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

[notthatamanda]

Finished rearranging everything and I am so happy I did it. 653 words, 99 pages. I have three more scenes to write and I think I'll be right around my 125 page target.

[notthatamanda]

488. And I dropped a devilishly misleading clue in an earlier part of the manuscript. hehehehe

[Post-Crisis D]

Averaging about 500 words a day for the month so far.  We'll see how that goes.  Characters engaging in a philosophical debate tends to bring up the word count.

Also, finally getting somewhere with the 3D model for the cover of my serious space opera.  Will probably have to do another read-thru myself of the book.  Would really like a third-party opinion, but I've never heard back from Beta Reader B.  There's a good chance Beta Reader A would do it, but I know she's very busy with more important things at the moment so I'm not going to bother her.

Also, had cicadas come into the office yesterday, so had to put them to work.

[la_luna]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and have greatly enjoyed reading through these posts. Super motivating, especially when the idea of writing even 500 words feels daunting.

I myself have been aiming for at least 200 per day but 50 seems even more inviting.

Today I've written 320. Might add another 100 or so but no pressure.

[Jeff Tanyard]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and have greatly enjoyed reading through these posts. Super motivating, especially when the idea of writing even 500 words feels daunting.

I myself have been aiming for at least 200 per day but 50 seems even more inviting.

Today I've written 320. Might add another 100 or so but no pressure.

Welcome to the site, la_luna. 

[la_luna]

Ended up writing 525 words yesterday in total. And 216 words today, which will likely double by end of the day if i continue my habit of writing a bit in the afternoon and a bit before bed. I like writing in small five minute sessions throughout the day lately, as opposed to long sessions. I'm in a bit of a writing funk lately so my attention span is shot. When I'm feeling more inspired, I can crank out 2,000 words no prob. It's been a few weeks since that kind of focus has hit me.


edit: wrote 636

[notthatamanda]

Welcome La Luna.

237 for me today. About halfway through an edit of the screenplay adaptation, adding actions and some descriptions mostly. When I'm done with it I plan to set it aside until August and come back to it with fresh eyes.

I'm really torn about what to write next. I don't want to publish a full length book again, so I was debating a screenplay for a story I have, I just don't know. I'll probably outline it and go from there, maybe.

[Lorri Moulton]

La Luna, welcome!  Glad you've joined us. 

[Lorri Moulton]

Welcome La Luna.

237 for me today. About halfway through an edit of the screenplay adaptation, adding actions and some descriptions mostly. When I'm done with it I plan to set it aside until August and come back to it with fresh eyes.

I'm really torn about what to write next. I don't want to publish a full length book again, so I was debating a screenplay for a story I have, I just don't know. I'll probably outline it and go from there, maybe.

Amanda, what made you decide to switch to screenplays?  I've been writing short stories...just can't seem to focus on anything long and complicated at the moment.  Hoping that will change by the end of summer!

[la_luna]

Thanks for the welcomes!

596 today and...I'm not totally sure where this paranormal romance story is going. The first two chapters started out strong and now it's kind of...dissolving? The hero is not who I thought he was. As soon as I entered his POV in chapter 3 this story is going somewhere very different. It's all shaky ground now and i'm straying from the plot, which is seeming more tentative and ethereal by the day. 

I guess I'll just follow these new threads and see where they take me. 

[notthatamanda]

Welcome La Luna.

237 for me today. About halfway through an edit of the screenplay adaptation, adding actions and some descriptions mostly. When I'm done with it I plan to set it aside until August and come back to it with fresh eyes.

I'm really torn about what to write next. I don't want to publish a full length book again, so I was debating a screenplay for a story I have, I just don't know. I'll probably outline it and go from there, maybe.

Amanda, what made you decide to switch to screenplays?  I've been writing short stories...just can't seem to focus on anything long and complicated at the moment.  Hoping that will change by the end of summer!

Sales are so so bad the idea of throwing away time and money on launching another book is just depressing. I'm adapting my first novel for a screenplay contest, that costs $100 or less. Writing the new story as a novel or a screenplay is still in the air, but the idea of going through all the effort of publishing a full novel, Tim's description woes were pretty demotivating, I don't know. I just don't have it in me to put in the effort on a novel and have it tank again.

[Lorri Moulton]

Sales are so so bad the idea of throwing away time and money on launching another book is just depressing. I'm adapting my first novel for a screenplay contest, that costs $100 or less. Writing the new story as a novel or a screenplay is still in the air, but the idea of going through all the effort of publishing a full novel, Tim's description woes were pretty demotivating, I don't know. I just don't have it in me to put in the effort on a novel and have it tank again.

I don't do anything for a new release except hit publish.  I'm certainly no expert (and don't have a huge income from this) but books don't expire.  Unless they're very trend/niche, I don't think a book ever goes out of style. 

Write what makes you happy.  And if not writing will make you happy, then by all means do that.  And screenplays are a good option, too.  If I had to choose one word to describe being an author these days...it would be resilient.  Best of luck with whatever you decide!

[la_luna]

Currently at 162 words for the paranormal romance and am very tempted to start another project to tinker with because I'm so confused lol.

I've heard some people are successful with writing multiple projects at once. Last time I tried, my original project got abandoned while i got carried away with the secondary project. the second one got finished. the original is still abandoned.

Couldn't hurt to add 50 words to a different project...could it? Anyone else write multiple books at once?

[notthatamanda]

Sales are so so bad the idea of throwing away time and money on launching another book is just depressing. I'm adapting my first novel for a screenplay contest, that costs $100 or less. Writing the new story as a novel or a screenplay is still in the air, but the idea of going through all the effort of publishing a full novel, Tim's description woes were pretty demotivating, I don't know. I just don't have it in me to put in the effort on a novel and have it tank again.

I don't do anything for a new release except hit publish.  I'm certainly no expert (and don't have a huge income from this) but books don't expire.  Unless they're very trend/niche, I don't think a book ever goes out of style. 

Write what makes you happy.  And if not writing will make you happy, then by all means do that.  And screenplays are a good option, too.  If I had to choose one word to describe being an author these days...it would be resilient.  Best of luck with whatever you decide!

Thanks Lorri. It isn't making me happy much these days.

[notthatamanda]

Currently at 162 words for the paranormal romance and am very tempted to start another project to tinker with because I'm so confused lol.

I've heard some people are successful with writing multiple projects at once. Last time I tried, my original project got abandoned while i got carried away with the secondary project. the second one got finished. the original is still abandoned.

Couldn't hurt to add 50 words to a different project...could it? Anyone else write multiple books at once?

I tried because I thought I could fit in 2 full writing sessions a day in that way. Lasted 7 chapters on both and then I bailed on one, which I never finished.

If you are stuck I suggest outlining. Just a sentence or two for what will happen in each chapter. Then start writing again. You don't have to stick to the outline but you can refer back to it if you get stuck again.

[Lorri Moulton]

Thanks for the welcomes!

596 today and...I'm not totally sure where this paranormal romance story is going. The first two chapters started out strong and now it's kind of...dissolving? The hero is not who I thought he was. As soon as I entered his POV in chapter 3 this story is going somewhere very different. It's all shaky ground now and i'm straying from the plot, which is seeming more tentative and ethereal by the day. 

I guess I'll just follow these new threads and see where they take me.

Luna, have you considered not changing POV?  Just an idea.

As for writing multiple projects...I am not good at that.  I can research one while I write another, but too many characters in my head for writing multiple stories at once.

[la_luna]

Currently at 162 words for the paranormal romance and am very tempted to start another project to tinker with because I'm so confused lol.

I've heard some people are successful with writing multiple projects at once. Last time I tried, my original project got abandoned while i got carried away with the secondary project. the second one got finished. the original is still abandoned.

Couldn't hurt to add 50 words to a different project...could it? Anyone else write multiple books at once?

I tried because I thought I could fit in 2 full writing sessions a day in that way. Lasted 7 chapters on both and then I bailed on one, which I never finished.

If you are stuck I suggest outlining. Just a sentence or two for what will happen in each chapter. Then start writing again. You don't have to stick to the outline but you can refer back to it if you get stuck again.

Yeah, still not sure about starting a new project. I think the only way that would work for me now is if the new project was a far superior idea to this one, which was never too strong of an idea to begin with.

I think I will have to start outlining again. I did have a brief, vague one but maybe some brainstorming and more details is required. Thanks for the advice!

[la_luna]

Thanks for the welcomes!

596 today and...I'm not totally sure where this paranormal romance story is going. The first two chapters started out strong and now it's kind of...dissolving? The hero is not who I thought he was. As soon as I entered his POV in chapter 3 this story is going somewhere very different. It's all shaky ground now and i'm straying from the plot, which is seeming more tentative and ethereal by the day. 

I guess I'll just follow these new threads and see where they take me.

Luna, have you considered not changing POV?  Just an idea.

As for writing multiple projects...I am not good at that.  I can research one while I write another, but too many characters in my head for writing multiple stories at once.

I have considered it! I should mention I've never done dual POV's before so maybe that is adding to the confusion/hesitance? It does seem a lot easier to just have one POV and it also helps with increasing tension because you don't know exactly what the other character is thinking. I guess I'm just copying other romance authors who do the back and forth POV. Maybe I could rewrite chapter three without the POV switch. Not sure. I've already rewritten chapters 3-6 because I'm not satisfied with them... I think I might have to brainstorm and outline a bunch to see where this is going.

Yeah, I'm going to scrap the starting a new project idea lol. Thanks for the advice!

[Lynn]

I keep multiple booksgoing at a time. Right now I have 9. All will eventually be finished. :D

If I weren't so slow this would work out much better for me. But, truthfully, this seems to be the only way I'm happy writing. I have 39ish finished titles, most of those being novels and novellas.

[Post-Crisis D]

I am hovering at just under 500 words per day for the month.  As of the end of yesterday, it's 492 words per day on average.

That's split between two stories.  One is a short story for my newsletter.  Almost 7k words now and still not done.  Not sure I'm living up to the premise.  The other is the lame space opera that keeps getting longer and longer yet going nowhere.  Doesn't help matters that I have not one but two characters that are (a) pretty dumb and (b) increasingly perverted.  You know what kinds of characters are easy to write?  Stupid perverts.  You can count on them to say or do plenty of stupid and/or perverted things.  How does a smart person change a light bulb?  They just do it.  It's not hard.  How does a stupid person change a light bulb?  Well, when was it last lit?  It might be hot.  They might need to use an oven mitt to grab it.  What if the glass breaks?  Maybe they need to put a plastic bag over it to catch any broken glass should it break while they are grabbing it with the oven mitt.  Does it matter whether the light switch was on or off?  Not really.  Unless you're stupid.  And then you might want to unplug the lamp first.  What about an air gap?  Can the electricity travel through the air from the outlet to the cord?  Smart person knows the answer is no.  Stupid person thinks that maybe the plug should be moved far away from the outlet to safe.  Better yet, go to the electrical panel and switch off the electricity to the outlet.  Which switch?  Better flip them all off to be safe.  Wait.  Can't do that with the oven mitt on.  Is it safe to touch the electrical panel with your bare hand?  Maybe it's better to use a screwdriver.  Wait.  That's metal.  The handle is plastic but what if the electricity melts the plastic and then you get zapped after the plastic melts off?  Better to pull the master switch and turn all the electricity off.  But is it safe to grab that?  Better to use the oven mitt again.  But, wait, if the electrical panel provides electricity to the oven as well as the rest of the house, well, then it might get even hotter than an oven and burn right through the oven mitt.  Then you'll get zapped.  Might be better to use a crowbar.  But that's metal again.  But it's painted.  The paint will protect, right?  Maybe not.  It might be best to climb the electric pole outside and turn it off at the source.  To be safe.  But the wooden ladder won't reach and it'd probably be bad to use a metal ladder.  Maybe just throw a rope up there and climb up that way.  With the oven mitt, of course.  For safety.  And so on.  And that's what makes stupid characters easy to write.  Even more so with dialogue because they have a lot of stupid things to say.  Like they might have said all the aforementioned instead of doing it because they like to talk rather than do.  And so the plot goes nowhere and the word count goes up and it would be fine if it were funny but there's just too much stupid.

[la_luna]

944 words today.

I think I figured out how to make things flow more: a flashback scene. I don't know why that worked but it did lol. I know flashbacks aren't everyone's cup o' tea but everything makes sense now. At least for chapter 5. I'll be plotting more tomorrow.

[notthatamanda]

765. Thought I'd be done by now but still about 40 pages to go through on the screenplay before I put it aside for a month and let it sit.

[la_luna]

actually ended up writing nearly 1200 words yesterday.

Today...around 320. Except it's all outlining!

[la_luna]

After I outlined, I ended up writing another 502 words!

Thanks for the suggestion, notthatamanda. Outlining really helped!

Today I'm aiming for another 200-500.

edit: 1112 words. And the characters decided to go on a cute date I hadn't planned, but I love it!

[la_luna]

518 words today. Not very good words, but at least they are on the page.

[la_luna]

515 words. Sluggish seems to be my default lately lol. I'm enjoying this story, but the words want to come out slow and oozing. It does kind of suit the atmosphere of this tale, which is thick and dense and atmospheric. Kind of like the muggy summer air where I live right now. By the end of editing, I hope it's a dark, luscious layer cake of words

[Jeff Tanyard]

I strained my hands last week during a woodworking project.  They've been hurting a little since then.  Makes it difficult to write without stopping every now and then to massage them.

But I'm doing what I can.   

[Lorri Moulton]

Hope you feel better soon, Jeff! 

[la_luna]

722 words today. Might try to up it to 1000 before sleep. We shall see.

I feel like I've been at approx 20,000 words in this manuscript forever??? Am I in a time warp? Lol in reality the words are adding up but it feels so darn slow....I'm excited for the day where I check my total word count and it's finished. hahaaa

edit: Oh yeah! The reason it's been at 20,000 words forever is because I had to rewrite three chapters! I nearly forgot.

[la_luna]

305 mediocre words. Lol, I can't wait to edit this mess.

[la_luna]

719 words. Today was better

[la_luna]

52 words. I had too much hard cider to write more.

Where are all the writers with their word counts???? I feel like I'm yelling into a void!

[Lorri Moulton]

52 words. I had too much hard cider to write more.

Where are all the writers with their word counts???? I feel like I'm yelling into a void!

La_luna, it's up and down with word count and author participation.  Right now, I'm focusing on promotions so taking a break from writing.  Others have kids out of school and summer vacation.  Keep posting and maybe we'll get more writers back next week! 

[la_luna]

52 words. I had too much hard cider to write more.

Where are all the writers with their word counts???? I feel like I'm yelling into a void!

La_luna, it's up and down with word count and author participation.  Right now, I'm focusing on promotions so taking a break from writing.  Others have kids out of school and summer vacation.  Keep posting and maybe we'll get more writers back next week! 

Yes, that does make sense! I shall keep calm and write on then. Hopefully more people will join the thread soon!

[Jeff Tanyard]

Where are all the writers with their word counts???? I feel like I'm yelling into a void!

I had a big fat zero last night.   

But I've worked out how I want the scene to go, so I should be able to crank out at least a few hundred words tonight.

[Jeff Tanyard]

Where are all the writers with their word counts???? I feel like I'm yelling into a void!

I had a big fat zero last night.   

But I've worked out how I want the scene to go, so I should be able to crank out at least a few hundred words tonight.

Over 1600 words Saturday night, and a few hundred Sunday night.  Once again, I had to stop so I could mull over how I wanted the story to progress.

FYI, I'm working on a potential Vella serial.  I decided if I could crank out 20 episodes before the program went live, then I'd toss them up and see what happened.  I'm on episode 9 right now.  I'm totally pantsing this thing, something I would never do for a novel because I have a way of writing myself into corners and straying from the plot when I do that.  But a serial has no defined end, so it's different this time.

[Post-Crisis D]

I finished June with an average of 450.5 words per day, which is a 27.95% improvement over May's 352.10 words per day.  For July, I am at 215 words per day so far.

I have been working on two projects: one is the lame space opera and the other is a superhero short.  The lame space opera is going nowhere and I keep going deeper and deeper into that nowhere.  The superhero short seems to be dragging on.  I still like the premise but I'm less sure of the execution so far.  The lead character seems resistant to being a superhero.  I'm approaching 9k and I'm fear I may be dragging the story out too much.  I probably need to figure out a villain and a villainous plot for world domination or something.

The original plan was to release the serious space opera and the lame space opera within 30 days of each other, figuring having two releases (even if unconnected) in the same genre during the same 30 day window might help.  Or maybe not.  Might have been an interesting experiment either way, but I don't think it's going to happen.  The humor isn't there with the lame space opera and I can't seem to find my way back.  I should probably finish the cover of the serious space opera, finish the foreword and about sections, give it another read-through and then release it.  Don't like not having a beta reader go through it first, but can neither afford one nor find a volunteer, so, rather than bury it in a virtual drawer for years and years, might be better to wrap it up and release it.

May switch gears this month and work on the scifi-horror series I've mentioned in another thread and circle back to the lame space opera and superhero short sometime in the future.

[notthatamanda]

347. First draft of the screenplay adaptation finally done, about a month after I planned to. I'll put that aside, possibly until the end of August so I'll have fresh eyes for it.

[diisha392]

53 words so far today!

[LilyBLily]

I decided to write an entire novel over the weekend and scared myself so badly I didn't write anything at all the first day. Didn't even go near my writing laptop.

The only time daily word count goals work for me is NaNoWriMo in November. Well, and years ago there was a Southern Cross challenge in June and I wrote an enormous number of words for it, I think 100k in thirty days. But not this weekend. I'll be happy to make progress on the new project and leave it at that. 

[Lorri Moulton]

I decided to write an entire novel over the weekend and scared myself so badly I didn't write anything at all the first day. Didn't even go near my writing laptop.

The only time daily word count goals work for me is NaNoWriMo in November. Well, and years ago there was a Southern Cross challenge in June and I wrote an enormous number of words for it, I think 100k in thirty days. But not this weekend. I'll be happy to make progress on the new project and leave it at that.

I wrote and published two very short, fantasy stories one weekend (and made the trailer).  I can't imagine writing an entire novel.

Maybe focus on writing a few chapters over the weekend? 

[LilyBLily]

I did somewhere about 2k words and am happy with my progress. I'm a pantster so I have to feel my way. It can mean I write every few days or that I write a lot. Depends on how the story reveals itself to me. The new one is developing in exciting ways already that I had not anticipated. I love that.

[diisha392]

122 words, slowly making progress
Even if said progress is a rewrite of previous progress!

[Post-Crisis D]

Despite working on three stories, my daily word count slipped from an average of 392.58 words per day in July to 372.58 words per day in August.

I still have problems with the lame space opera.  I had a chapter of the lame space opera I started a while back.  Maybe two.  Then I had some other stories I thought I could merge into it and finish a novel in short order.  So, I had the start of the original lame space opera, three space stories, another short story, a fantasy short story and the start of another story I had forgotten where I was going with.  And, it seemed workable at the start.  Merging some characters together was more complicated than I had thought but eventually got it worked out.  But, while I've managed to work together the original space opera, the three space stories and the start of another story, the remaining two--from whence the villain comes--isn't pulling together well.  I thought I had a good handle on making it work, but it's just not coming together.  The villain, for example, is kind of a perv and becoming more so.  I'm considering maybe pulling those stories out and doing a standalone villain tale.  Don't know for sure yet.

Also, I've been experimenting a bit on what software I want to use for writing.  Though it shouldn't affect the writing, sometimes it does because it becomes a distraction.  Once I settle on something, hopefully that will remedy that.

[Lorri Moulton]

I haven't done much writing lately, but I did finally start a newsletter, a reading group...and I'm creating a Payhip account for direct sales.  Eventually, I might even start writing again. LOL   

[Jeff Tanyard]

...I thought I had a good handle on making it work, but it's just not coming together.  The villain, for example, is kind of a perv and becoming more so.  I'm considering maybe pulling those stories out and doing a standalone villain tale.  Don't know for sure yet.

How is his being a perv a problem?  It sounds like a good quality to have in a villain.  You want a villain to be as unlikable as possible without sacrificing realism.  Think Baron Harkonnen and his myriad abhorrent qualities.  (I've got the Baron and other characters lingering near the front of my thoughts due to the upcoming Dune movie.)

[Post-Crisis D]

...I thought I had a good handle on making it work, but it's just not coming together.  The villain, for example, is kind of a perv and becoming more so.  I'm considering maybe pulling those stories out and doing a standalone villain tale.  Don't know for sure yet.

How is his being a perv a problem?  It sounds like a good quality to have in a villain.  You want a villain to be as unlikable as possible without sacrificing realism.  Think Baron Harkonnen and his myriad abhorrent qualities.  (I've got the Baron and other characters lingering near the front of my thoughts due to the upcoming Dune movie.)

Well, he talks a lot for one thing.  And he does and wants to do rather perverted things.  And, the good guys are supposed to stop him and I'm over 150k now and they haven't even encountered each other, primarily because the good guys got sidetracked and the villain basically stopped himself from what they were supposed to stop him doing.  And now they're going in two different directions.

[Dormouse]

Also, I've been experimenting a bit on what software I want to use for writing.  Though it shouldn't affect the writing, sometimes it does because it becomes a distraction.  Once I settle on something, hopefully that will remedy that.

I'm always interested in what software writers choose to use: why they decided on that and what alternatives they had considered. I'd enjoy reading anything you have to say about how that goes for you. I assume the experimenting is because of some deficiency in what you had been using previously.

[Post-Crisis D]

Also, I've been experimenting a bit on what software I want to use for writing.  Though it shouldn't affect the writing, sometimes it does because it becomes a distraction.  Once I settle on something, hopefully that will remedy that.

I'm always interested in what software writers choose to use: why they decided on that and what alternatives they had considered. I'd enjoy reading anything you have to say about how that goes for you. I assume the experimenting is because of some deficiency in what you had been using previously.

I'll put something together and start a thread for it.

[Lorri Moulton]

Finally back to work writing and editing.  Also creating the cast of characters for my next series! 
I haven't kept track of words, but it's definitely progress!