October 2020 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, or even just the everyday stuff you need to keep up with to support your writing.)

The idea is that repeating something daily 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.
  • Try to do a little every day – even if it's just writing a sentence or two. It reinforces the habit of sitting down to write and makes it easier to get keep it up in the long run.
  • Be adaptive – You'll always be facing new challenges, and what works for someone else doesn't always work for you. What worked for you last week might not work this week. Try different types of goals, different times of the day, and different tricks to reward or motivate yourself. A good habit is what works for you, today.
  • Be patient – It takes a long time to build a strong habit, and progress happens in tiny increments; you won't always notice it day by day, or even week by week.
  • Failure is a part of the process – Failure is a natural part of improving your skills. It lets you figure out what went wrong so you can do better in the future. 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).


Remember: if you share your experiences in the thread, others might be able to help out with tips, tricks, and support! And it's okay to just take a break for a day or two, or have scheduled days off. Find what works for you.

Good luck, and see you October 1st!
 

Cindyt

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:snoopy:

1. Release Dress Her in Chameleon by or sooner than October 10, 2020 :hooray:
2. Go as deep as I can into A Deadly Spill of Scarlet
3. Write as much as I can with an eye toward at least 500 words per day.
4. Finish the second Growing Up Buford blog article for The Hunger Series
 
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ChaseJxyz

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- Finish the first draft of [birds]

And then once that's done...
-Put words into a short story/something that isn't [bird world] related
OR
-Do some sort of studying/editing prep (like figuring out names for things or learning more about the editing process)
 

Layla Nahar

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I'm in of course for my usual Write and take care of Life (with the magic # 3)

1) Add words to my WIP
2) one action of responsibility or self-care
3) "Prosperity": one action to bring more money into my life or one action to make my living space the best it can be for me.
 

Keithy

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Plans for October:

Plough on with Dustworld 1st Draft. Should be done by end November.
 
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Pterofan

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Back for take 2. I was on a block for over a month, but I recently had a breakthrough and I think I can do this now. My goal for October is to finish at least one of the series books. Be nice if it was the first one, but I'll settle for whichever one decides it wants to get written. I'm going to set the bar low at 250 words per day, so every time I beat it I'll get the encouragement of an easy win. Brain and I still butt heads sometimes, so I have no qualms about rigging the game in my favor.
 
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shanthini

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I am in a severe block creatively right now, but hoping that committing to a goal will help.

I have a project to work on - my only goal is to add words to it every day. Hoping for 1,000 a day, but considering my recent productivity, that may not be realistic. Weekly goal of 5,000 words. Let's see if I can do that.
 

sandree

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I’m in. My goal is to do something book related at least four days a week, hoping for more.

Book three: Pondering/taking notes, Outlining, Writing
Seeds of Change and The Color of Sunshine: promo
Life: try not to lose my mind this month
 

DanielSTJ

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Hey gang!

I'm in for this month. I've been away for a bit, but I've decided to return.

My goals are:

1) Read
2) Write
3) Research
4) Plan
5) Edit

Every day. Just a little bit- no set rules. I figure this will help maintain some regularity for all the different phases of my writing.

Here's hoping for success for us all.
 

frimble3

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Yep, it's the 'doing it everyday' that builds the habit. And you've given yourself enough choices that there's no excuse. Good luck!
 

Pterofan

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Day 1 - 379 words. At least a third of those words have been re-used, because I'm reworking the beginning of the stalled Book 1. I may do another stint later today to make sure I hit the 250 "new" words goal.
 

Animad345

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Hi guys! My goal is to write every day. I'm keeping it as simple as that for now, because I really fell of the wagon last month.
 

Layla Nahar

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Ptero! (She's baaack!) Congrats on the 379 :)




Day 1


WIP - added words
R/SC - nice bread and nice cheese for after work snack-meal
PB/$$ - job, 12 hrs
 

Keithy

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Chase – 191 words – yeah, things don’t always go to plan.
Daniel and Ptero – good to see you again!

Today’s effort:

678 words done on Dustworld. Rodney & Etia are trying to capture the airship – the only practical way of the prison camp. He’s preparing a diversionary attack and thinking about Etia and how she seems distracted.

I’ve chosen my beta readers for Demon Hunter. This is both scary and exciting. What will they make of Shana?

Non-writing

I’m a bit spooked today because of health issues, not just my own but of family members.
 

Cindyt

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Day 1

Word Count - 512

Research - What sound does a bald eagle make. A whistling or piping or a giggling. I naturally chose giggling.

Dress Her in Chameleon - Spot edited Chapters 20, 23-28. 30, 50, 53-56

A Deadly Spill of Scarlet - My muse up and pooped all over me during evening devotions--Oops--that is, brainstorms for two new scenes and the novel’s resolution. #1 today: Billy is, shall we say, frustrated because he hasn’t had sex in 9 whole record-breaking days because he’s in lust with Carolina, who has been made into an ice sculpture by a monster, if you get my drift. So what does he do? Why, he throws on his Armani and Cole Haan for a night with some blond pickup toy in a bar. Little does he know, poor boy.

Ptero - Welcome back! You’ve been missed! WTG on the word count!

Layla - Woot for adding words!

Keithy - Great word count. Good luck with the beta!

I've been editing, creating an image, and writing most of the day. I have 6 chapter/3 days left until I release my historical. I have 9 more words to write to reach my daily writing goal. And on top of that was a big moderation misunderstanding on the forum where I'm an administrator. And I am exhausted, but I have that joy, joy, joy down in my heart--where?--down in my heart because God answered a long-awaited prayer today! And if the devil doesn't like it, he can sit on a tack--Ouch!--serves him right!
 

aurora borealis

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My goal for this month is to write every day, with no set word minimum. I've participated in this before and always seem to drop off towards the end of the month, so I want to stop that.

1009 words today. Approximately a third of the way through this chapter.
 

The Second Moon

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Goals for October

1) Send Barney, Mr. Thomas, and the Alligator Creature to beta reader. (Since this book is #2 in the series, I had to chose someone who has already read #1. The beta reader who has agreed to help me has read--and LOVED--#1. Fingers crossed she loves #2)

2) Write more on Apocalypse Stoppers

3) Write more on Vampire Loves Sunling

4) Write more on Five

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 1 - 2,472.

I don't know why but every since I got a stomach bug last week, I've had the urge to write and write and write! Maybe the silver lining to that bug was that I was forced to take a break from writing and could recharge.
 

April Swanson

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Hey gang. Totally forgot October started yesterday … Anyway, I did edits of Book 3 and started reading it aloud. My goals for this month are to get this book out and to write a draft for Shiny WIP (the same Shiny WIP I was supposed to have finished by August). Onwards!

Pterofan: Good to see you! Nice start to the month.

Layla: Yay for words and bread! You cannae beat some nice bread. I love it with oil and balsamic.

Keithy: Great job on the words. Hope your family is okay.

Cindyt: A giggling eagle! Love it. I feel the world needs more of them right now.

aurora: Excellent start to the month. It’s hard to keep going all the way to the end—hopefully we can keep you motivated :)

shanthini: Not bad at all!

Second Moon: Woo, great start! We all need breaks sometime. (Mine feels like a distant memory already though.)
 

ChaseJxyz

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Ptero: Hi! Great start
Layla: Sounds like a lovely meal :)
Keithy: Good job on the 678 words
Cindy: Yeah, bald eagles don't sound very...well as cool as we try to brand them to be. It def sounds like laughing. But I'm also one of those people that gets very upset when editors put in fake bird sounds, so now that you know you get to be mad about it too!
Shanthini: It's a great start!
Second Moon: That's really awesome wordage! I'm glad you're feeling better

Day 1st: 342 words
But I also wrote a one page synopsis which was 578 words. Mentioned MC 12 times, villain 11 times, LI 8 times, Bird Pulling All The Strings 7 times, mentor 5 times and Bird King 2 times. Didn't mention 2 of the 4 POV characters at all which...well I know some areas that can be cut down when it comes time for that. It was an interesting challenge to figure out what was the most most critical stuff, both event wise and emotions/feelings of characters.
 
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Pterofan

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Day 2 - 249 words. Missed it by one, but they're all new words, so I'm going to rule it close enough.

Thanks for the welcomes back. I gave everybody rep points this morning, at least until the button stopped working. Sorry, April. Please accept my wave, a howdy, and a virtual salute.
 

Keithy

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Cindy – ah, images. Some of the best ideas spring from a single image, not a character or situation. 512 words is good too. Go on, what’s 9 more words when you’ve done zillions?
Aurora – Go to it, in the 1K club, yay.
Shanthini – indeed, not a bad start.
Second moon – that’s a funny title! Lots of words there too.
April – I like shiny new WIPs. I’ve rarely tried reading my words aloud.
Chase – lots of busyness there.
Pterofan – ah, one word short isn’t that much.

489 words done on Dustworld. Rodney has gone off to do something brave: scouting around a fuel storage hut with people shooting at him.

Did some work on the Firewitch outline – the middle looks a little less saggy.

One Beta reader arranged for Demon Hunter. First attempt a blurb – it’s mainly someone else’s reworded.

Did some gardening and went on one of my mulling walks.
 

Layla Nahar

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Keithy, congrats on the 678 - & hang in there with that other stuff
Cindy* - congrats on the 512
(I just learned it's real easy to typo 'Cindy' into 'Comfy'... fwiw) :D
Hi Aurora - nice 1009!
shanthin - congrats on the 962
Moon, congrats on the 2.4K
April - congrats on the edits - a great way to get back in the swing
Chase - congrats on the 342 _ 578




Day 2


WIP - added words (took a bit to find some to add...)
R/SC - ballet!
BP/$$ - job 10 hours
 

Layla Nahar

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(ach! I must have missed Ptero and Keithy by a minute! Congrats on the 249, Ptero. Congrats on the 489, Keithy.)
 

aurora borealis

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Day 2

858 words today. Still going strong, but I'm afraid for my productivity next week when I have a lot of work due.