50+ words a day...no matter what!

[Post-Crisis D]

I wrote 235 words for the lame space opera today.  It really needs a lot of work.  I like the prologue but I'm not yet happy with anything else.

I ended up writing more on the regular space opera yesterday, so I finished with a total of 350 words on it yesterday.  And I've written 269 words for it so far today.

I'd really like to finish the lame space opera first, because it was supposed to be an easy thing to finish, and I thought it would give me something in the genre to release prior to the regular (more serious) space opera.  The plan was for the lame space opera to be around 30k words.  Maybe 40k?  But it's at about 33k right now and nothing much has really actually happened yet.  There's supposed to be tons of space battles and whatnot and it's a lot of dialogue.  Except for the prologue.  The prologue is pretty balanced with action and dialogue.  The rest, ugh.

I spent last night making a video that I hope will get people to try my books.  We'll see.  LOL

Good luck with the video!

[Maggie Ann]

Dan, I'm glad you recreated your drawing!  And Maggie, your book sounds very intriguing.

I spent last night making a video that I hope will get people to try my books.  We'll see.  LOL

Thanks, Lori. I'm hoping for at least interesting, but I'll take intriguing. ;)

Good luck with the video. I have a few up on youtube but never could figure out what to do with them.

Finished editing the WiP last night. Nearly 25K and 104 pages.

[Lorri Moulton]

I like making book trailers and I think they help a little with sales.  I mainly post them on social media.  This video has four trailers that I added in a 'playlist' and I have a few people watching all the way though...so that's a start! 

[Maggie Ann]

Too many errands to run today, but I did manage 208 words. Not a lot but at least it was something.

[Post-Crisis D]

Wrote 340 words for the lame space opera today.  It's a hot mess.  I really should stop working on it and step away from it for a time and come back to it fresh.

Yesterday, I ended up writing 567 words for the regular space opera and I've written 45 words for it so far today.

[Lorri Moulton]

Power went out last night during a thunderstorm, so no writing for me. 
It was back on this morning, so maybe I'll get some words down tonight. 

[Post-Crisis D]

Power went out last night during a thunderstorm, so no writing for me.

Reminds me of the time I had a big Latin test back when I was still in school.  I wrote a computer program to quiz me and help me study for this test.  Night before the test, I think I started studying using my program and then . . . thunderstorm . . . power outage . . .  I think the power was down for like two hours.  And then it was bedtime . . .

[Maggie Ann]

Power went out last night during a thunderstorm, so no writing for me. 
It was back on this morning, so maybe I'll get some words down tonight. 

You need an AlphaSmart. It runs on AA batteries which last about a year. Lightweight and easy to take anywhere. Just plug it into your laptop, hit send, and it uploads the wordage into your doc.

They don't make them anymore, but you can get them on Amazon or Ebay. I like the Neo best. Some of them have internet capability and some don't. I like not being plugged in while I'm writing.

About $30-40.

[Post-Crisis D]

Wrote 1,040 words today for the lame space opera.

Didn't write anymore on the regular space opera yesterday and have only written 35 words for it so far today.


As for the sketch I had to recreate the other day, here he is for a limited time:


An eight year-old could probably do better but it is what it is.

[Maggie Ann]

Wrote 1,040 words today for the lame space opera.

Didn't write anymore on the regular space opera yesterday and have only written 35 words for it so far today.


As for the sketch I had to recreate the other day, here he is for a limited time:


An eight year-old could probably do better but it is what it is.

Aww, he's sweet.

[Lorri Moulton]

Dan, nice drawing! What's that logo on his shirt?

[Post-Crisis D]

Aww, he's sweet.

Thanks!

Dan, nice drawing! What's that logo on his shirt?

Thanks!

The emblem either represents whatever space military he's in or his particular duty classification.  I haven't fully decided.

[Maggie Ann]

I didn't think I was going to make it to the library today, but my writerly self drove the car there instead of WalMart. I'll take the library any day over WalMart. So, 1420 words that I'm happy with. The story, both the mystery and romance sides, are progressing nicely.

[Post-Crisis D]

So far, zero words written in the lame space opera and 7 words written in the regular space opera.

The lame space opera's word count is likely to drop from 35k to 7k today.  I am thinking about scrapping about 28k of it and starting over at chapter 3.  I'll still use some of that 28k, but will work it in as I revamp this thing.

Unless I change my mind once I get into it.  LOL.

But, as I was thinking of it last night and this morning, I think that may be the best way get this story on track.  I mean, it was supposed to be a short work to begin with, 30k-40k words I figured, and it's at 35k words and nothing has happened.  Plus two characters that were supposed to be in the main cast have fallen by the wayside and haven't been mentioned since the first chapter.  And there's thirty-three chapters so far!

So, I think I'm going to go over the characters, maybe do some trimming and merging, and see if I can get this thing on track.


Today's alien:

[Maggie Ann]

So far, zero words written in the lame space opera and 7 words written in the regular space opera.

The lame space opera's word count is likely to drop from 35k to 7k today.  I am thinking about scrapping about 28k of it and starting over at chapter 3.  I'll still use some of that 28k, but will work it in as I revamp this thing.

Unless I change my mind once I get into it.  LOL.

But, as I was thinking of it last night and this morning, I think that may be the best way get this story on track.  I mean, it was supposed to be a short work to begin with, 30k-40k words I figured, and it's at 35k words and nothing has happened.  Plus two characters that were supposed to be in the main cast have fallen by the wayside and haven't been mentioned since the first chapter.  And there's thirty-three chapters so far!

So, I think I'm going to go over the characters, maybe do some trimming and merging, and see if I can get this thing on track.


Today's alien:

Not as sweet as the other one, but a very inventive alien.

[Post-Crisis D]

Okay, so 580 words written in the lame space opera today.  I think I've figured a way to salvage most of the 28k words that would have been scrapped.  Have still done some trimming, but I merged one character into another and demoted another character.

The problem is that the captain seems reasonably capable in the first chapter, but comes across as an utter moron in subsequent chapters.  That problem was caused by trying to merge different works together.  Now, the captain from chapter one remains the captain and the captain from subsequent chapters has been demoted.  So, now the character can remain a moron and the captain can still appear reasonably capable.  I think it's funnier now.

Not as sweet as the other one, but a very inventive alien.

Thanks!

[Jeff Tanyard]

Today's alien:

This one's a bit more Lovecraftian than the other one.  I approve.   

[Tom Wood]

Neil DeGrasse Tyson has a few rants about how badly designed we are. Like, placing our breathing in a place where we can easily choke to death on our food. But his most fun observation is about our crotch: It's like building an amusement park in a sewer!

Not sure why this came to mind, so, carry on!

[Maggie Ann]

Neil DeGrasse Tyson has a few rants about how badly designed we are. Like, placing our breathing in a place where we can easily choke to death on our food. But his most fun observation is about our crotch: It's like building an amusement park in a sewer!

Not sure why this came to mind, so, carry on!

Thanks so much for that visual. I'm not sure I want to visit those nightmares I'll be having tonight.

[Jeff Tanyard]

But his most fun observation is about our crotch: It's like building an amusement park in a sewer!

That's an old engineering joke.  I first heard it back in the 90s, and I'm sure it's much older than that.  It goes like this:

Four engineers were sitting around one day trying to figure out what kind of Engineer God is.

The first engineer says "I think God is a Mechanical Engineer, because of joints and muscle and sense of balance." The other three nod there heads and say "Yeah, could be."

The second engineer says "I think God is an Electrical Engineer, because of the nervous system and neural network." The other three nod there heads and say "Yeah, could be."

The third engineer says "I think God is a Chemical Engineer, because of hormonal balances and metabolism." The other three nod there heads and say "Yeah, could be."

The fourth engineer snaps his fingers and shouts out "I know, God MUST be a Civil Engineer!"

The other three ask "Why?"

"Well" says the fourth engineer, "who else would put a waste water drainage right through a prime recreational area?"

[Maggie Ann]

Thanks, Jeff. Now I remember the joke.

Managed to squeeze out 129 words. Hope to do much better tomorrow.

[Lorri Moulton]

No writing, but I did update two covers. 

And I have a question...if my book gets up to #1 in a free category on Amazon, does that make me a BestGiving author? 

[diisha392]

Haven't written for almost three weeks (decided to simply focus on the traveling) but am back with new ideas

Wrote 150 words on a short story so far today.

[Maggie Ann]

A good 1572 words today. Up to about 28K now.

No writing, but I did update two covers. 

And I have a question...if my book gets up to #1 in a free category on Amazon, does that make me a BestGiving author? 

You're entitled to that honorific. I've never even made it to #1 in Free.

[Post-Crisis D]

No words yesterday on the lame space opera due to a missing hard drive issue.

Wrote 240 words today in it.  Working better with the character changes I made.


Yesterday, I wrote 63 words on the regular space opera which barely qualifies me for this thread.  LOL.  Wrote 338 words today so far.  Finally nearing the end of a chapter I've spent way too long on.

[Lorri Moulton]

A good 1572 words today. Up to about 28K now.

No writing, but I did update two covers. 

And I have a question...if my book gets up to #1 in a free category on Amazon, does that make me a BestGiving author? 

You're entitled to that honorific. I've never even made it to #1 in Free.

Only made it to #9 in espionage so far, but thought I'd ask.

[Maggie Ann]

A good 1572 words today. Up to about 28K now.

No writing, but I did update two covers. 

And I have a question...if my book gets up to #1 in a free category on Amazon, does that make me a BestGiving author? 

You're entitled to that honorific. I've never even made it to #1 in Free.

Only made it to #9 in espionage so far, but thought I'd ask.

I think anything in the top ten works just fine. Maybe even the top hundred since Zon uses that number when listing both paid and free.

[diisha392]

166 words today

[Post-Crisis D]

For the lame space opera, I wrote 215 words yesterday.

For the regular space opera, I wrote 502 words yesterday.

[Post-Crisis D]

For today, 220 words written for the lame space opera and 21 words so far for the regular space opera.

[Lorri Moulton]

For today, 220 words written for the lame space opera and 21 words so far for the regular space opera.

I keep wondering if you're going to put "Lame Space Opera" as the title. 

[Post-Crisis D]

For today, 220 words written for the lame space opera and 21 words so far for the regular space opera.

I keep wondering if you're going to put "Lame Space Opera" as the title. 

It was originally going to be Dan's Lame Space Opera but now it's [super secret title] a.k.a. Dan's Lame Space Opera.

[Maggie Ann]

For today, 220 words written for the lame space opera and 21 words so far for the regular space opera.

I keep wondering if you're going to put "Lame Space Opera" as the title. 

It was originally going to be Dan's Lame Space Opera but now it's [super secret title] a.k.a. Dan's Lame Space Opera.

Better run it by Lulu. 

[diisha392]

294 words today

[Post-Crisis D]

I wrote 115 words today for the lame space opera.  Woohoo.

[Post-Crisis D]

Going to switch gears this month and focus on getting the regular space opera finished.  I started it on August 1st of 2016 with the plan of writing 5,000 words a day and finishing it in 10 days.    It's been three years now, so I probably ought to finish the thing.

My starting word count is 66,246 words.  I'm thinking maybe 90k when done.  But, maybe longer because it doesn't feel like it is two-thirds of the way finished.  But, I am fairly certain it will not be 250k+ words like the fantasy epic.  LOL.

With the fantasy epic, I averaged about 1,700 words per day for the last month I worked on it.  Last month, working on the lame space opera, I wrote 26,825 words which is an average of 865.32 words per day.  If I can get back up to at least 1k a day, I can get the regular space opera almost to the 100k mark.

So that will be this month's goal.

Will work on the lame space opera when I feel like it.  LOL.

So, for today so far, 0 words written for the lame space opera and 664 words written for the regular space opera.

[diisha392]

600 words yesterday, 212 today to put the short story over 2K.

[Post-Crisis D]

Wrote 1,059 words yesterday and 57 words so far today.

[shrouded1]

I've really been in a slump, but I got 117 words done today. 

[Post-Crisis D]

I only wound up with 500 words yesterday and today, so far, I am at five.

Main issue is that I am a bit stuck.  That is, I know how the characters get out of their current situation and the characters have a vague idea of how to get out of it, but I need to figure out a convincing way for them to figure it out without it seeming like they randomly unlocked the puzzle.

[Lorri Moulton]

You'll get there, Dan!

I had a similar problem with my series but finally, came up with a solution.

[diisha392]

68 words (and ran a 5K)!

[Post-Crisis D]

Only 250 words written yesterday.

You'll get there, Dan!

I had a similar problem with my series but finally, came up with a solution.

Thanks.  Hopefully I'll figure out something soon.  I'm already thinking of detours for them to wind up on after they get out of their current situation and I worry if I don't get them out soon, so many other detour ideas will pile up that they'll never get back to the main plot.

[Maggie Ann]

I may have jumped the gun with today's wordage (1132). I've got to stop moving ahead so fast. 

[Post-Crisis D]

I may have jumped the gun with today's wordage (1132). I've got to stop moving ahead so fast. 

Take the highs whenever you can.  Helps balance out those days you struggle to get any words down.

[Post-Crisis D]

Not a word count update but a new sketch I did earlier today:



His mouth is right near his stomach for convenience.  Also means he doesn't have to worry about choking on his food because his nose holes are nowhere near his stomach intake orifice.  Makes wearing standard-issue uniforms problematic though.

If I could actually draw, I would do a comic book with some of these characters.

[Lorri Moulton]

Not a word count update but a new sketch I did earlier today:



His mouth is right near his stomach for convenience.  Also means he doesn't have to worry about choking on his food because his nose holes are nowhere near his stomach intake orifice.  Makes wearing standard-issue uniforms problematic though.

If I could actually draw, I would do a comic book with some of these characters.

Maybe, try it anyway?  The drawings are unique and your fans might enjoy it! 

[shrouded1]

I made it up to 450 today  Just 10,000 to go to get this short story done.

[Maggie Ann]

Not a word count update but a new sketch I did earlier today:



His mouth is right near his stomach for convenience.  Also means he doesn't have to worry about choking on his food because his nose holes are nowhere near his stomach intake orifice.  Makes wearing standard-issue uniforms problematic though.

If I could actually draw, I would do a comic book with some of these characters.

The characters are great and you don't have to be Stan Lee to do comics just like we don't have to be James Patterson to write a thriller. I say go for it. These are wonderful drawings and you can put your own humorous stamp on the story.

[Maggie Ann]

I made it up to 450 today  Just 10,000 to go to get this short story done.