Now, that doesn't mean I'm done in here by any stretch. The floor definitely needs a good mopping (if not an outright scrubbing.) There are still a few boxes that need to find themselves stored elsewhere, and some other detritus on the table that's serving as a desk. But I thought I'd progressed far enough that I could try to start using it for it's appointed purpose - and on that score, it's a success. I pulled one of our dining-room chairs to use until I can get something more suitable, plugged in the laptop and got started.
Granted, I got a later start than I would've liked. I tried to sit down, but I felt like I was forcing things. I took an hour's break and made some decent headway. How decent? That depends. I've been trying to write 700-1200 words a night. But my friend Caine e-mailed me a link to this blog. The basic premise of the link states that writing 500 words a day is a goal to shoot for. After all, 500 words times 365 days is over 100,000 words written in a year, which according to the blog is about the upper limit for a 'publishable' novel. But why that suggestion? Is it to keep you from burning out? Is it to try to show that a small amount of progress every day over a year can add up to a novel? I think I'm ahead of that curve on average, and I'm pretty comfortable with my output. I'm just curious, if anybody knows.
Tonight I wrote a bit over 700 words. Yesterday I might've been a little dissatisfied with that amount. But in light of Caine's e-mail, I think I'm going to try to view it a little more positively. I want to see how much I can do, but I do sometimes need to remember to keep a more positive outlook.
I left my story at a point that I think I should be pretty eager to pick back up later. So hopefully tomorrow will be a very fruitful night. For now, I think I'm going to see about taking care of some last loose ends about the house before going to bed.
Word Count:
Tonight's Word Count: 746
Total Word Count: 12,791
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I think this is an excellent idea, I don't think about how many words I write a day, though I would have to say that 500 would be extremely love. I would not be disappointed with 700, some nights I don't get a word written, I feel completely defeated and then the next night I have a whole chapter.
ReplyDeleteGuess you have to take the little joys in life. :)
I agree. I'm going to try to write at least a little bit every day now. I've only been working on this project (I think it's graduated from 'story', even if I'm not ready to call it a 'novel' yet) for almost three weeks now, and I only started keeping track of the number of words written to see that I'd stick with it.
ReplyDeleteSo far, I haven't had a night where nothing came. But on the occasions that I've had a harder time writing, so far it's heralded a breakthrough. Best of luck with your own writing. :)