The Kidlit Gang's Support and Accountability Thread

Smish

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Writers need to write, right? But if some of you are like me, you don't write nearly enough. You work long hours. Your kids take all your time and energy. The cows need to be milked. You're a full-time student. There are times when life just gets in the way.

So, what should we do? Find time to write anyway! I bet we can all squeeze a little writing time in every week, probably every day, if we put our minds to the task. So, let's support each other and hold one another accountable.

What do you say? What are your goals for the week?

I'll start: my goal for this week is 3,000 words. :Thumbs:
 

Britwriter

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I can't think in word count, but I want to get my new picture book idea drafted. And, I'd like to get my head around the middle of the plot of my MG rewrite. :)
 

MsJudy

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Well, right now, my goal is 5 report cards a night. But then I did finish my WIP ahead of schedule, so now it's time to let it sit. 2 more weeks of school, a week of camping, and then it's dive headfirst into revisions.
 

Morrell

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I'm doing June NaNo camp. Starting Friday, my goal will be 1667 words per day, or 11,669 words per week. Great thread idea, Smish! I need all the support and peer pressure I can get. :)
 

Laura J

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I'd love to join in. My goal is 500 words per day. I'm 34,500 words into my MG novel. I really want to finish, so I can start revisising. I'm all plotted, just need to write.
 

Ferret

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I wrote 10,000 words in two and a half weeks, which is really good for me, but then I realized my plot was a tangled mess of messy tangles and had to scrap half of it. I just figured out the last major plot point, so it's a good time for a word count goal. I think five hundred words a day sounds right--maybe more on weekends.
 

Smish

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All right, gang! You can all do it -- and when the going gets tough, the rest of us will be here for suport. Keep coming to this thread to report your progress/check in. :Thumbs:
 

sissybaby

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May I play, too?

I haven't met any goals lately. Been a total shirker, even though I have been encouraging others and promoting others on my blog. Does that count as writing?

I will set a personal goal of 500 words this week, keeping in mind that I'm going to bed now and that tomorrow will already be Thursday and that is injection day for me so my morning is shot (oh. I made a pun.)

But, yeah, 500 words by Saturday. Hold me to it, gang. No excuses. And if I don't do it, promise to throw cupcakes at me for my crime. Preferably chocolate cupcakes. Not the minis, either.

Sissy
 

JoyMC

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Sissy, in my book, getting chocolate cupcakes thrown at you isn't exactly punishment. It's a messy reward. ;)

This is great, Smish. Good for you for starting it.

I'm pretty (okay, extremely) self-motivated, but I want to play to be a support to others. I do 1200 words/day on my work for hire, which is middle grade, but I don't think I'm even going to count that.

I'm going to say 3000 additional words in the next week on my WIPs. I've gotten 50 pages into a new middle grade project, and then in this last week I was assaulted by a YA contemporary idea that's not letting me go. I don't usually juggle two first drafts, but I think I'm going to bounce between the two. So the 3000 words can be on either WIP. So, I guess 3000 words by next Wednesday.

For maximum accountability, here are the current word counts:

middle grade WIP: 13,600
YA WIP: 3600
 

SheilaJG

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What a great idea, Smish. I have been wallowing in the query process for so long, and it's taken a toll on my psyche. All that rejection, all that waiting - it saps the writing motivation right out of me. I know I should keep moving forward, write new things, etc. But I'm kind of depressed about writing right now.

So, I'm going to make a goal right now - I'm going to write a 5000 word short story by the end of June. There, I said it. Now I have to do it. Starting right now. Here I go. Opening Word. There, it's open. There's a blank page staring at me. I'm typing the first word. It's "Mortimer." Erasing "Mortimer." Thinking, thinking . . .

(You guys probably don't want that kind of in-depth progress report, sorry. Will be back with solid progress soon.)
 

Smish

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Sheila's 5,000 word short story will turn into a novel. Just ask her about her 100,000 word picture book. :D
 

Morrell

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Starting right now. Here I go. Opening Word. There, it's open. There's a blank page staring at me. I'm typing the first word. It's "Mortimer." Erasing "Mortimer." Thinking, thinking . . .

I don't know, Sheila... I think you were really on to something with "Mortimer". :roll:
 

SheilaJG

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Sheila's 5,000 word short story will turn into a novel. Just ask her about her 100,000 word picture book. :D

So you know what a great challenge this is for me! (and it was 120,000 words, I'll have you know. There was an extensive Epilogue at the end).

Joy - you just spoiled my cop-out excuse. When the end of June arrives and my story is way too long, I was going to say I meant June, 2015.

(and I rewrote "Mortimer," so I'm back up to 1 word. Yay, progress!)
 

Laura J

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Done! I tell you this worked for me. Because as of this AM, I had 405 words. I had to stop for activities. But, I made myself come back to it to add at least the 95 words I owed. I did 580 and I may do more.

Word count 35,080. Thanks for this. I really needed the accountability.
 

Kitty Pryde

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Mortimer came over to my apartment and stole 500 words of my WIP. I swear it! Now I'll have to do it all over. *grumble, grumble*
 

sissybaby

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Sheesh. You guys are so proDUCtive. I wrote more than my 500 words today, but it was for blogs and other stuff. My novel still sits at the last count. (sigh). I still have two more days.
 

Morrell

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2224 words today! I wrote all afternoon--it was lovely. Today's words won't count toward my NaNo count, but I don't care. I'm more interested in getting the story down than in doing it within a certain time frame.
 

SheilaJG

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Mortimer came over to my apartment and stole 500 words of my WIP. I swear it! Now I'll have to do it all over. *grumble, grumble*

That's so weird, because this is what I wrote today:

Mortimer the cat loved to eat words
better than cream cheese, bread crumbs, or birds
he munched like a fiend, on "wishes" and "coat"
Five hundred words went straight down his throat
And when he was done, he sighed with delight
That Kitty Pryde writes the best meals in sight.

(Okay, I promise, promise, promise not to post any more of my writing. I will Absolutely Stick to Updates Only from now on. Promise. And, um, that's 50 words for me today.)

Oh, and way to go Laura and Ruth!
 

SheilaJG

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:D He could give them back, but they might be all tangled up in a hair ball. Cats, sheesh, what are you gonna do?
 

Smish

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Good work... some of you. :D

And that mean ole' Mortimer had better stay away from me. :box:
 

Spiral

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I love this thread. Maybe just to read how everyone else is doing, but maybe also to make my own goals. I haven't written a single word since the end of February, since the fire. However, I will say that I will try to write 500 words this weekend. I have to start somewhere, right?