Starbucks sessions. Spent most of it hacking up a lung and feeling rubbish.

Managed a total word count of 7,478 which is an average of 241 words a day.

So, it shouldn't be too hard to improve on that for this month. Still no NetBook, but I have decided to adapt my writing habits. Instead of early morning Starbucks writing sessions, I am scheduling evening hour-long 'writing sprints' - just means I have to make time in the evening instead of doing something else (watching TV, going to pub, whatever).

First one of February was tonight, and I did 2,091 words so very good start for this month.

902 at 2 am. I have more to do later.

I met my one January goal which was to hit the 40k mark in my YA thriller! I'm just over 40k now.
My Feb goals:
- finish the novel by Feb. 10 - it's only going to be at around 50k 'cause it's YA.
- Get to almost finishing the first round of editing by the end of the month.
Looking ahead:
- I'd really like to have this book query-ready by April 1st, spend a couple weeks on the query letter and synopsis, and send my first query on this novel by April 15th. We'll see how that works out.

January was pretty good for me. Wrapped up four chapters, averaging 2K per chapter. Not great, but not too shabby. Not so great tonight, less that 500 so far and the muse has decided to take a break.

My goal for this month, even if it is a short one, is to shoot for 12 to 14k. If I didn't have to work my day job I could probably finish the first draft by the end of the month. Just so damn tired, mentally, to do much after work.

(I did by a lottery ticket today. )

I edited a short story today, got about halfway through out of 7,500 words, cut it down to 7,300. Not a good day though, really bad fever, hallucinations, the lot. Hopefully more words tomorrow now I'm better.

Still fleshing everything out, so I haven't started actually writing yet, but Feb is my month to jump back into fiction (and apparently non-fiction, as I have a research project going too).

I feel like I spent half of January sick with stomach bugs (or perhaps the same stomach bug) which has been less than pleasant and has severely cut into my working time. I'm also doing more odd job sort of work to pay bills.

That being said, I'm not disappointed. I didn't expect to accomplish too much in January because I knew it was going to be a tough month, what with getting back to school and teaching a new class, but even if I didn't get as much done as I wanted, I did get somewhere. More than that, I now have a fair idea of how to fix a few of the problems with the current WIP, and best of all, I actually have enough to go on to start work on the new story in the next month or two.

So February is going to be spent doing research and getting the rest of my outline in order, along with character sketches, and just getting as much of the current WIP done as possible. Also it's my birthday this month so woohoo!

Also no more being sick. Because seriously, this sucks.

My goal is to finish the three short submissions I'm writing for the local writers club, then make myself submit one of them to a magazine. I finished the first draft of one of them last night.

750 words.

Stretching my writing into other genres makes me uncomfortable, but I can see how it will help me. Sort of like working out - no pain, no gain.

Have a great write everyone!

Lucie

533 words this morning. Have my protagonist hidden under a desk while the university goes into lock down. And all she can think of is Ann Frank. Not sure if that is going to work, but...

Reading that so many of you are sick--1. I hope you all feel better. 2. Don't breathe on the rest of us.

January was good - apart from last Wednesday. I completed my part of the Shakespeare Sandwich script. Also completed most of the research for the programme notes, just have to type them up in something resembling a known language.

Internet stopped working last night so I couldn't report, but I had 1,683 yesterday. My word count only reflects a bit of that because I was actually rewriting a scene that was already in there, so I was cutting as I was writing, but I still came out ahead so that's a good think.

Also sorted out another detail that's a big improvement on what I had originally planned, so woot for that.

Y'all go now. Go now. Since my debut just debuted, my word count just fell off the table. Too much to round up and move down the promotion line. I'll get back on it quickly though.

I am going to finish my WIP in February. There, I've said it! Kick me in March if I don't!

***polishes boots so they're ready for March ... just in case***

2,219 words to finish up my article on local wrestlers of the 1910-30 era. By deadline I might add.

About 700 for me today. Rounded out another scene and now deliberating on how to start the next one.

HistorySleuth said:

***polishes boots so they're ready for March ... just in case***

2,219 words to finish up my article on local wrestlers of the 1910-30 era. By deadline I might add.

Click to expand...

I'll hold you to it!

Wooo Hoooo! Finished the programme notes!!

Way to go. Did no one else get anything done yesterday, too?

I managed probably 100 words. Tried to get some done while babysitting, but the kids wanted to do art projects so getting any writing in turned out to be impossible.

Nothing done for a couple of days. Awful day today, followed by another rejection, this one form. Definitely think my acceptance was just a fluke. I'm not cut out for this writing lark.

Well, I actually got wordage today. Not a lot, but the day isn't over yet. Currently I'm at 275 words, bringing the chapter to 957 words. A poor showing if I'm to get this first draft completed before April.

On the upside, the WIP is well over 33K.


ETA: Just noticed that my postings have finally topped 2K!

Update: Got another 422 words for a total of 697! Brings the chapter up to 1379.

Congrats on the 2K postings, Ken. We all enjoy them.

I put down 1136 words today and hope to pick up more tonight.

Not a good showing this morning, only 205 words, and that's since 8 a.m. The muse is being stubborn. Might have to kick her in the... well, maybe not a good idea. Don't want to piss her off.



ETA: Another 102 words since I posted. The muse is still being a little....you know what. Hopefully the words will start flowing again soon.


ETA to the ETA: A total of 508 today. Things are getting intense. That will probably be all for today. Off to a Super Bowl party and doubt I'll be in any shape to write afterward. Though, it's rumored that Papa did his best writing when he was drunk. Who knows? *shrug*