Day 15

Still very slow going. I have absolutely no idea where this story is going or what happens next, which is frustrating and feels like I’m slogging through muck. I just keep puttering, filling in details/description, deepening the scenes as I ‘write the next sentence’ and try to bring the story to life.

45″ 727 words

60″ 455 words

TOTALS SO FAR: 730″ & 15,153 words

 

Day 16

I am seriously freaked out, and now procrastinating because I don’t know what to write or what to write towards. Very itchy feeling. SO SLOW. Ugh. Still no idea where this is going.

30″ 648 words

40″ 643 words

TOTALS SO FAR: 800″ & 16,444 words

 

Day 17

Slowly getting into the story, and discovering that the longer I’m in it, the easier and more fun it gets. Twists and turns just seem to happen when I sit down and write. Got a fair bit accomplished today. Lessons learned:

WHAT WORKS:

  • distraction-free software (Writemonkey FTW)
  • writing in chunks of 500 words in 20-ish minutes
  • following tangents, setting, and jumping ahead in the story
  • shutting up and writing
  • having word count goals —word count for the day AND total word count

WHAT DOESN’T WORK:

  • “researching” (online research for things I think I need to know more about, but I don’t, really)
  • cleaning the kitchen (helpful for keeping the kitchen from being overrun by dirty pans and plates, but doesn’t increase the word count)
  • extended reading breaks in the bathroom (seriously? sometimes I can’t believe myself)

50″ 818 words

40″ 1023 words

50″ 1141 words

10″ 141 words (to get over the 20k total word count mark)

TOTALS SO FAR: 950″ & 20,067 words