April 2020 Challenge - Write Every Day!

Nice work Taylor!
Whooo Ptero - congrats on getting the internet
April, 2K and revisions - wow
Patty, congrats on the words and the run
Nice work, Keithy


Day 7


WIP - skip (woke up too late)
R/SC - binge watching C-Drama excerpts (and binge eating cookies…)
BP/$$ - earning service

Day 7

Word Count 2520

Patty - 150 words are good, and at least you have something to work with. I’ve done a whole heap of baking and food research.

Keithy - Nice word count!

Wrote about two pages and finished Chapter 4. It's hard to write about people who are in a strained relationship, post-divorce, since I've never been in that place myself.

Okay, yes, I spent most of yesterday playing with my new toy (i.e., watching videos. I couldn't really do that in the library. Amazing how loud it would get in the lobby the second I got onto YouTube. ). I did write, but it was longhand and I haven't tallied it up yet. So I'll distract you with a tale of my one good day: March 30 I think I did about 1400 words longhand. I've got a family of vampire slayers ranging in age from late teens to the 30s, led by great-grandma (she was a teenager during the first vampire war, about 60-70 years ago). Then I realized I was missing a whole generation here. Where are my characters' parents? So I wrote a scene explaining what happened to them. I now have the opening chapter for Book 5, so something positive came out of it.

Getting back online has energized me. I can probably get back into this, or would if I hadn't gotten an assignment this morning. I love excuses, especially paid excuses.

Yay for mutant sharks!

Patty: I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as you think! Also, we are always the worst judges of our own work.

Keithy: Nice work with your hundreds of words

Layla: Yes cookies! We have some home-made ones here too. Absolutely essential these days.

Cindyt: Excellent effort!

Taylor: I suppose that’s something to be grateful for! Nice work finishing Chap 4.

Pterofan: That’s a lot of words, especially for longhand. Well done!

Didn’t quite hit the 2k today—1784 instead. I only have one more day’s writing to finish the first draft of my novella, so I wasn’t too bothered about coming in short. Didn’t revise a chapter either, but rewrote a difficult scene. God, is it no the weekend yet?!

Hey everyone! I was having internet issues but have been writing at the pace of 800-1200 words per day for every day this month without fail.

My internet is now all souped up and I'll be posting starting later today my word counts- and keeping up with yours.

Power to the pen, keyboard, or typewriter!

Good to see Daniel!

Congrats on the stick-to-itiveness everyone, and thank you for the encouragement.

More editing and about 300 words added today. Also gardening and weeding.

XOXO

Cindy - oooh 2520 is a lot of words - worthy of many hat doffings.
April - you're busy - well done.
Daniel - keep those words flowing! doing good!
Patty - yes the keep at it is useful.

OK not such a brilliant day but I can say I've done some more planning, namely on secondary characters (how many, who). I need to flesh them out, and decide who knows that Kaylee is a Mermaid. My method of working atm seems to be write about 1/3 of a book then got back and do it properly.

Keep swimming!

Cindyt, great work
You got this Taylor
Congrats on getting some writing in Ptero
It’s pretty close to 2K April!
Hey Daniel!
Congrats on that editing Patty
Keithy, way to keep at it




Day 8


WIP - 1/4 page. Whew. I was really worried I wouldn’t make it this morning, since I got up a bit late.
R/SC — some chores, then more cookies and C-drama
BP/$$ — earning service

CindyT: Excellent word count! Also, hey!

Taylor: I can only imagine! I've never even BEEN in a relationship before. AHAHAHAHAHAH!

Pterofan: Howdy! Sounds like you've been productive AND earning that coin. Right on!

April: You did well! *Virtual wave*

Patty, nice to see you too! Editing is vital. You're making it happen.

Swimmin' indeed! Planning is important. I really like the new avatar BTW!

Layla: Making it work! Good job!

I just wrote a SOLID (and I really like what I've done) 550 words to finish off this 7500 short story I've been working on. It's the best ending, I think, that I've ever done and I'm feeling great and energized by the story. I really like it and I'm thinking I might share it in the SYW section once I can edit it down and make it shine.

I'll be checking in tomorrow.

Day 8

Word Count 3000

April - Congrats on your novella progress

Daniel - Welcome back. Sounds like you’ve kept your shoulder to the wheel.

Keithy - Good luck on the flesh out!

Layla - Glad you made it.

April Swanson said:

Taylor: I suppose that’s something to be grateful for! Nice work finishing Chap 4.

Click to expand...

For sure! My wife and I have had several jobs where our coworkers were in broken relationships and some days we would race home to hug each other and be thankful that our problems are so small. As per writing, I began editing Chapter 4 today. I've become aware of a new short story anthology that I'd like to write for, just trying to figure out how I can fit it in and what to write about...

Patty: Nice work. I hope gardening was suitably relaxing.

Keithy: My method is very similar—I kinda free write the first chunk to figure out what’s going on, then go back and fix it before ploughing ahead.

Layla: Excellent job beating the blank page.

Hi Daniel! That’s great news about the short story. Congratulations!

Cindyt: The big 3k! That means you get three cocktails in the 1k club.

Taylor: Yay for happy marriages and editing!

Finished the novella with 1286 words . Gonna let that sit for a bit before editing. Finished the penultimate chapter of book 2, so hopefully its second draft will be done tomorrow.

Not sure of the exact word count, but last night I wrote a longhand half page or so about a swordfight challenge between a woman warrior and Amazon Barbie, who chooses her weapons based on how well they go with her outfit. Getting back into the swing of actual writing may be trickier than I thought.

April - Yay for finishing the novella!

Taylor--congrats on chapter 4 and the pages!

Pterofan--congrats on the scene, and by longhand!

April, hurray, congrats! A novella is born.

Cindy, congrats on 3 K!

Daniel--those words are the best, the ones we like.

Layla--Congrats on the partial page.

Keithy--congrats on the secondary characters and planning.

I critiqued excerpts today for a zoom group and went through my short story again. It is exactly 3000 words, down about 10% from its original length. So I lost words today but that's fine. I hope to beta a few more chapters tonight for a local buddy,

Daniel - good luck with your short story - I need to have a go at that again sometime. I've done flash fiction before.
Cindy - that is a worshipful 3000! wow wow wow!
April - nice 1286. Glad to see I'm not the only one who does things oddly.
Pterofan - that sounds hilarious.

OK I spent my time today doing further planning and world building for Fishy Tale and Dustworld. It's amazing how giving a character a name and a few lines of arc brings them to life. Same goes for world building: a bit of history, a map, a few ancestors and the odd war.

non-writing

Went to the local shopping mall to buy some burger baps - there's a big food store that's still open. The queue to get in was the length of the mall. We went to Lidl.

keep on swimming... it can be done.

All right Daniel, wtg on the 550!
Cindy, that is some smokin work!
April, congrats on the novella work ch 2
Congrats on that half page Ptero
Sounds like some good revising, Patty
Keep at it, Keithy


Day 9


WIP - ~1/4 page
R/SC - handwash, dishes and cooking
BP/$$ — earning service

CindyT: Wooo! The 3000 club! Good job!

April: W00t! You finished your novella! Nice! What is it about?

Pterofan: Now THAT sounds pretty damn cool. Excellent.

Patty: 3000? A good length. I do critiques too for some people. I find it really helps!

Keithy: Sounds like you’re keeping busy! Nice! Woah- those are some lineups!

Layla: Keeping it real! Cool!

Me: 1000 words on a new short story. The first draft is MUCH rougher than I envisioned it, but I’m going with writing prompts for now. I’m trying to reinforce that daily habit and I wrote on my typewriter. At least I managed to get the initial set-up of the story out of the way.

*Also, in-case anyone is interested, I finished my college diploma early and now have SO MUCH TIME (I don’t work) to dedicate towards writing so I’m going to be both on here and reading and writing A LOT (I also don’t go out anymore except for necessities: I’m obeying social distancing.)*

I hope to hear from you all tomorrow. I’ve missed this thread!

Day 9

Word Count 1977

Patty - But you accomplish something.

April - Congrats on finishing your novella!

Daniel - Congrats on 1000 words!

Keithy - Good luck on the planning!

Layla - YaY on ¼ page!

I didn't get as much work done today because,A) I didn't feel good; and B) I did a lot of scrambling around with important scenes.

DanielSTJ said:

Me: 1000 words on a new short story. The first draft is MUCH rougher than I envisioned it, but I’m going with writing prompts for now. I’m trying to reinforce that daily habit and I wrote on my typewriter. At least I managed to get the initial set-up of the story out of the way. *Also, in-case anyone is interested, I finished my college diploma early and now have SO MUCH TIME (I don’t work) to dedicate towards writing so I’m going to be both on here and reading and writing A LOT (I also don’t go out anymore except for necessities: I’m obeying social distancing.)*

Click to expand...

Congrats on that diploma! You must feel so relieved right now. I can relate. What kind of typewriter are you using? I've always had a fondness for Olympia myself.I'm halfway through editing Chapter 4. Editing itself is going fairly smoothly since I'm focusing on the nuts and bolts of structure. My second and third passes will be to tweak dialogue and add sensory details (though I'm trying not to completely omit those, but sometimes they slip by on a first draft).

Pterofan: This Amazon Barbie is a woman after my own heart.

Patty: Happy trimming!

Keithy: Yeah, definitely. The planning days can sometimes feel like a day off, but they make such a difference IMO.

Layla: Productive, as always

Daniel: Och, that’s what first drafts are for! Congrats on the 1k. I know what you mean—having the choice taken away means we kinda have no excuse not to sit in and write!

Cindyt: That’s still a hella lotta work!

400 words. One evil chapter. The second draft is DONE. Now, I drink.

Daniel! Good to see you Congrats on the 1K and - on Graduating! (and early too, wtg!)
Cindy, 1977 is great (Star Wars came out that year, anyway ) Hope you feel better soon
Congrats on that editing Taylor
Sounds like a major 400 words, April






Day 10


WIP - 1/4 page; did it in the evening because dangit - I overslept again. I went to bed at 9:30 - was awake till 12:00. grrrr
R/SC - chores
BP/$$ - earning service

CindyT: 1977- A good word count and a good year for music, am I right? :-D

Taylor: Well, I was going to buy one from a typewriter shop in Toronto (since they have the ribbons) but right now it’s closed so I’m using my GX-6750 electric typewriter. It’s pretty neat and I don’t use the corrections tab, just prefer to dash out the lines and move forward. I really like using it! I can also order cartridges from Staples directly- as I know that's an issue with many typewriters (getting the cartridges/ribbons.) Sounds like you’re getting good progress!

April: I totally agree. We have no excuses now. Second draft done? NICE! Drinks on!

Layla: I have such big sleep problems. It takes me hours to sometimes finally go to sleep after going in bed. Frustrates me to no end- so I hear you there! Still, you made it a good day. Nice!

Me: 1500 words AND some editing/revising done. I’m getting another story ready for a beta-reader/editor friend of mine. I’m halfway through it- I put a good effort, and I hope to get it ready soon. I think my beginning is way too long, but it may work—I’ll try to get his opinion on that.

I'll see you folks tomorrow!

Day 10

Word Count 2684

April - Congrats on the 400 words and finishing the evil chapter and second draft.

Daniel - 1500 words, editing and revising! Wowser! Good music, but Lynyrd Skynyrd died.

Layla - Nice ¼ page. I’m fine. I’m just old.

Daniel: nothing wrong with that! Fredrick Forsyth still uses a Nakajima electric typewriter. Whatever is most comfortable!


I am still editing Chapter 4. It's much longer than I anticipated but there's a little-known story about a man who was killed when his Murphy bed folded up on him in the night at a local hotel and since my MC was at that hotel to help get him out, I just had to put it in there.