Author Topic: 50+ words a day...no matter what!  (Read 308897 times)

Lorri Moulton

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1850 on: December 05, 2020, 07:35:19 AM »
I've been stuck in promotions and pen name branding all week.  Hoping I can get back to my WWII short stories this weekend!

Author of Romance, Fantasy, Fairytales, Mystery & Suspense, and Historical Non-Fiction @ Lavender Cottage Books
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1851 on: December 05, 2020, 08:14:36 AM »
Yesterday, on the humorous space opera, I reached the end of the chapters that need rewriting, except for one.  Now, I know you're thinking, well, then why did you say you reached the end of the chapters that need rewriting if there's still one left to do?  Good question.  But the remaining one is a different sort of story than the previous ones.  That is, it doesn't involve the regular bridge crew.  So, the ones with the regular bridge crew are done for now.  With the other, there's no point in rewriting until I've figured re-re-rewritten the others or at least have pared down and straightened things out as mentioned in a prior post.  Anyway, yesterday's work amounted to writing 30 words which, again, was mostly a descriptor to identify a particular character that is being split from another.  So, I barely qualify to post here now.  Well, I don't qualify actually.  But, in an act of civil disobedience, I am posting anyway.

I don't like being one of those people that needs a certain setup to write but for the humorous space opera I need a certain setup to write.  LOL.  I should probably explain.  I do a lot of writing on my iPad.  I have a keyboard but I never use it.  The serious space opera started out life on a Mac mini, but then moved to my iPad when I realized I wasn't going to finish it in 10 days.  I am also editing it on the iPad.  Really convenient since the iPad is small and such.  Laptop is larger and, despite writing several novels on it, it feels less convenient since getting the iPad.  I keep thinking, one day, maybe a MacBook Air would be a nice middle ground, but I need to sell a bazillion novels before I can afford that, and since my average sales are like 5 per novel, I need 1/5 of a bazillion novels written before I can afford that.  Anyway, in the meantime, iPad.  But, for heavy editing and heavy rewriting, such as is needed for the humorous space opera, well, that's just easier on a laptop.

Granted, I have a laptop.  Also have an old laptop which I configured to use for mostly writing.  Do I?  No.  Why?  I don't know.  The iPad is just easier.  My main laptop has all the files too.  Which is fine.  But I keep the main laptop in a case and opening the case and then opening the laptop and etc.  Ugh.  Seems like a lot of effort.  Doesn't help that I have too much stuff in the laptop case that needs to be set aside in order to get the laptop out which isn't a problem if I'm going to be using it for several hours but if I just want to use it for an hour or so, nah.  Easier to use the iPad.  Could I use the other laptop?  The one setup for mostly writing?  The one that's older and doesn't have a case?  The one I could just open and work on?  Sure.  Do I?  No.  Because then I'd have to use a thumbdrive and transfer files and all that.

Excuses?  Yep.  On the flip side, that doesn't affect my work on the serious space opera.  Also, I should also clean my home office.  Then I could use the desk for working instead of storage.

Mind you, transferring files off the iPad to the laptop is also a PITA since the iPad is an older model that doesn't have the "files" or whatever feature the newer ones have.  With mine, to transfer a document, it's one at a time.  One at a freakin' time.  Can't even select a batch and do it that way.  Nope.  One at a time.  PITA.

Anyway . . .

On the serious space opera, I finished editing the remainder of the chapter I left off on last night.  Well, technically today since it was after midnight.  This afternoon, I watched a video on UV unwrapping which I hope will help when I get back to work on the 3D model for the cover.  Also need to look up what cover sizes Amazon wants these days.  Probably a gazillion pixels by a gazillion and a half pixels by now.

Also bought new software which will in no way help with writing or editing or covers but it's had my partial interest for a while and they were having a 35% off sale, so what choice did I have?
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1852 on: December 08, 2020, 07:07:48 AM »
More than halfway through editing the space opera.  Barely.  So far, so good.  I know there is a weak chapter later in the book that I've known I need to do something with.  Had a great idea when I started it but, as happens from time to time, I lost the plot by the time I finished writing it.  But, this morning I came up with a better idea how to end the chapter that makes for a better ending for the chapter and also ties into an earlier chapter.  I should write this down before I forget . . .

Did I write that down?  No, I did not.  Fortunately, after much thinking last night of (a) what the change was I wanted to make and (b) what event in a chapter I recently edited inspired that change and (c) what chapter was it again?, I finally remembered what that change was.  Still need to write it down, along with another change I decided on that I had flipflopped on during the course of the book, which means I need to correct that during my next pass-through, after I finished the current editing cycle.  I have been editing about a chapter a day.  Need to go faster otherwise I'll still be editing in January and I had some hope I might get this out by the end of the year, preferably before Christmas.

Also need to do my newsletter, which is an annual holiday issue at this point though it was supposed to go quarterly in 2020 until 2020 happened.  Maybe 2021?  Dunno.  Anyway, need to finish that and would be nice if I can also say, oh, yeah, new book out, please for the love of all things holy or, for the non-religious, the love of all things Swiss cheese, I guess, please buy the book.

Settled on some changes on the humorous space opera, unless I change my mind again.  But, I think a couple characters that were going to be main characters will instead wind up being minor characters.  Which is good because I had a pair of competing oddball couples and one pair is the stronger character-wise.  I had thought of merging them, but the two couples were so different that there was no sensible way to do so.  Plus, one couple fit in better with the now minor character and now that that minor character has gone from major to minor, it should all work out.  Still the matter of writing it all and making it work, but should be okay.

Wavering on one other change on the humorous space opera.  There's a running gag that I've used that I've pondered whether or not to eliminate (and scrap the several chapters utilizing it) them entirely.  I am now leaning towards simply paring them down a bit, using the stronger ones and dumping the weaker ones.

Wrote 16 words yesterday.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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notthatamanda

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1853 on: December 09, 2020, 01:24:09 AM »
Yeah, I had some plans for 2020 that didn't happen. Pretty much all of them. Business and personal. Almost over.

458 today.
 
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Lorri Moulton

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1854 on: December 09, 2020, 06:24:46 AM »
Yeah, I had some plans for 2020 that didn't happen. Pretty much all of them. Business and personal. Almost over.

458 today.

It's been a challenging year.  Let's hope 2021 is better!  :dog1:

Author of Romance, Fantasy, Fairytales, Mystery & Suspense, and Historical Non-Fiction @ Lavender Cottage Books
 

Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1855 on: December 09, 2020, 06:39:28 AM »
It's been a challenging year.  Let's hope 2021 is better!  :dog1:

Unfortunately, the prognositic consensus I've seen so far is . . .

2021: You think 2020 is bad?  Hold my beer . . .
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1856 on: December 09, 2020, 07:41:38 AM »
Five words today.  Woohoo.  Feel I need to do more on the humorous space opera, but I really need to finish editing the serious space opera.  Need to get that finished up before doing all the work necessary for the humorous space opera.

Will probably do an abbreviated newsletter this year.  Again.  Had hoped to still do a full 48(?)-page newsletter, but that's not going to happen.  Could do maybe 4 or 8 pages, but I'm thinking probably just two pages like I did last year.  If I manage to go quarterly next year, might as well save some of the stuff for next year to have a head start.  Not that anything is actually written, of course, but I have a list of topics and stories so that's something.

Original plan was to release the humorous space opera first then the serious one.  Don't know that there will be any crossover audience--probably not--but as mentioned before, I don't think it would hurt to have two books overlapping within their new release period.  Also hoped to release before Christmas.  Might be able to do that with the serious space opera, but not both and doubtful the humorous one would be ready within thirty days.

I had planned to be finishing the humorous one while my beta reader read the serious one, but now that I am sans beta reader and will serve as my own beta reader, that's not as practical.

Maybe I won't release either one until 2021.  Still would have been nice to have something released in 2020.  Should have finished the poetry book I had initially planned to release earlier this year.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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notthatamanda

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1857 on: December 09, 2020, 08:51:15 AM »
Wow 48 pages. My plans include mentioning a discount on my books and maybe the occasional cute picture of the bunnies.
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1858 on: December 09, 2020, 09:40:50 AM »
Wow 48 pages. My plans include mentioning a discount on my books and maybe the occasional cute picture of the bunnies.

Well, there's the front cover, the index/staff page, and the back cover so that brings it down to 45 pages.  Inside front cover is a full page ad for my books, so down to 44.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Simon Haynes

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1859 on: December 09, 2020, 12:22:35 PM »
I'm working on a new novel (Conundrum in Gold) so progress is a bit slow while I figure things out. Despite that I'm about to hit 10k words after the first 5-7 days.


I'm happy with that, since this last week has been one family thing after another, which has really eaten into my writing time. (Nothing bad with the family, I hasten to add. Just birthdays, helping out and the like.)

My mum's dropping by with my nephews later today after collecting them from school, so I'm hoping to get some good wordcount in before then.

By the way, my sig now includes many of the books on my to-be-written pile in the order I'm going to write and publish them. The only major omission is 'A Puzzle in Platinum', which will be written later next year if the series takes off.
 
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notthatamanda

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1860 on: December 09, 2020, 12:48:40 PM »
What comes after platinum? Diamonds?
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1861 on: December 09, 2020, 01:12:01 PM »
What comes after platinum? Diamonds?

Rhodium?
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Simon Haynes

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1862 on: December 09, 2020, 01:14:20 PM »
Unobtanium


(I'm going to try and stick with my plan to write 3-book series unless sales warrant a fourth. Not that it's all about sales, of course, because I'm about to publish a fourth Harriet Walsh book AND have plans for a fourth Dragon and Chips novel.)
« Last Edit: December 09, 2020, 01:16:45 PM by Simon Haynes »
 
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Lorri Moulton

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1863 on: December 10, 2020, 04:22:11 AM »
Diamonds sound interesting!  Those are great covers...I hope the series takes off!

Author of Romance, Fantasy, Fairytales, Mystery & Suspense, and Historical Non-Fiction @ Lavender Cottage Books
 

notthatamanda

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1864 on: December 10, 2020, 05:49:02 AM »
1248 - I figured out I have this chapter to finish and three more chapters and then the epilogue. Then I have to go back through and sprinkle some historical references which I was a little lean in the first half of the book. I should be finished with at the least the new stuff by Xmas. Not sure about the sprinkling. Even though we go no where, there is still a lot to do for the holidays and I have to get creative cause the kids will only go to school for 5 half days for the rest of the year.
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1865 on: December 10, 2020, 07:24:34 AM »
I think I mentioned earlier in this thread, back when I was still writing the space opera, that I took an unfinished WIP from another project and reworked it as a chapter for the space opera.  Edited that chapter last night and discovered my transcription skills are lacking.  Missed words and stuff like "it" instead of "is" or vice versa.

Also, I realized that this chapter was the first (or at least early) win for the good guys, except that what they won which was to benefit them in the big battle later, is never mentioned again.

On the one hand, crud.  Because the big battle involved a lot of keeping track of things and to have to insert this and recalculate would be kind of a pain.  On the flip side, this chapter was also a partial setup for any potential series.  So, I already figured I can explain the absence later on with a couple lines of explanation and then that will factor in to the potential series.  Which means it's all okay so long as I remember to include those lines of explanation.  LOL.

The serious space opera has been written as a standalone, one-off.  But I've left enough threads for a series should it actually sell and appear as though readers want more.  Also, there's a setup for a big finale for my existing novels which share a universe as well as a series I've not written yet.  So, those would all come together in one big crossover which would bring back several characters from different novels into one.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1866 on: December 11, 2020, 04:43:02 AM »
Don't remember yesterday's word count.  At least five words.  LOL.  Still editing.  Finished editing a chapter that I had remembered as being long, but wasn't as long as I had thought.  I guess maybe writing it took longer than reading it.  I'd be tempted to right things by making it longer to match my memories of it, but being that the book is already 50-100k words longer than originally planned, that'd probably be a bad idea.

In other news, I hate it when you go to block a telemarketer and the phone ends up calling them instead.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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notthatamanda

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1867 on: December 11, 2020, 06:55:03 AM »
Just tell them you are calling with a great offer to extend the warranty on their car, or a time share, or both.
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1868 on: December 11, 2020, 07:05:02 AM »
Couldn't offer a car warranty because they were calling about my car's warranty that was soon to expire.  (It's over 25 years old.  Any warranty is long gone.)

I put the phone down after I hung up.  And then I remembered I should block the number.  So, I picked the phone up, went to recent calls and, well, you have to touch the very tiny (i) button to get to the block caller option.  Touching anywhere else automatically calls them back.  What a stupid, stupid interface.

Probably 90% of the calls I get are junk.  It's getting as bad as eMail.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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notthatamanda

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1869 on: December 11, 2020, 08:09:42 AM »
Yes I am quite unpopular. At least 90% of the calls are junk. Also the girl who had the number before me signed up for every spammy thing on the planet. She's won about 100 iphones, designer bags, and constant miracle weight loss products. Good thing they address her by name or I would get a complex.
 
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Simon Haynes

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1870 on: December 11, 2020, 08:19:46 AM »
Yep, I block calls too, and the Android interface for that (Samsung) is bad when it comes to accidentally calling them. They've already identified the person as a spammer while the phone is ringing, so why would I call them back?

Re the car, mine's 22 this year. Bought it new, still going fine but a warranty? Heh.

By the way I've had the same phone number since 1994 or so. Only a handful of people have it, and I get one spam call every 8 weeks or so, and never get spam texts (I've never signed up for anything requiring my number in my life. They get 'NA' in that field unless it's a mortgage or a doctor.)

Back to the topic: Wrote zero words yesterday but spent about 14 hours flying around and blowing up pirates in Elite Dangerous. Sometimes you need a day off.
 
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notthatamanda

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1871 on: December 12, 2020, 02:20:43 AM »
1429 - Looks like my routine for the rest of the year will be write long hand one day type in the next. I usually write and type in the same day. Still progress. Someone bought book one yesterday so I am crossing my fingers for another preorder. I could use a little boost of positivity about anything.
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1872 on: December 12, 2020, 05:38:06 AM »
Does finding errors in the local newspaper count as editing?  LOL.  Three errors in one 537-word article.  And I was skimming.  Who knows how many more could be there if I did a thorough edit job.

Wrote thirty words yesterday.  Woohoo.

Edited three chapters before bed.  Since it was after midnight, that means I edited three chapters today.  Twenty-two to go.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1873 on: December 13, 2020, 09:05:37 AM »
Thirty words written today and two chapters edited.  Well, two and three-quarter chapters edited.  Maybe I'll finish it out before the end of the day.  The quarter chapter, that is, not the rest of the novel.  Next chapter is the one to which I need to make modifications.  Haven't written them down but still remember so hopefully I won't forget by the time I get to it tomorrow.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1874 on: December 15, 2020, 02:44:36 AM »
Every day, I write and I draw something.  The writing isn't always substantive and the drawings certainly aren't the greatest, but I do both every day.  At the moment, I've been editing the serious space opera, writing the humorous space opera and doing a drawing.  Every day.  The work on the serious space opera and the drawing are both done on my iPad, so I typically do both at the same time.  Edit then draw or draw then edit.  Sometimes I'll do additional edits but most of the time, it is one then the other.

I don't remember when I started with the daily writing.  Maybe 2017 or earlier.  With the drawings, I started in February of 2019.  Technically, January 31, 2019.  So, this past January 31st, marked a full year of consecutive daily drawings.  Goal was to complete a full calendar year.

I do the writing and editing each day no matter what.  When my dog had surgery last year, I still did both.  When the dog died, I still did both.  When my father had a health scare last year, I still did both.  Even when I didn't feel so well, I did both.  I did both with probably more reliability than the post office.

With the end of the year approaching in a couple weeks, I figured after that, I'd have completed the goal and I'd stop.  Or, according to my rough estimation, January 3, 2021 would mark 700 consecutive days of daily drawings.  That would seem to be a good time to stop.  Not to stop drawing entirely, but just doing it daily.  It can be challenging to come up with something to draw each day.  At first, it's not hard.  After a while, the ideas just aren't there.  But I press on.  I've drawn a lot of weird aliens, but even that can be a challenge.  What can you do different than before?  One eye?  Three eyes?  Multiple eyes?  Vary the number of limbs?  No limbs?  Etc.  Strange aliens are the bulk of my drawings.  I try to change up skin colors.  Like what would be different?  I've got blue-skinned aliens, green, purple, pink, orange, etc.  Sometimes I'll do five days of green aliens then five days of another.  Why five and not seven (a week)?  Well, the drawing program displays my drawings in rows of five across, so I just fill up a row then switch colors.

Also, since many of these aliens are crew members of a ship, I start to run out of positions to fill.  Does a space ship have a mathematician on board?  Probably not, but mine does.  Chef, engineer, janitor, historian, etc.  I've probably drawn one.

Also, I had figured once I completed a full calendar year of drawings, I'd also switch away from my iPad to a computer with a Wacom tablet for drawing.  My iPad is getting old and I need to practice more on the Wacom tablet.  Seemed like 2021 would be a good time to start.

So, today, when I went to do my daily drawing, I discovered that, somehow, I missed doing a drawing on Sunday.  Just a couple weeks short of the goal, and I missed doing a drawing.

So, I have to start all over if I still want to meet the goal.  And that means if I want a full calendar year of drawings, I have to start all over on January 1, 2021.  And, if I want to hit 700 consecutive days of drawing, I need to keep going until November 14, 2022.

On top of that, I also splashed bleach on a good pair of pants yesterday.  Of course, now, that doesn't bum me out as much.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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notthatamanda

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1875 on: December 15, 2020, 04:30:21 AM »
You could use aliens in the settings of famous works of art, the way people rewrite classical literature to include zombies. Sunday at the park would work.

824 today. I actually did both write longhand and type it in. Monday's are usually pretty productive to me. Not last Monday, but usually.

I think I miss counted before, but now I definitely have three chapters and the epilogue to write.
Graduation
Trip cross country -train
Trip cross country- Jeep
Epilogue

 
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Simon Haynes

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1876 on: December 15, 2020, 12:13:08 PM »
You could use aliens in the settings of famous works of art, the way people rewrite classical literature to include zombies.

Back when that was fresh and new, I was approached by a big 5 publisher to write something along the same lines. (I turned them down - mashups aren't my thing.)

Also, it felt nice to reject them.
 
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Simon Haynes

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1877 on: December 15, 2020, 12:18:10 PM »
I just dug out the original email and the publisher was referred to me by a huge name in Australian author circles. Cool! (I'd almost forgotten about this whole thing, but I still have all my emails going back to 1997.)

 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1878 on: December 16, 2020, 09:23:10 AM »
Edited two or three chapters earlier today.  Twelve left to go.

Given that I've messed up my chance at having a full calendar year (a leap year at that) of daily drawings, I am seeing what I can salvage out of the year.  As luck would have it, it appears that I have, thus far, written something every day this year.  Worst day of the year so far was December 11th, where I wrote 4 words.  Actually, I wrote 5 words but in editing the space opera, I ended up deleting a word so, for the day, I had a net gain of 4 words.  Still higher than zero, so that counts as writing.  Plus, there's a chance I rewrote something in the space opera and that was how I ended up one word shorter than before, as opposed to simply deleting a word.  I could try to go back and see which was the case, but four words to the positive totally counts, so I'm not going to worry further.

Best day of the year, so far though it probably will hold its place, was April 14th, where I wrote 2,005 words.  My average has been 273.03 words per day.  October, November and December have brought that average down since the serious space opera was completed October 2nd and the other two novels I was working on had both more or less stalled with many days where I only managed 5 words.  Taking those three months out moves my average to 327.32 words per day.  Either way, I need to get back up to an average of at least 600 words per day (and preferably higher).  For the year so far, I am at 95,562 words.  If I can write 4,438 words over the next sixteen days, that means I'll have written 100,000 words this year which sounds good except for the fact I wrote over 200,000 words in 2019.

But, I don't foresee writing that many words between now and the end of the year, especially with where I'm stalled on the humorous space opera.  Still, however, have a chance at writing something each of the next sixteen days.

Just have to make sure I don't miss any of the next sixteen days . . .
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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notthatamanda

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1879 on: December 17, 2020, 01:59:44 AM »
2367 - Made up for doing nothing yesterday. Somehow the younger kid got blocked from google classroom on the admin side and straightening that out took a lot out of me. I did get some gifts wrapped yesterday so even though my mind was too  :dizzy to write I was productive.
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1880 on: December 17, 2020, 07:56:00 AM »
Two hundred and nine words so far today.  Another chapter or two edited.  Maybe three?  Who can remember?  Ten and a partial to go.

Also had to change the contact form on my website.  Been getting way too many spam submissions over the past couple days.  Don't know if they were trying to spam me and failing or if they were trying to find vulnerabilities that would let them use my contact form to send spam to other people.  As I recall, it's locked down against that but that doesn't stop them from poking around.  Made changes to it and haven't seen a new message since, so, so far, so good.  I'm sure they'll eventually find away around my little roadblock but it's working for now.  I should probably randomize it a bit so they'd have a tougher time adapting.  Next time . . .

Also put up a notice that they will owe me $1,000 for each attempt at spamming.  It won't do a darned thing, of course, since bots don't read that stuff anyway, but I like to pretend it deters some of them.  Initially, I was going to ask for $100 but since I figured they aren't going to be paying attention (or paying) anyway, I'd make it $1,000.  Maybe I should go back and make it $10,000 just for the heck of it.

Doubled up on drawings yesterday.  Won't have 366 days of consecutive drawings this year but I will have 366 drawings for the year, assuming I don't miss another.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Simon Haynes

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1881 on: December 17, 2020, 12:01:00 PM »
I've had a week off, and it's odd how it's affected my sleep.  When flat out writing, I was lucky to get 6-7 hours most nights, waking up several times in the night. Now I'm NOT writing I'm going to bed at midnight and waking at 8.30am.

I feel refreshed but unproductive.  Playing Elite Dangerous about 12 hours a day isn't helping, but it's fun.

On the other hand, from long experience I know that forcing myself NOT to write will make the writing better when it happens.
 
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Jessica

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1882 on: December 18, 2020, 07:57:52 AM »
340ish for today.

NaNo didn't go well for me. After some trauma late summer (which probably qualifies as midlife-crisis), it hit me again in November, followed by "*beep* this *beep*, I'm giving up on writing". Fast forward to yesterday when I came back to this forum, skimmed through what I missed, and today I managed some words.  :icon_think: Guess, my personal hell is earth.

@Dan

Do you have Instagram or something similar? Would love to see some of your drawings. (I tried to compete in monthly challenges in the past as well but never managed to keep up until the end. I'm a bit in awe that you got 700 down in a row.)
Avatar Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1883 on: December 18, 2020, 09:05:17 AM »
Haven't even edited a full chapter today, but I did edit a partial chapter and added 3 words.  Then wrote 100 words in the humorous space opera.  4,070 words away from 100,000 for the year.


Do you have Instagram or something similar? Would love to see some of your drawings. (I tried to compete in monthly challenges in the past as well but never managed to keep up until the end. I'm a bit in awe that you got 700 down in a row.)

It would have been 700 come January 3rd or so, had I not missed Sunday.  So, ended the streak at about 680 days, I think.  Current streak is now four consecutive days.  But also have to wait three years before I can try for another leap year with consecutive daily drawings.

No Instagram.  I have posted some images in this thread.  Nothing to get too excited about.  Here's the one I posted here in March:



Apparently, he has some fiddler crab DNA.

They're usually weirder, like this one:

Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 

notthatamanda

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1884 on: December 19, 2020, 01:25:51 AM »
1214 Truly 2 chapters and the epilogue left now.  :banana:
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1885 on: December 19, 2020, 02:52:32 AM »
Still editing.  About ten chapters to go.  Discovered a minor plot hole.  Came up with a solution for minor plot hole.  Then realized I have a bit of a Raiders of the Lost Ark problem with one character.  Then realized the solution for the minor plot hole makes that RotLA problem even worse.  So, do I rewrite large swaths of the novel, after first figuring out how to fix the problem, or do I just let it be, seeing that RotLA still made $369.9 million?  Not that my novel is going to make a million dollars, or even $369.90 for that matter, but that people may overlook the problems as long as there's an adventure.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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notthatamanda

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1886 on: December 19, 2020, 04:32:31 AM »
Sleep on it. You may come up with a throw away line to solve it.
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1887 on: December 20, 2020, 11:56:11 AM »
Another chapter edited and 112 words written for today.  Nine chapters left to edit.  Definitely not going to be available for sale before Christmas.  Maybe in January but who knows, especially if any re-writing is needed.  Plus, I still need to finish the 3D model for the spaceship that will be on the cover.  The model is pretty much done; just have to do the UV unwrapping, texture mapping and rendering.

This was supposed to be a quick one-off that would hopefully generate some sales since it's a popular genre.  But, quick did not work out.  Was supposed to be done in ten days (LOL) and it's been four years and four months.  And now I want to make sure it's good because, even though I've written it to be a standalone, I've set up enough things for a series so it can be a series if it gets enough sales to justify doing so.  If not, it ends the way I'd want to leave the characters if it is the only book.  No cliffhanger ending.

Think I need to find a beta reader.  Another that works for free.  Been lucky to have those in the past but past ones are unavailable currently.


Sleep on it. You may come up with a throw away line to solve it.

Weird.  I thought I replied to this yesterday.  :icon_think:  Anyway, I don't know.  Seems too big an issue to hand-wave away.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Lorri Moulton

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1888 on: December 20, 2020, 01:25:24 PM »
I've been doing promotions and making covers! I should be writing, but this seems like more fun at the moment.  :dog1:

Author of Romance, Fantasy, Fairytales, Mystery & Suspense, and Historical Non-Fiction @ Lavender Cottage Books
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1889 on: December 22, 2020, 10:06:00 AM »
Another partial chapter edited and 192 words written for the day so far.  Humorous space opera is now bogged down again.  Ugh.  Need to get the thing straightened out.  But, more focused on editing the serious space opera.  Also, have ten days left to write and finish a newsletter for what's currently an annual issue.  Used to release it on December 23rd or 24th, but the past two years have been on the 31st instead.  Maybe be again this year too.  Had big plans for it this year as well.  Regardless, need to write something for it.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1890 on: December 23, 2020, 04:17:44 PM »
Finished editing the rest of the chapter I was working on yesterday.  Seven more to go.  I think I wrote maybe 175 words in the humorous space opera.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1891 on: December 25, 2020, 01:43:54 PM »
One chapter left to go on editing.  Wrote 135 words in the humorous space opera.  Haven't added up yet how many written while editing the serious space opera.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1892 on: December 25, 2020, 04:48:30 PM »
And . . . done.  Editing, that is.  And five words written.  Next up . . .  Another full read-through to make sure certain characters are using the right swear words.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Lorri Moulton

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1893 on: December 26, 2020, 06:18:24 AM »
And . . . done.  Editing, that is.  And five words written.  Next up . . .  Another full read-through to make sure certain characters are using the right swear words.

 :banana-riding-llama-smiley-em

Author of Romance, Fantasy, Fairytales, Mystery & Suspense, and Historical Non-Fiction @ Lavender Cottage Books
 

Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1894 on: December 27, 2020, 12:28:03 PM »
Wrote 410 words today for the humorous space opera.

Need to write 2,566 more words by the end of the year to reach 100,000 words for the year.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1895 on: December 28, 2020, 11:45:08 AM »
Wrote 450 words today for the humorous space opera.  Writing comes a bit easier when you work on chapters with characters that are ****.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1896 on: December 28, 2020, 11:47:04 AM »
Okay, when did **** become a banned word?  :icon_think:
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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notthatamanda

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1897 on: December 29, 2020, 07:28:01 AM »
863 - about 1/2 a chapter. 1 + half chapters + epilogue left.
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1898 on: December 29, 2020, 10:00:43 AM »
Wrote 700 words for the humorous space opera today.

Need a little under 1500 words by the end of the year to hit 100,000 now.

Kind of wish I could either (a) find the missing material for the trilogy I've mentioned here or in other threads or (b) figure out how the heck the guy and girl can possibly meet in my prospective romcom which may actually be short on the com part.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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Post-Crisis D

Re: 50+ words a day...no matter what!
« Reply #1899 on: December 30, 2020, 08:35:32 AM »
Added 765 words to the humorous space opera today, but only wrote 541 since I incorporated another WIP into this one.  So, only counting the 541 since the other 224 were written in 2019.

Means I have to write about 900 words before the end of the year to hit 100,000.  Not that it's a big deal, since I've written I think close to a 1/4 million in a previous year, but it's a nice big number and I'm so, so close so might as well try to hit it.
Mulder: "If you're distracted by fear of those around you, it keeps you from seeing the actions of those above."
The X-Files: "Blood"
 
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