August Challenge - Write Every Day!

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Pterofan

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Day 16 - 525 words.

Subbed the fantasy novel to DAW a little while ago. That means my goal for this month is technically accomplished. This weekend I'll be typing like mad on the anthology story because the deadline's next Friday. Though if I miss, no big. I can still sub it to the publisher's short story line.

But screw all that. Jurassic Park is up and running! I put the dinos out last night. The carnosaurs are attacking the farm animals (yes, the T. rex has the goat in his mouth) while Batman leads the charge of the armored herbosaurs in defense of the cows and sheep, and GI Joe takes aim with his rifle from on top of the water meter. Meanwhile, under the outside spigot, the alligator lurks in the weeds to feast on whichever side loses. No flowers or real plants added yet, but now I have a "rough draft" to work with.

KayMitch and Taylor - :partyguy:

WGough - LOL. "Are you getting enough oxygen?"
 
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Taylor Harbin

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Awesome, Petro! Isn’t DAW one of the few big names that doesn’t require an agent?
 

xenylic

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Cindy: Congrats on 1,086 words!

niknicnac: Aww, how sweet of him. Happy birthday! I haven't used Scrivener personally, but I've heard great things about it.

Kaymitch: YEAH! What a way to finish out the week! Congrats x9999999999! Treat yourself to something special this weekend!

Taylor: Exactly, no need to fret! My longest draft of Book #1 was 154,700 words. With revisions, I got it down to 120k easily just with cutting out fluff. When the time comes for that, you'll make it work!

Daniel: Congrats on 1,200 words! I'm glad you stumbled upon that neat tidbit of information! Being more energized and present translates into huge improvements on writing and creativity!

April: Hope you're feeling 100% by tomorrow, you've really fought tooth and nail to finish this week with writing. Pat yourself on the back!

Ptero: That's the beauty of writing, missing a deadline for one window doesn't rule your work out for another! Congrats on hitting 525 words today, and my fingers are crossed for your submission!

I'm off the hook for another week! I got in a clean 1.3k, putting me back ahead of schedule coming into next week, and I didn't take the whole day this time to get it done! As a nice little bonus, I finished a nearly impossible video game level that I had been trying to do off and on for weeks now just tonight! So now I can wipe the slate clean for this weekend.

I want to do this month's blog post tomorrow, and I think I'm prepped for it, but I'm not gonna pop an artery trying to make it happen. Tonight, all that is left on my to-do list is a solid session of reading, and then I want to tuck in early. Yay for Fridays!

See everyone tomorrow!
 

WGough

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Day 17
1,539 words drafted of Book III. My big crisis moment that marks the beginning of Act III, I realized, was totally unearned. Had to do some restructuring, add some scenes, think.

Layla: Nice work.

xenylic: Congrats. Glad to hear you got your stride back.

Cindyt: Great word count. Way to catch up!

niknicnac: Yummy eye cream! I've been using Scrivener for about six months, so I'm no expert. I tend to piece together scenes and chapters, so it works really well for organizing. Some writers hate it because of the way it dumps your work into Word. There are tutorials out there to help with compile formatting, but I'm still drafting, so I can't speak to those. Also, OneDrive does not like Scrivener files, so you might consider backing up to Dropbox or a thumb drive.

KayMitch: Awesome job! So happy for you! :partyguy:

Taylor: It's finish your WIP month! Way to go, friend. :partyguy:

Daniel: Mmm, tea and a book. Lovely.

April: Congrats on your word count. Glad you're feeling better. Interesting thoughts on horizontal vs. vertical. Love how your mind works!

Pterofan: Congrats on you sub. Good luck with your anthology piece. Your Jurassic draft makes for a wonderful setting for a GI Joe / Batman.

Happy weekend, folks.
 
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Layla Nahar

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Wow, Xen. that's some serious good work. Congrats on hitting your mark, and hats off to you for 6 hours of BIC.

Some great work, Cindy - 1k+ *and* editing 3 chapters. Keep at it!

Hi Nic :)

Congrats, K. Probably the two best words we can write if we want to sub.

Taylor, congrats on getting that big job *finished*

Ptero, congrats on the words and the sub(!) and on the Park!!

& likewise, Gough - nice work

Day 17
WIP - ~3/4 page
R/SC - a wee bit more tidying in the garden plot, cooked some kale, froze some, did some admin stuff & groceries.
$$ - finished that indy writing exercise (was 508 words!) & started a new exercise. Sent a housemate email; spoke w/ a housemate candidate by phone; wee bit of performance practice
 

Cindyt

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Day 17

A possum invaded our apartment. It’s hiding behind the dishwasher. Management doesn’t believe us. They set out mouse traps. The mean rabbit-tailed cat is hiding under my bed. It’s been spooky slipping into the kitchen for bite and the bathroom for a pee and sitting here writing, but I soldiered on. (It’s supposed to be gone now.)

New words - 784

Revised 3 chapters

Kaymitch - THE END is sweet! Congrats!

Pterofan - Congrats for the sub!

WGough - You did good on the word count. Beginnings always get me down.

Layla - Congrats on the ¾ page!

xenylic - WTG on the 1.3K!
 

Taylor Harbin

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Began a new story. Don’t have a lot of plot details in mind but I have to set my hands doing something new that’s not editing. Page and a half done.
 

April Swanson

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Pterofan: Congrats on two fronts :) Glad to hear Batman is leading the way.

xenylic: Ha, good job! When I get stuck in a video game I usually give up. Enjoy your reading :)

WGough: Wow, those words just keep flying out! I always have to add stuff in. I think it’s almost impossible to predict everything before you start writing. You learn by doing.

Layla: Mmm…kale. It’s amazing how good it tastes. Freezing is definitely a good idea; in my experience any leftovers really stink out the fridge. And nice work writing 3/4 page. You really are the Master of Consistency!

Cindyt: Sorry, I had to laugh! Possums are so cute. Though, I understand why you might not want one as a lodger… Well done for writing so many words during an invasion!

Taylor: Good job. Fingers can get itchy if they’re not creating new stuff.

Got my 1k early this morning, leaving the rest of the day to collapse on the sofa and snooze. I made up most of it as I went along, but I think there’s probably some decent stuff in there. I think I need to write THIS IS A FIRST DRAFT and stick it to my screen. Now, to the sofa I go.

Day 18: Decent bit; 1 clammy, cold-sweats mile; medicinal wine and sushi
 

Pterofan

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Day 17 - 265 words.

Now it's write like mad all weekend to get the story finished ...

Taylor - yes, DAW takes unagented subs. However, they also want the full ms., and up until this year only took hardcopy. Now that they're finally accepting email subs it's a lot easier (and cheaper) to send them stuff, especially longer works (their minimum word count is 80K).

ETA: Bad. Bad writer, falling prey to unconscious gender bias. I just realized I referred to my T. rex as a "him." I forgot that in Jurassic Park, all the dinos are female.

Batman is still 100% male. I can't speak for the Joker.
 
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xenylic

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2.1k words today for my blog post! I wanted to knock it out in one fell swoop, and I accomplished that! It's too fresh in my mind for me to say if I'm a big fan or not of the result, but it feels pretty promising!

I still need to go back for revisions and doing my photo editing before I publish on my site, but that's the fun part! Happy Saturday, people!
 

WGough

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Day 18
7,542 words drafted of Book III. Six chapters to go.

Layla: Super productive day. Congrats on your 3/4 page.

Cindyt: Eek. Possums are so weird. At a distance they seem cute, but up close, creepy. I feel your willies. Nice word count and revisions!

Taylor: Good luck with your new piece.

April: Congrats on your words. Mmm, sofa time.

Pterofan: Don't forget to eat! Say hi to Mx. Rex.

xenylic: Amazing word count.

Everybody's killing August. Great work!
 

Layla Nahar

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Cindy - I hope it's not wrong if I say I like possums… But congrats on the 784 & 3 chapters revised

Nice keeping at it Taylor!

That 1K is sure a decent bit, April :)

Congrats on the 265 Ptero!

Nice work, Xen!

Dang Gough - how do you do it?! (& congrats on aaall those words!)
(& yeah, possums do have kind of a creepy smile)

Day 18
WIP: ~1/2 page
R/SC - earning service
$$ - today is $$ skip day
 

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Day 17: 1137 words of my finished draft. I was just adding some snippets i forgot.

Day 18: 1067 words of a new project. I'm writing something in first person and it's interesting. Idk how it's going to go but every time I sit down to write it comes out in first person, despite me never haven written in 1st person before. We shall see
 

Cindyt

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Day 18

New words - 520

Research - Decided to start all nine chapters of the auto with pop culture epigram--music, movie, fashion, major event, price of gas, car, cigarettes, and crime. I did very well until I came to 2000 and could not find the price of any certain model of automobile.

Revision - 1 chapter.

Then I be like meh and read the beginning of badducky’s novel The Fortress at the End of Time and watched Starsky and Hutch. Woops.

April - I have had all kinds of possum run-ins in my life. Lol. Congrats on reaching your 1K while still under the weather.

WGough - Wow! Just Wow!

Layla - Not wrong. But one got after my cat years ago, and I had to literally growl and snarl at it to chase it back into the woods. :roll: Congrats on the half page!
 

April Swanson

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Pterofan: Ugh, gender bias. I feel ye. I’m trying to eradicate ‘guys’ from my vocabulary for when I’m referring to women or a mixed group.

xenylic: Wow, that’s a lot of words and care for a blog post! I just spew out random crap. Probably should follow your lead…

WGough: Good grief, sometimes I have to do a double-take when I read your posts! Do you always write at this pace? I’m so impressed!

Layla: I think possums have a creepy smile because they know and we know that one day they will rule us all.

KayMitch: If first is coming out, then I say stick with first. Congrats on two solid days on the trot!

Cindyt: Your autobio sounds very cool! I hope you’re going to include a chapter on possums :)

1k bada-boom-bada-bing. (I’m currently watching The Sopranos.) It took me about forty minutes to get 500, then I turned on my timer and worked in 5 minute sprints, and fifteen minutes later, I was done. Maybe if I focused all the time I’d get more done…

Day 19: Decent bit; nae miles; Incredibles 2!
 

Taylor Harbin

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Two more pages done. I think I can see something starting to take shape.
 

Pterofan

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Day 18 - 684 words

Well, that was fast. DAW just rejected my book. This is a publisher with a rep for holding subs for up to 10 years, and they bounced me in under two days. Obviously I should have spent a lot more time on the query letter.
 

Layla Nahar

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Great work Kay. I've only written in 1st twice, I think, and in each case it just kind of came randomly to me.

Cindy - that's a decent amount of work - new words, research, and revision. Way to be productive!

April - wow - that's some great efficiency! Congrats :)

Nice, Taylor, you're pretty steady.

Ptero - congrats on your 684 - and congrats on subbing. (somehow when we get the R - at least we know we've subbed, right?)

Day 19

WIP - ~1/2 page
R/SC - earning service; groceries & some food prep
$$ - a bit of research on my indy project; sent one housemate email,
 

WGough

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Day 19
9,058 words of Book III drafted. Now to write the Epilogue. Back to the day job tomorrow, so slower going.

Layla: Congrats on your two half pages. I let a lot of things go when I'm drafting. Little things like laundry, dishes, eating, sleeping.

KayMitch: Nice word counts. Good luck with your first first person!

Cindyt: Love the epigram idea.

April: Congrats on making your goal. No, I do not always write at this pace. Book I flew by like Book III has (both of which I thoroughly enjoyed writing), but Book II was a slog (like a 60K word Act II) and still needs serious work. Still have Book IV to write. These are my first novels, so revising will be my focus for many months to come. Revising takes much longer, two to three times longer. Still figuring out my process.

Taylor: Way to go.

BonafideDreamer: One hundred words closer to The End

Pterofan: Great word count. I read somewhere, and firmly believe, rejection equals success.

Have a great week, everybody.
 
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Cindyt

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Day 19

New words - 951

Revision - 1.2 Chapters

Research - Found the price of a 2000 Mustang Cobra for the Chapter 9 pop culture epigram. Yay, Ford! I also added TV shows for each one. What?

April - 500 in 40 minutes ain’t bad atall.

Taylor - Isn’t that a satisfying feeling?

Layla - WTG on the half page

WGough - WTG on another amazing work day!
 

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KayMitch: Congrats on finishing your WIP and starting a new project!

Cindyt: Ekkk! Possums are super creepy. I've had one get in the attic before, but not in the house. It would have been time for a shotgun or matches. Either one would do the job.

Daniel: That's awesome that you have and use a typewriter. My first was a manual typewriter. I admit that I miss the ding when you reached the right margin, lol.

April: Glad you're feeling better. Looks like you're making good progress, and first drafts are normally rough. I'm glad Scrivener works for you. I'm hoping I like it as much as I'm thinking I will. I'm a bit nervous about the exporting and formatting. I may end up converting it all back into a Word doc in the end. The first thing I thought when I saw the corkboard was a trick I use sometimes where I print out the story, get the scissors and cut it into scenes, then lay it out on the floor and rearrange the scenes. Now I can do that and still walk around in my living room, lol.

Pterofan: We can start a club. I got two rejections this weekend. Keep on subbing. I think of them as merit badges.

xenylic and Gough: all I can say is wow!

Layla: You always get so much done. I tell myself all the time I'm going to do food prep, but somehow it never gets done. I did manage to make a fresh peach cobbler this weekend, before we destroyed the kitchen to install the tile for the backsplash. Remodeling is so messy, ugh!


I did get some of my WIP and related docs transferred. I also started organizing it all, but I didn't get to spend much time on it. I spent most of the weekend cutting tile, yuck. Oh, and I collected two more rejection letters. One was a personal email from the editor, the second one I've gotten this month. This month is the first time I've ever gotten feedback from an editor. Usually, it's just a form letter rejection so I'll count getting two in one month as progress. :)
 
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April Swanson

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Taylor: Awesome. It’s great when the story begins to appear.

Bonafide: Good for you!

Pterofan: Hugs :( (But yay for 684 words!)

Layla: Swim, swim, swim!

WGough: OH MY GOODNESS (eyes bulge). Book III certainly has flown by! As the old saying goes, you can’t fix a blank page. I think the quick draft/slow revision process is a great approach. It’s easier to dodge writer’s block if you have something to work with.

Cindyt: Your research sounds like so much fun! I’d be spending hours on Youtube watching TV intros from ma youth.

nik: Hugs for those rejections. But, like you said, a personal letter is definitely a good sign you’re moving in the right direction. The green light will come.

Managed a nice 1k in an hour this morning. The lurgy is dissolving, but I’m still knackered, so it’s nice to get my words out the way so I can read and relax the rest of the day (oh look a rhyme). On an unrelated note, I’m thinking about picking up a new musical instrument but can’t decide which. Anyone play anything?

Day 20: Decent bit; 3 miles; Abba for the Soul
 

Taylor Harbin

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Well, this morning has been less than ideal. My Internet is pitching a fit, and I cannot access any websites because of “Gateway authentication failure.” The only reason I can post this is because I am on my cell phone using my mobile data. I was going to submit a story to my next market but now I can’t until I’m able to get to the local library. To make matters worse, I spent most of the morning in the bathroom and by the time I got out, I only had a little bit of time to write. Furthermore, I realize that the new story needs a different direction which will require me to start at the beginning. The story will not work if the main character spends most of his time alone. There needs to be someone else in the picture driving the action. Shouldn’t be hard to fix, I was only 2000 words in or so.

Still...ugh.
 

DanielSTJ

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I missed the last few days, but I'm back in the saddle today. Hoping for a modest word count. :D
 
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