July Challenge - Write Every Day

Day 16 - 510 new words this morning. Tomorrow's count may look impressive, but don't be fooled. From here on I'll be typing pre-written longhand scenes or cut/pasting/reworking typed sections. Most of this last section is already done; I just have to blend it all together.

WGough - um ... you didn't mean that literally about the nap, right?

April - I get the hint. I was waiting until I found more dinos (the D is working! Yay!) before continuing construction on the Park. I meant to check more dollar stores last weekend but ended up working instead. The little alligator is still out there and probably lonely.

Heatherless: Congrats on doing the blog post! It's so hard to stay on top of those!

WGough: There really should be a multiplier enforced for writing and revising in the same day. It may not seem impressive, but I assure it is! Great job!

KayMitch: I'm in the same as boat as you, so I totally get it! Things will settle down soon enough!

Cindy: Congrats on 526 words! My fingers are crossed for your submission!

Daniel: You and me both. I hope it was a major success!

April: That's amazing, congrats! Hold steadfast with the writing! I know how tough this section is for us explorer types!

Ptero: Well, making it across to this point is still plenty commendable! Putting the pieces together…mmm, that's the most satisfying part to me. Have fun!

Magnus: Take it easy! This heat wave has been absolutely ridiculous. I hope the nausea doesn't return!

Ugh. This weekend really put me through the ringer. You might remember that Friday I didn't check in, well I was cruising along just fine, when five hundred words in, I realized the promising direction I was veering off to was a complete deadend. Didn't recover then, tried to get my blog stuff done this weekend, only to stall out once again, mostly because of bad luck and poor adjustments on my part. Today was basically the part where I had angrily break up the dumpster fire of two pages I had gotten myself into and change direction to a better course.

All in all, 1.3k words down, so I'm happy, but that was exhausting. It did not help much that I've been juggling school stuff that needs to be turned over the summer, and I've been planning a party with friends this coming weekend.

What frustrates me most was that I had a hand in making this chaos that took a tremendous amount of faith and energy to clean up these past 48 hours. I still want to get my blog post written before Sunday, but my window is gonna be extremely tight now. Also, I'm dangerously dry on my creative juices for tomorrow's writing sessions. Hopefully my resolve keeps the words flowing and my focus true. Time is so precious right now for me.

Good luck tomorrow, everyone!

OK, version 6 of the outline to "the visitor" is going OK... hopefully coherent too.

Day 16
Wrote 604 words of new scene. Felt guilty about not getting enough beta reading done.

KayMitch: Glad to hear the rumors were exaggerated. Good to hear from you. My day job saps all my energy.

Cindyt: Congrats on submitting. Way to push through a difficult piece.

Daniel: Good luck! =D

April: I am digging your process. You're much more experienced, so I'm encouraged. The main downside I've found to exploratory drafting is finding my endings. Yay sale! Any excuse to crack open the champagne, but that is big. Congratulations!

Pterofan: Awesome word count. Ha! No, not literally nap on me. Should've gone Australian. Shout you a nap. (apologies to all Australians)

Magnus: I'm so sorry you're feeling blechy. Get well soon!

xenylic: Wow, that is a sour pickle. Sounds like you feel good about the fix, so yay! Wishing you all the luck, buttercup.

Keithy: Congrats on the outline. It'll get there. I believe in you!

Over the July hump, everybody!

April--congrats on your sale!
KayMitch--glad you're back. BTW your dog is adorable.
Daniel--good luck!
WGough--163 words is a ton better than zero.

Edited and published blog post today. Onward!

Daniel - Good luck!

April - Writing about my friend was like pulling teeth, but I got it done. Good on you for getting that sale!

WGough - Congrats on the 604 words.

xenylic - Oh, I've no doubt the article will be accepted. I have a contract. The Voice has published 7 so far. I know how you feel. it's heartbreaking to realize you are going nowhere. Congrats on the 1.3K word count.

Heatherless - Good on you!

Day 16

The Angel: 628 words that I must trim to 550. No worries.

Pterofan: 510 is great; and typing up is still all part of it, so those words will count I’m really dreading the type-up, actually. Also, I’m genuinely upset at the thought of a lonely little alligator…

Magnus: Thank you And hope you feel better soon.

xenylic: Take care of yourself and those creative juices. Going up dead-ends is also another problem for us explorers BUT, remember – it’s all about the thrill of discovery! (Yeah I have a hard time convincing myself, too )

Keithy: Good luck with the latest version.

WGough: Oh dear… I wouldn’t call myself much more experienced! (Psst I have NO IDEA what I’m doing!)
I actually find the endings easier in the exploratory draft; it’s the bloomin’ middle I struggle with. Good job writing 604! Don’t feel guilty. Guilt is an annoying, pointless emotion. Feel awesome instead

Heatherless: Woo! Well done you

Cindy: I’m glad to hear you’re on top of things.

Despite annoying pen issues, I got my three pages in again. I’m considering upping to four, but I’ll wait a week I think, to really cement the three-a-day habit before increasing. I’ve definitely passed the midpoint, but I’m only on page 51 (and each page has around 400 words), so…yeah, it will be fun to see how long this thing ends up and where I can expand. I do tend to write short novels these days, but I’d rather be closer to 50k than 40k. Oh well, that’s a problem for future me!

Day 17: Decent bit; 6 miles; experiments with sweet potato

Day 17 - 284 words. I know, not the impressive word count I promised. What happened? The pre-written longhand scene I was leading up to yesterday got lost. I went looking for the pages last night and couldn't find them. They weren't in the folder with the rest of the story. They weren't in any of the three notebooks I went through, or in my computer file of typed snippets. They're MIA.

I know I wrote that scene. I remember writing that scene. I just don't know what I did with it. Fortunately, I also recall it was wordy and melodramatic and needed an overhaul anyway, so recreating it from memory is probably for the best. I do know where the other scenes are. They're all either typed in my file or safely tucked away in the loose-leaf folder, so once I regain my footing from this little speed bump it should be smooth sailing.

Now that the novel is scanned and on my computer, time to go through and fix the formatting/spelling errors that crept in. Once that's done, I'll put it away for a month or so before the real editing begins. Somehow I grossly overestimated the word count. Unless I'm missing entire chapters, the grand total is 136,000 words. I consider this a good thing. Should be easier to market a debut that isn't the length of ​Dune.

Cindy--good luck with the trimming.
April--hooray for 3 pages.
Xenylic--wish I could give you some creative juice. You've been doing great, though.

Got an idea for a new blog post plus a little research. This week is going to be a little tricky with the family member's surgery but that's why I kept my goals modest.

Day 17
Revised 1/2 chapter, shoehorned in a bit of backstory

Heatherless: Congrats on your blog post and new idea! Best wishes to your family member.

Cindyt: Awesome word count. Love the new avatar.

April: So glad to hear you don't struggle with endings. I love discovery drafting. Well, so far. I haven't been at the novel thing long. I could bang out 2K words a day when I started this thing. I've slowed way down. Do any of us have a clue what we're doing? Mmm, sweet potatoes. Totally decent word counts. Steady on!

Pterofan: Oh, no! I hate that. And I use Scrivener, which should make losing scenes impossible. Hint: It's not. You'll probably find that scene later, but Go You for moving forward. Your 284 words are probably better anyway!

Magnus: Thanks for the meh!

Taylor: 136K words is incredible work. Geez, I wish I had the discipline to leave my work alone for a month! Congratulations.

OK, I've decided I need to bring in some interesting "exciting" demons into my story rather than tame, boring ones. But it's still a bit messy.

I've got (sporadic) internet tonight so I'm going to drive by. Today is day 17. I've written something everyday since I last checked in.

April - Congrats for reaching midpoint

WGough - Thank you. I did a bit of shoehorning myself.

Heatherless - Good on you!

Layla - Congrats!

Day 17

I've written enough articles to submit for the rest of the year. So I've started editing a book. I'm trying to write 12 chapters with 15 pages each. I did manage a 54 word count.

Drive-by since it's suuuper late. Today was a conplete dud. I tinkered around in paint so I could make a visual picture of a Union Jack half cape I imagined one if my characters wearing soon.

I'm obsessed with those visual cues for writing the physical description of objects, but this time I might've gone overboard a bit.

Didn't write a word for my book, but pulled out a 1.9k blog post late, late, late into the night.

I'm gonna pay dearly for it in sleep deprivation tomorrow, but I feel relieved, getting at least something done today.

Pterofan: Oh well, like you said, maybe it’s best to write it out from memory!

Magnus: Good luck with your busy day.

Taylor: Seems like you’ve got a solid plan for editing. And 136 is a good, healthy number.

Heatherless: Hoorah for new idea!

WGough: Oh yeah, I’ve slowed down too. I think it’s a result of discovery/handwriting. I much prefer it though. Nice work revising half your chap

Keithy: Interesting is definitely good

Layla: Good to hear from you! Glad you’ve been writing away all this time (I had no doubt you would be )

Cindyt: Great job being so prepared for the rest of the year!

xenylic: Glad you managed something, and hope you’re not too snoozed tomorrow!

I was ill today (boo) so I had to skip the gym and most of my walks (boo) but I was determined to be productive so I wrote five pages (woo!) and I might might write a sixth tonight. We’ll see. I was really stuck at the start of page 3, but now a new chunk of story has unravelled so I’ve got enough to keep me going for a while. Anyhoo, I definitely deserve a wee Tia Maria. (Best thing for illness, honest.)

Day 18: Flying Unicorns!; 2.5 miles; close shave with a seagull

Day 18 - nothing yet. I wrote an additional 315 words last night, then spent this morning into the early afternoon working on a freelance assignment. That's out of the way now, so I can type new words this evening, unless I decide to do yard work. We'll see what wins out when I get home.

April: Yay, April! Five pages! I'm glad more of the story is unfolding for you!

Ptero: Either way, that's impressive. After a day's work, chores and writing are the last thing I feel up to doing.

Magnus: Peace and quiet sounds nice. Keep up with the patient self-care!

Okay, I got a clean 1.6k words out today, which is strange since the bulk of it was about describing the entire layout of a big, grand penthouse in London. Normally description is the bane of my existence if it requires more than four paragraphs at a time. I also finished up my blog post that I did yesterday! I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I discovered a nifty way to add to the aesthetic of a page with transparent pictures!

Lastly, I woke up early in the morning and did my workout, despite my criminally short schedule of sleep!

WGough--thanks for the good wishes. Surgery went fine.
April--Hooray for five pages. Hope you feel better!
Xenylic--description is not my strong suit either so good for you.

A little research today. Anticipating a hectic day tomorrow if family member actually gets to come home.

Day 16: 939.
Day 17: 0.
Day 18: 1093.

Getting back into it. I was in the dumps for a bit, but I'm finally getting out. Good effort everyone!

Daniel - Wow! That's the way to get out of the dumps. Congrats!

April - Congrats for writing 5 pages while sick!

WGough - Thank you. I did a bit of shoehorning myself.

xenylic - Sounds like you had a wonderfull day. Congrats! Love your website!


Day 18


Edited book. My family has ties with Gen George Washington, Gen. George Crook, Crazy Horse, the North Georgia Mountain Cherokee, and Jesse James. I'm combining that heritage to the eve of my parents' relationship in Chapter 1: Roots. Love the way it's unraveling.

Added new words but not enough to lift above yesterdays word count.

Driveby - pretty productive so far today given I'm editing my book. I'll be back with the word count after midnight.