January Challenge - Write Every Day!

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oneblindmouse

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Jan 8th

600 words, though two thirds of that was not strictly text, being in fact a plan for a new short story, with ideas for characters, plot, names, etc, and notes from research on one of the real-life characters.
 

Esmae Tyler

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Day 8 - 340 words. I gave myself the day off yesterday and that might've been a mistake! Oh well.


Oneblindmouse - All the words count! Ideas too, when you can run with them. When they're not, you know, plot bunnies trying to distract you. Or builders. Or all the other things you're dealing with right now.

Disco - Good luck with submissions! That's a scary leap to make, but there's plenty of support around here for it.

Layla - A screenplay! That's a whole different kind of a critter, huh? Good luck with the story, too. That whole getting people to love the thing... thing... is tricky.

Daniel - Apparently you made tremendous improvement between yesterday and the day before. Congrats on finishing the draft!

Katy - Wow! A whole chapter! And the housecleaning. And... the decorations. I really ought to get on that. Of course I think we're getting rid of our tree this year. We've had an artificial one, the same one, for ages and it's really starting to show wear and tear, so taking down the decorations will be the step right before putting the whole thing in the garbage, so I really 'should' time it for a pickup day.

Ajaye - I totally don't know how to count beta reading. But you met your goal, so hey! No worries about the not writing thing as long as you don't fall out of the habit. I hear you on needing the routine. "Write every day" has been my goal for so long... and I finally got to the point where I had significant momentum in November. Not January. Keep the habit. We're here for you!

Maria - I wish my cat would sit in my lap. I might stay warmer! I do think that beta reading helps with writing. It's hard to articulate how, exactly, except you can see other people's writing styles and quirks, good and bad, and hopefully carry some of that over to your own work.

Kithica - Oh boy. The outlining process is... interesting. It can be fun; it can also be a headache. Good luck with it! And good luck with staying warm. I've heard the temperature is supposed to start improving later this week. I hope...

Magnus - Hurray for getting words in! Even a few.

Apologies if these seem a little scattered, y'all apparently posted several times as I was going down the list. I'm so happy about all the progress y'all have been making though. Great start to the new year. Keep it up! And probably will talk to you all in a few days, after the site move.
 

DanielSTJ

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Hey everyone! Track your totals while the forum is undergoing maintenance. Then, when we all come back, we'll see how we did! : D

All of you are still winners in my book. To try is to be a winner. Because, every defeat only takes you closer to your goals.

I'll see you all back here on Saturday-- I think!
 

Magnus

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Day 8
About 300 words, and good ones too, so I fell great about that!

Keep wording, worders!
 

Layla Nahar

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Thanks Maria, I hope so too! and congrats on the 600 words!
Daniel - like a boss as usual!
disco - nice, submitting is not chump change, that's for sure
mouse, 600 is great - congrats :)
(Daniel - I'm in trepidation already, thinking about getting thru the time without AW!!)
Magnus, 300 words is byootiful!


Day 8:

45 lines on a new WIP - this is a few characters who have been in my head for over a year. I got the book 'No Plot, No Problem' from the library & decided to go with the 'just keep following your characters around' idea -- working title for this one might be "The Dowager of Houlin"; a little more work on my short; a page (handwritten) on my screenplay; 13 lines in one WIP; work on my short (this is heavy on the revise as you go work, but it's up to 233 words today)
Ran some errands, did some work on my site
3/3

keep on keeping on yall
 
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ajaye

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Day 8 - I had a go at writing-without-editing-as-I-go and got 200ish words down. It was an excruciating exercise and I will never do it again. :p

But I do have something to work on for my second week in Jan story.

Keep those fingers flying all.
 

DanielSTJ

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Progress-- through the days that AW were offline:

Jan 10th= 975 words written.
Jan 11= 2,647 words written.
Jan 12= 1,355 words written.
Jan 14= 350 words written. (Basically, I fucked up. :p)
Jan 15= 1,342 words written.
 

Layla Nahar

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^most excellent, Sir!

Days 9 - 15 - no data
Day 16: filled two sides of a 8.5x11 sheet in one WIP

and oh. Woooooweeeeee were back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

D.L. Shepherd

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DanielSTJ...Wow...that's some nice word counts, even the day you say you fucked up. 350 words is a lot of words for some of us (like me) ha ha!

Nice work today Layla...and yes...YAY!...it's great to be back and be held accountable again!

So, I mostly lazed, but then I took two days and actually finished the thing, but then I lazed again.

This week I've decide to take a short break from it while I gather all of my tax papers from our business to give to our accountant, and then I have family staying through the weekend until Tuesday...but I plan to jump right back in on Wednesday with the edits. I guess I'll have to start tracking time spent editing instead of words written. I have a feeling that's going to be a real eye opener for me, and maybe it will push me to work even harder.
 
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heykatydid

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We're back!! I missed you all so much!!

I also kept a tally for while AW was down:

Jan 9 - Nothing, too anxious about having to go back to work the next day
Jan 10 - 763 words, one chapter edited
Jan 11- 514 words, 4 pages edited
Jan 12 - 364 words, one chapter edited
Jan 13 - Nothing! Shame.
Jan 14 - 6 pages edited
Jan 15 - one chapter edited
Jan 16 - 1.5 chapters edited

Obviously I've put writing to the side as I work on getting this revised draft of book 2 done, and it's been going really well since I'm super motivated due to the reviews I've been getting on book 1. I'm about 3/4 of the way through this draft now, and have been really good with sitting down after work (I get pages edited at work, too!) and doing a few more hours of editing after the workday. I only have 5 chapters left to do, so it's going swimmingly. I should start adding words back into this, but I'm thinking that finishing the draft is goal #1 right now.

Good luck, everyone!!
 

oneblindmouse

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I'm going to bow out of this challenge for this month. I'm far too stressed with the slow and unfriendly builders, and the logistics of not having a bathroom. I'm very tense and just can't concentrate. And have no idea how many more days this will last. And as soon as they finish we're travelling.

So maybe I'll rejoin another month.
 

Esmae Tyler

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Yay! Welcome back all! I... did not do an awesome job of writing every day. I did finish the draft of my solstice story, and then spent a while debating whether or not to rewrite it as an entirely different genre. I also made a first feeble attempt at thinking about revision of the 2017 manuscript which, erm, didn't get very far. I can't tell if it's because I'm still too close to the story or I just don't know that much about revision or a little of Columns A and B. I haven't even hit the real mess yet!
 

Keithy

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I've been working on the outline of my completely written 1st chapter.
 

Layla Nahar

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DL - lazing & finishing the thing FTW!!!
KATY!! niiice work! -- I was missing this group like crazy! It's so great to find such a supportive bunch of people
hey mouse - do what you need to do and take care of yourself. Would be great to see you again.
Esamae - good to see you :)
Keithy! likewise, good to see you!


Day 17: about 1.5p handwritten
Did math and sent emails concerning bills and security deposits, and some good tidying in my livingspace. (Did a small unhoarding on Monday and an even smaller one today)

I had a sobering conversation with a recruiter and it's thrown me off in the job hunt leg of my tripod for now…

2/3, keeping on keeping on...
 

peartree

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Hey everyone! Sorry I fell off the map for a bit there - life got busy. I've been keeping track of my writing and my monthly total so far is 5,481 words between 5 WIPs, and it's mostly focused (3832 words) on a fantasy novel that currently stands at 52,314 words.

I also completely reworked the outline of an old dystopian novel, which I'm pleased about, but it's going to take a lot of work writing the new outline so I'm mostly going to focus on my fantasy novel.

It looks like you guys are doing really well in the new year, so congrats everyone! I'm breathless at some of y'alls accomplishments!
 

heykatydid

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Layla - thanks! And congrats on your success yesterday, too!
peartree - that's not a bad total AT ALL! Definitely more than I have right now, haha. Keep it up!!
Keithy - one chapter down? Good job!
Esmae - I really hate revising, actually, so I am with you on having trouble jumping in. But I'll cross my fingers for you!
oneblindmouse - I hope things get better with the builders and lack of bathroom! And I hope we'll see you back here for another month.

Yesterday I got another chapter revised. I spent several hours today applying for a job, though, so I don't think I'll get as much done today since that took up a lot of my time. Happy that it's at least halfway done with Thursday - the weekend is calling me! Good luck, all!
 

Magnus

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Day 18
I didn't realise the forum was back because my old link didn't work. But here I am. I'm just doing a drive-by today to say that I've been fairly active during the forum outage, getting some words in most days, and yesterday over 1000 words!

I'll poke my head back in tomorrow. Keep it up, folks!
 

Esmae Tyler

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Day 18 - I have no idea how many words I wrote. I spent a little bit of time last night and a huge chunk of today reading the rest of my draft, which was 174 printed pages and making my first round of revision notes. It's a lot of notes. A lot of notes.... :e2hammer:On the up side this version didn't leave me wanting to go in the back yard and set the whole thing on fire like the zero version did, so that's progress of some kind, right?


Mouse - Take care of yourself! Reduce what stress you can control, we'll be here when you get back.

Keithy - How many times have you rewritten Chapter 1? Asking for a friend...

Layla - I'm sorry about the job thing. I hope there's some better news on that front soon. But yay for the unhoarding! Feels good to get rid of stuff sometimes, huh? Except when it's the really hard stuff...

Peartree - Welcome back! That's a pretty hefty chunk of words for the... slightly over halfway point of the month.

Katy - This is my first serious attempt at revision. If I knew what I was doing I might hate it too! I hope your revisions are going better than mine, at least. And that the job hunting thing is successful.

Magnus - Good to see you back and aroundish. Nice word count you have going there! Persistence, right?
 

D.L. Shepherd

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oneblindmouse: So sorry the renos are so stressful. Hope things smooth out for you sometime soon.

Keithy: Are you planning to re-write the chapter again? Just curious about the outlining, since you mentioned the chapter was finished already.

Layla: Sorry that recruiter has got you down. Don't let someone else's words stop you from continuing to try though.

peartree: Nice totals for the month so far. Sounds like that fantasy novel keeps calling you back to it. That's always a great feeling.

heykatydid: Good luck with the job application, and great that you edited another chapter! Looks like you got a decent amount done while the forum was down too.

Magnus: So awesome that you've been getting so much done while the forum was out!

Esmae...Nice work diving in and starting the re-write. Not wanting to burn the thing is a damn good start. I bet you get through all those notes in no time!

Like I mentioned above, I'm taking the week off, but I am cruising along on my tax project and hope to be done tonight. I have family coming in from out of state tomorrow, and so I won't be checking in much, but next Wednesday I plan to dive in and start my edits. See you all next week!
 

Layla Nahar

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peartree - good to see you back! & Congrats on all those words! :)
wuuwee Katy, revision is … taxing? congrats on getting that done
Magnus!! way to go with all those words!
Esmae - here's wishing you some focus and energy with those revisions
Hi DL - good to hear you're getting those other projects done

Day 18: ~.5 page (handwritten)
Potential housemate came to see the place
Started a temp gig. It's at an 'incubation center' (really new startups) & had a nice conversation with the two people running the place - so, for today's 'income item' -- networking?

3/3?
 

Kithica

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Hi all! I'm so glad we're back up!

I have managed to write something every single day so far, although progress on my outline stalled while I finished a draft of my play (yay finished draft!) and forked it over for critiquing. I will get the in-person slice-and-dice at my playwriting class tomorrow night, which I'm actually looking forward to because I'm so deep into the thing I can't see what works and what doesn't anymore. That said, I will cry if I have to do (another) page-one rewrite.
 

heykatydid

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Kithica - congrats on finishing your play! That's quite an accomplishment! I hope you get some great feedback.
Layla - 3/3! Way to go! Networking is never a bad thing. :)
D.L. - have fun with your family, and good luck with your plan to start revising next week! I hope everything goes well.
Esmae - thanks! I honestly am never truly sure what I'm doing, either. I just hope for the best, haha!
Magnus - welcome back! Glad you could keep up with your daily goals while AW was down. Over 1000 words is fantastic!

Well, I buckled down after work and... finished the revision! Draft two is complete! I really motored there throughout January to get this done faster, so I'm super happy I managed it before the end of the month. I'll throw it on my kindle and do another read through to see if there's anything else that glares at me, and then it goes to my editor. I suppose this means I need to start putting down new words again... haha. Sigh. Once this is done, anyway!
 

Keithy

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Sorry, I meant the rewriting job of my first chapter. Arrgh!!
 

Esmae Tyler

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Day 19 - Gave my first scene a complete pass because it's the first scene and I will probably fall into the trap of rewriting it a million times later. Skipped to the second scene, fixed all the things in my notes, spent a long time trying to decide if I want to tackle the mechanical business now (like the stage direction and the transitions) or leave them for another pass. I might save them. I have 54 scenes (right now) so even if I only work on one a day I should be done with this pass by the first week of March.


D.L., good luck with the taxes. I hope the family visit is a good thing! And you're supposed to take some kind of break between writing and revision, right? Did you ever decide what to do with that character? I figure you must've if you wrote to The End.

Layla, hey a temp gig! 'Incubation center' sounds slightly ominous. It probably doesn't have anything to do with chickens or viruses though, ya?

Kithica, nice progress! And hurray for finishing! I hope your class isn't too rough on you. I know tough crits are sometimes the best kind but boy can they sting.

Katy, congrats on finishing the draft! Do you try and fix everything in one go, or do you take it in stages? Asking for a friend...

Keithy, you'll figure it out eventually! I have faith! Mostly because I need it because of my own first chapter. Yuck.
 
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