November 2020 Challenge - Write Every Day!

Magnus

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This is a thread open to anyone who wants to start, maintain, or reinforce a writing habit. (It can also be about revision, editing, research, or even just the everyday stuff you need to keep up with to support your writing.)

The idea is that repeating something daily will build a habit that becomes stronger over time.

It's entirely up to you how much and in what way you participate. Post your goals if you like, or just check in when you can!

Here are some tips:




  • Set achievable goals – I can't stress enough how important this is. To build a habit, doing something is more important than quantity or quality.
  • Try to do a little every day – even if it's just writing a sentence or two. It reinforces the habit of sitting down to write and makes it easier to get keep it up in the long run.
  • Be adaptive – You'll always be facing new challenges, and what works for someone else doesn't always work for you. What worked for you last week might not work this week. Try different types of goals, different times of the day, and different tricks to reward or motivate yourself. A good habit is what works for you, today.
  • Be patient – It takes a long time to build a strong habit, and progress happens in tiny increments; you won't always notice it day by day, or even week by week.
  • Failure is a part of the process – Failure is a natural part of improving your skills. It lets you figure out what went wrong so you can do better in the future. When you fail to hit your target, your job is figuring out why it happened. That way, you can find ways to get around your roadblocks (and don't be scared of lowering the bar).



Remember: if you share your experiences in the thread, others might be able to help out with tips, tricks, and support! And it's okay to just take a break for a day or two, or have scheduled days off. Find what works for you.

Good luck, and see you November 1st!
 

Woollybear

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I am in!

1. More CP weekly workshopping on excerpts
2. Print out 'paperback style' formatted copy and edit hardcopy
3. Approach a few beta readers by the end of the month, woohoo!

More minor (harder to quantify) goals: Continue accentuating emotions and descriptions throughout. Examine the agency of the main characters throughout and try to tweak that upward.
 

ChaseJxyz

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Nov 11 is when I can start editing so...30 minutes+ of working on it? I might tweak it depending on how it goes.

- - - Updated - - -

Nov 11 is when I can start editing so...30 minutes+ of working on it? I might tweak it depending on how it goes.
 

Cindyt

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Thanks, Magnus! :snoopy:

1. Publish ebook (Dress Her in Chameleon).
2. Finish the second draft of A Deadly Spill of Scarlet.
3. Finish and publish the untitled second article in The Hunger Series on my Growing Up Buford blog.
3 Write every day.
 

Layla Nahar

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I'm in with my usual Write + Life = 3; that is to deal with Life without letting that get in the way of writing

1) Add words to my WIP
2) One action of responsibility or self-care
3) "Prosperity" (BP/$$) - one action to earn money and improve my ability to earn money or on my 'Big Project' - basically finish my kind of Marie Kondo thing to make my home and possessions foster a better life for me...
 

Pterofan

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Oboy, here we go...

Last November I vowed to write 1000 words each and every day; my version of NaNoWriMo. And I did it. 31,000 words. So this year will be the 2nd Annual "All November--Get Stuff Typed" challenge. (AKA "ANGST"). What the heck, my blood pressure's too low anyway...

Typing "oh sh*t" over and over 500 times does not count.

If I pull this off again, I'm getting a mushroom pizza. A whole one, so I can heat up the leftovers and enjoy it twice.
 

Keithy

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I've been struggling a bit of late, but have spent time mulling and reviewing things written but not complete.

No goals, but do what can be done.
 
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Magnus

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I'm considering doing some private variant of NaNoWriMo for my novel, as I definitely need to get going with putting words on the pages. I have enough information to write now and I feel I may have gotten stuck on trying to perfect all the background material. I know how it starts and I know roughly where I need it to end. Full outlines was never my thing as they just remove the joy from it. I need to start writing scenes that I can put together. I'll decide tomorrow and likely get started on Monday.
 

Keithy

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Driveby (again)

well done to everyone who's written a zillion words today.

As for myself, I've been reviewing Fishy Tail. It's better than I thought it was, although lacking in some areas.

(Phew, it looks like I know something about writing after all)
 

April Swanson

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I'm in! My goal is just to make steady progress on Book 4. I got 35k last month, so something around that number would be fine.

Keithy: Glad you're back in the saddle, and good luck with big-picture musing. You've definitely done the hard part already-- ye can't edit a blank page and all that.

1700 for me yesterday. My Amazon account glitched on Fri, causing much teeth-gnashing/hair-pulling/gin-drinking. The glitch corrected itself on Saturday and there doesn't seem to be lasting damage to my rankings, but it did reinforce my decision not to be exclusive with the 'zon.

Anyhoo, the end of 2020 is in sight, folks. Let's do this!
 

DanielSTJ

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Holy jeez!!! Everyone, I went homeless and then to the hospital so I had to bail on last month without notice. I am still in hospital, but everything is now OK. I'm working on a Chromebook. I will participate this month every day! Missed you all. Let's do this!!!! (I was still writing and reading!)
 
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The Second Moon

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I'm in. Here are my three goals:

Publish Barney, Mr. Thomas, and the Alligator Creature (BIGGEST GOAL)

Write more on Barney, Mr. Thomas, and the Serum Maker

Write more on new MG alien/first contact project that I'm calling The Chosen Planet Earth or maybe I'll call it something else I'm only 1,052 words into it right now...We'll see how it goes.
 
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Woollybear

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Daniel! Are you OK? :Hug2:

Day 1: Have been working on chapter 14. My notes on this chapter from finishing draft four last month were: Inane. Inane. Inane. Inane.

Continue working this chapter today.
 

Layla Nahar

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well, w000t! The gang's all here -


woolly - congrats on your Ch. 14 work :)


Day 1


WIP - added words
R/SC - got back to an administrative task I've been hating dealing with...
BP/$$ - started filling out an aid form; job, 8 hours
 

ChaseJxyz

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April: Glad you got it sorted out. Putting all your eggs in one basket is always really risky, especially since Amazon could always change their policies on a whim and really hurt you.
Daniel: I'm glad you're doing okay!
Woolly: Great work.
Layla: Congrats on words!

Day 1: Did a bunch of research on ice ages, ended up watching a mini doc series on big cats on curiosity stream (pleistocene animals so it counts as research! And cat people), did research on PTSD and moved things around on the timeline. Some character ages and order of events were funky in the first draft but it's all smoothed over now. I'm out of things to research/things to figure out so I'll have to look at my editing to-do list and see what other things might be there to do. Or to actually look at things about how2edit.

I barely slept last night, which sucked. I got melatonin so I'm hoping that helps.
 

Cindyt

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Day 1

Added Words

Dress Her in Chameleon - Line-by-line editing.

Daniel - Glad you’re better.

Layla - Woot on added words.


The highlight of my day was when Brandon Lee's best friend character actor Bill Allen liked my reply on his fb post. He was the lead in the 1986 bicycle-stunt movie Rad with Lori Loughlin and has appeared in a gazillion other films and TV shows.
 
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April Swanson

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Daniel: Bloody hell, that sounds like quite an ordeal. Glad you’re okay.

Woolly: Good luck with Chap 14!

Layla: Yay for words and tackling evil tasks.

Chase: Sounds like fun research! No sleep isn’t fun though.

Cindyt: Cool! Nice job with the line edits, too.

702 yesterday. The MS is sitting at 27,840, but I think most of that will end up in the bin. It seems I need to write a lot of crap before I get anything decent.
 

DanielSTJ

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Goals: Write, read, create! I have my own website in the works.

Day 1: Yes!

(I'll get to all of you tonight!!!)
 

The Second Moon

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Day 1 - 1,920 words.

I'm shocked by my word count. That's almost 2,000 words in one day. What a great start to the month!

April - When I feel that way on a first draft I remember something I saw online saying that you "should use your first draft to get your words down". Just sling all those words down and then you can edit to later. It seems like you're in that mindset anyways, so good thinking.

ChaseJxyz - I didn't sleep much on the 31st but not because of the holiday. It was because of my dog's snoring. She's a little rat terrier, only weighing 13 pounds, but yet she snores like a jet engine.
 

Pterofan

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Day 1 -roughly around 1100 words (typed and longhand)

Made it! Getting there was not easy. I typed up the recent longhand, which was 700, but those words were already reported. I wanted 1000 new words, so I continued with the scene, typed around 300...and petered out again. I tried working longhand and got maybe another 50 down before I got stuck. Finally I just said screw it and started flinging random words onto notebook paper in a flash scene until I had just short of two full (and full-sized) pages, for an estimated 800 words, getting me to goal.

Here's the best part: the scene itself doesn't really go anywhere, but partway through it my characters started talking in their own brand of slang. Whoever they are, they're a bunch of lower-class teenagers left to fend for themselves, probably in some YA dystopian world I haven't created yet. Most of those 800 words were crap, but those kids and their lingo may show up someday in a different world and in a better story.

Anyone who feels they've written crap, or had to trunk a story, or is having second thoughts--don't worry about it. Set it aside and let it age. Even if it can't be resurrected, there's no doubt some gold to be mined to add lustre to a different setting. No writing ever goes to waste.

Twenty-nine days to go...
 

Layla Nahar

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Chase - research is fun :)
Cindy - congrats on the words and the editing
April, congrats on the 702, & much feels about the crap ratio
Daniel - Hello!
Moon - awesome word count!
Ptero - congrats on making that word goal :)


Day 2


WIP - well, it looks like I might have an Autumn Chair - since the sun is so different & all. It's on the other side of the porch. Added words
R/SC - bit o' ballet, groceries, book-keeping, the horrible paperwork (which included a phone call to an agency that put me on a callback list and then didn't call back...)
BP/$$ - a bit more work on an application
 

Woollybear

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Layla: Congrats!

April: It's good you can toss what isn't working. Good discipline.

Daniel: Thank goodness you are better. <3

Pterofan: That is a fantastic perspective--and it's true! I had an oil painting in one scene and it kept not working so it got hung up elsewhere in a different story and it still didn't work so now it is the manuscript I'm writing now--same fictional painting finally found its home. :)

Chase: Pleistocene, pleistocene, everybody loves the pleistocene.... (I'm singing)

Second moon: Congratulations!!!!!!

Cindy: LOL, those moments are great. Your post makes me grin!

Me: Working on chapter 14. I'm quite distracted today so I did some yard work outside. Lots of neighbors are walking--lots of neighborly catching up. One of my neighbors runs a book club and I might see if it's a good fit.
 
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Keithy

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Pterofan - very nice 1K there.
Woolly - ask if the neighbour does discounts.
Second Moon - ooh, that's a big pile of words!

OK, very tired and very busy today. But I got some writing done!

126 words on Dustworld.

:)
 
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April Swanson

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Daniel: Nice work!

Second: Woo, excellent job!

Pterofan: Absolutely. No words are a waste, even if it feels like it at the time.

Layla: Yay for Autumn Chair!

Woolly: I hear you on the distraction.

Keithy: Nice work beating the blank page.

Around 1200 for me yesterday. It’s going to be hard to focus over the next couple of days, but I shall try my best!