The Words: 1959 words total for the day in 2 15-minute sprints using the Sprinter site. I wasn’t sure I’d have time to hit par today due to having a busy evening, so I did one sprint earlier in the day and thought I might have to be happy with the 1020 words it got me. But fortunately I had more time in the evening than I expected and managed another sprint. And I hit the halfway point a day early!
The Story: Today brought an interesting discussion about what Garend’s future might look like in Newland. And the realization that he is still torn about leaving Pithea and his friends there behind. But the allure of this new place is just too great to ignore.
The Words: 2008 words total for the day, in a sort of repeat of yesterday. I knew I’d be gone in the evening again and that when I got home, I’d probably be doing work around the house until it was time to go to bed. So I carved out 30 minutes in the afternoon and wrote. I thought yesterday’s 1800 words might be a record for a 30-minute sprint for me, but I was really surprised to see today’s count. I didn’t feel like I was typing any faster, so the difference might have been that today I wrote on my computer, while yesterday I wrote on my Freewrite Alpha at the table, which is higher than the keyboard tray on my desk. It’s not super comfortable to write there, plus it’s a smaller keyboard, so I think I type slower overall on the Alpha. Or maybe the words just really flowed today.
The Story: Garend had to incriminate himself by revealing that he’d shared a secret he’d been told not to share with Lex, his mom, and a third character in “Power,” the book I’m nearing publication with. His fears about destroying their lives is finally put to rest, and hopefully (for both our sakes) he’ll be able to move on from this evaluation soon. When my husband suggested showing Garend in Newland because of his story arc in “Power,” I’ll be he expected Garend to actually make it to Newland.
Total word count: 23,261
If the week 2 blahs have got you down (or even if they don’t), it’s a good time to check out the 3rd episode of the NaNoMusical!
The Words: 1877 words total for the day, all written during one 30-minute sprint. I knew I’d be gone in the evening and that it would be difficult to sit down and write when I got home too, so my daughter and I set a timer for 30 minutes and wrote. This might be a record for a 30-minute sprint for me, but even if it’s not, it was definitely on the high end.
The Story: Yesterday I called this evaluation that Garend is going through stalling, because it was rehashing some events from a previous book, but today, it gave me a chance to explore what wasn’t seen. Most of what is being discussed here was just seen in the periphery in the other book, so here I’m looking at it more directly. It may or may not be giving me insight into the book I’m currently editing to hopefully publish soon.
The Words: 1140 words total for the day. I don’t like taking another short day already, but we had too much to get done around the house for me to have much time to write this evening. And that might continue to be the case the rest of this week. I’ll have to figure out a way to balance things. But I’m still above the line for where I should be at this time, so it’s not all bad.
The Story: Okay, so I’m kind of stalling again. The woman doing Garend’s evaluation is asking him questions about his life that allow him (and me) to tell stories from a previous book that probably don’t need to be re-hashed. But it’s giving me a chance to get to know Garend a little more myself. Just because he has a role in another book doesn’t mean there’s not a whole lot more for me to know about him.
The Words: 1758 words total for the day. I did a couple of 15-minute sprints, which took me to around 1530 words, and I wrote for a few more minutes to hit part to end up at the total words I got for the day.
The Story: Garend is finally getting into his evaluation, and the woman in charge is a little…well, let’s just say that even I’m not sure what to make of her. Of course, that’s probably because she just popped into existence today and I’m getting to know her as I go, but that’s the fun of writing!
The Words: 607 words total for the day. I didn’t get to my writing time until after 10 pm tonight, so I did a quick 10-minute sprint to at least get some words in. Not too bad.
The Story: Not a whole lot happened in 600 words, but I did end today’s writing on the precipice of taking a huge step forward. So tomorrow’s writing should either be really interesting or really difficult.
The Words: 1727 words total for the day. It was a little rough getting these words today, since my normal evening writing time was co-opted by my husband needing some things from me and other distractions. I thought about cutting it short, but since I won’t be home all day tomorrow, I knew I needed to make sure to at least hit par today.
The Story: Garend is still waiting to go through an evaluation to be allowed to even enter Ophaela. I would think I’m still stalling, but I don’t really feel like I wrote anything today that was just fluff. Not that it’s all super important, but I think I’m still exploring this new situation through Garend’s eyes, which was the plan for this month anyway. So I’m happy with it.
Total word count: 15,871
If anyone out there is doing a writing challenge this month and needs a little inspiration as we start into week 2, check out the 2nd episode of the NaNoMusical!
The Words: 2008 words total for the day. I’ve really been making use of the Sprinter site this year. When I write with my 15-year-old daughter (who isn’t doing a challenge but will do sprints with me some evenings to work on her own WIP), I write at the table with her, on my Freewrite Alpha, but when I write alone, it’s easier to do it on my computer. And I’m finding the Sprinter site nice for sprints (natch), plus it automatically saves what I write to the same location as my Alpha does, so it’s really just super convenient all across the board. These will probably be my go-to methods for drafting for the foreseeable future.
The Story: Poor Garend spent all of today’s writing recovering from the journey to Newland, which was really tough, physically speaking. And I may be stalling again, a little bit, because I didn’t plan any of this, and I’m really not a pantser. Except it’s not trying to pants a semblance of a story that’s causing the problem, it’s the utter lack of planning I’ve done for this whole new part of the world. This month’s writing was meant to be a way for me to explore it, but too many technical aspects are coming up and slowing me down. I may have to skip past some stuff or really just leave it super rudimentary.
The Words: 1670 words total for the day. I almost made today a short day, since I got a late start and am tired this evening. I figured I’d do a single 15-minute sprint, but when that got me just shy of 1000 words, I figured it wouldn’t take much more time to get to par, so I wrote until I hit another 667 words. (I wrote this post last night and then forgot to publish it. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before, but maybe it just goes to show how tired I was last night.)
The Story: Garend has finally made it to Newland, which was the whole point of this month’s writing—to explore Newland with Garend. Technically, he’s outside of Newland, because he has to be evaluated first to be allowed into Newland. But I’m already in completely uncharted waters now, so this should be a fun rest of the month.
The Words: 1725 words total for the day, most of which came in two 15-minutes sprints early in the evening. Then after a longer break, I used the word tracker on the Sprinter site again, set my goal for the 120 words I had left to hit 1667, and wrote until a natural break, which pushed me a little past the goal. And I broke 10k words!
The Story: Even Garend admitted that he was stalling in going to Newland, so by the end of today’s writing, he was stepping out into that journey. Of course, how he’s getting there is as much of an unknown to me as it is to him, so I guess I’ll figure that out tomorrow.
A Journey of Words 