August 2019 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 -- all writing habits welcome!)

The basic idea is that repeating something daily, even if only for a short while, 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.
  • Keep up the habit as many days in the week as possible – even if it's just a few sentences or a bit of editing. It reinforces the habit and makes it easier to get started.
  • Mix it up – Try different types of goals, different times of the day, different tricks to reward or motivate yourself. A good habit is what works for you, not someone else.
  • Be patient – It takes a long time to build a strong habit and you'll always be facing new challenges. Get used to constantly adapting and you'll be better prepared for whatever problem comes up next.
  • Don't give up because you didn't hit your goal – 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). If you share your stumbles in the thread, others might be able to help out with tips, tricks, and support! And sometimes, it's okay to just take a break for a day or two, or have scheduled days "off". Whatever works for you!

Good luck, and see you on August 1st!
 

Layla Nahar

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Happy Birthday Write Every Day!!!
Two years now! :D

I'm in for my usual three - writing *and* dealing with Life:
Add some words to my WIP
take an action of responsibility or self-care
take an action to improve my income/earning ability

& one skip day per week in each category if I want
 

starrystorm

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Finally, it's August. Actually, no wait. That means school starts. Ack! Anyway, I tried to take June and July off for vacations, but these last few days I've been breaking 3k a day. Let's see if I can keep that up.

Goals:
Respond to feedback from my crit partner on The Door in My Hand
Keep writing on Puppet People (Hopefully 1k a day)
 

Keithy

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I solemnly swear to do something every day. Even if it's scribbling a few words down on a pad. Or thinking about writing.
 

Cindyt

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I'm going to do something every day, but main priority is to get the hard copy line-by-line edit of my historical done and publish it before the end of 2019.
 

Magnus

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Goal is: do something writey every day, even if it's tiny, and report it here. I flunked out last month. Again. It's been busy here, and the heatwave hasn't helped. I did do some writing and research but it's good to check in here as it makes it more 'real', if you know what I mean. So here we go.

Again. :hooray:

I will be off on a hike the first few days of the month, so I won't report in for those individually.
 

pingle

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Good timing, I got back from holiday very late last night. Over a week of zero writing and not even having the free head space to think about the book. I should probably try to get my fourth draft done this month, which might mean more deleting than writing, as it's currently a bit bloated. Other than that, read read read.
 

WGough

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Thanks for starting the thread, Magnus.

Goals for August:
1) Finish this never-ending first draft.
2) Revise Book III of the Saga!

Good luck to everyone!
 

Ada.Troy

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I'm in!

August Goals:
1. Finish this round of revision. Retire that goal (by August 4, I hope) and get back to work on my new WIP. Be consistent and post word counts here.
2. Walk every day. Bonus points if the dedicated walk is longer than 2 miles. (Regular steps don't count.)
3. Beta goal is no longer daily, but I'll post here when I do it.
 

afterword

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I'd like to join! I want to get back in the habit of writing every day, even if it's just a little bit. I'm about to start rewriting my current WIP novel and I have two short stories in draft stages, so I'll have plenty to do.
 

Lakey

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Oh, FFS. Is it August already? It’s absolutely shocking how little I’ve accomplished on the writing front this year. Of course there are reasons — there are always reasons — but it’s depressing.

Anyway, on to goals.

Goal is: do something writey every day, even if it's tiny, and report it here.
What Magnus says. I’ve mentioned before that I do read every day, so I should not consider myself a completely undisciplined slug.

I did a little more rearranging in “Brooklyn Love Song” last night, but found that I will need to print it and work on paper to smooth it over — I was not getting anywhere with scrolling up and down and up and down. So today, I’ll print it. That might be all I do — I’m headed off to Newport Jazz Festival tomorrow and that means an evening of chores and packing. At the festival, I’ll get some writing of some kind done.

I'd like to join! I want to get back in the habit of writing every day, even if it's just a little bit. I'm about to start rewriting my current WIP novel and I have two short stories in draft stages, so I'll have plenty to do.

Welcome! Good luck and good skill to everyone.

:e2coffee:
 

starrystorm

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Yesterday, someone informed me it was August and I wrote my heart out only to realize it was still July! Boo!
 

April Swanson

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Thanks, Magnus, for starting. Welcome all, old faces and new :)

I’ve got no concrete goals, but I’ll be working on draft 4 all month.

Anyway, today I added 1k to Chapter 2. I’ve got a rough outline of the whole book, but I still need to do lots of thinking for the squishy middle bits.

Day 1: Decent bit; 2 miles; seaside cake
 

sandree

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I’d love to join again. This thread was a great help last month.

My goals are: continue WIP, writing as often as I am able but accepting that it may go in spurts for me. Not beating myself up over any of this. Turning off my inner editor and just moving in a forward direction.

Moving my body - walking, stretching/yoga. Ditto to above - doing this as often as I am able and not beating myself up...

Learning photoshop - ditto☺️.
 

Pterofan

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Day 1 - half a page longhand, about 200 words. I seem to be falling into a pattern.

Moving into the fight scene. Today we learn a magical vampire-killing talisman created by Native Americans will not work for white people. Luckily, Hawaiian Girl is not white people. This will come in handy at the climax. Indy never opened the ark either, so I'm still roughly lined up with the movie.

Not bad for a character who started out as a nod to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and wasn't meant to last beyond a couple of pages in Chapter 1. There's no way I could have planned any of this. Sometimes it pays to be a pantser.

Starrystorm: who cares what day or month it is? You wrote! That's the important thing.
 
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WGough

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Day 1
Drafted 768 words.

afterword: :welcome:

Lakey: Have fun at Newport Jazz Festival. Jealous!

April: Awesome job!

Pterofan: Nice word count! Pants away!
 

Layla Nahar

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Welcome, afterword
Lakey, yeah, something anything, and being happy that we've done that really makes a difference
April, congrats on the 1K start!
sandree, glad to see you. I have found it's so great to be happy with yourself, to be glad of what you've done, and to be willing to say 'good job'.
Ptero, congrats on the 200; I'm enjoying hearing about your story.
Congrats on the 768 Gough :D


Day 1

WIP - 1/2 (!) page :D
R/SC - moved the car for street cleaning; groceries and cooking (North-African style (tomatoes, cilantro & green olives) vegan stew. Off to the liberry now for another Mercedes Lackey book. Seems like I'm hooked.
BP/$$ - job interview
 

Keithy

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Pterofan - ooo that is cunning, I like that!
WGough - hard at it again I see.
Layla - :hi:

Lots of bits and pieces done today. Names for various cities, gods and suchlike for Demon Hunter. And for SQ - working out what Liana needs to find out and some ideas how she will do so.

Research - the terrorist cell system. Oh, the strange things I am reading these days!

Non writing: Food shopping and wedding anniversary dinner (18th).

Tomorrow: another visit to the Gym. If you don't hear from me...

swim swim swimmy swim

Tomorrow
 

Ada.Troy

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August, Day 1

1. Wrote 285 words of my WIP. Spent a bit of time catching myself back up. I had taken a break from it to focus on revisions, and needed to read the entire 9,000 words that I had already written in order to fall back into my story. Hopefully tomorrow requires less throat clearing. (No revisions today on the other manuscript, although I hope to finish them Saturday. I am very close. Then I am going to gulp put the first three sentences on the thread in the brainstorming sandbox. For funsies.)
2. Walked.
3. No beta reading today.


Keithy: Yay for bits and pieces!

Layla: 1/2 page and a job interview - what a day!

WGough: Nicely done.

Pterofan: As a fellow pantser, I salute you.

Sandree: Great goals!

April: 1k feels like a solid step forward to me!

starrystorm: Well done, regardless of the day!

Lakey: Printing it out sounds like a smart plan.

afterword: Welcome!
 

Taylor Harbin

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Immediate goals:

1. Finish cut draft of current story; 9000k limit (might not be necessary).

2. Rewrite a previous story for new market and hold nothing back; stories about temptation should be visceral and suffocating.

3. Write nonfiction essay.


Probably going to take me most of the month to get this stuff done, but that’s better than having nothing to write.
 

afterword

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Day 1:
Very productive today! I got two stories submitted to markets that just opened, and I finished my outline for my novel rewrite + did a critique swap with another forum member's outline. I also wrote 425 words on the horror piece I'm trying to get done this month.


Taylor - Your mindset on #2 already makes me want to read whatever story you end up with!
 

pingle

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Day 1

Edited 10 chapters. Managed to delete at least 100 words off each one. A few of them maybe 250. Not as much as I was hoping, I had hoped I'd come across totally superfluous scenes that could go entirely, but no luck. I really want to cut this 140k beast down a bit before I dare send off a submission. I was aiming for 120k but maybe 130k is more realistic.

April - You're on draft 4 as well! woop! Sounds like you're making great progress

pterofan - That all sounds very interesting. Glad it's coming together :)

Gough - A nice start to the month!

Layla- Yay for that half page!

Keithy - Productive day

Cindy - Well done on the drafting and revision

Ada - Nice start. I've never properly read back over my work until a draft is finished, which strikes me as really silly now that I think about it.

afterword - definitely a productive day!