The 'Write 1,000 Words a Day Challenge' is almost over and so far I have written... 38,864 for February and there's only a few days left. I did want to reach 45,000 words by the end of it all but that remains to be seen because, I've burned out. Which is hardly surprising since I have the attention span of the ten year-old I used to be and when Word is connected to the same device that gives me as much internet as I'd like, it makes it hard to concentrate.
I'm somebody who often procrastinates. I always put things off and say to myself, 'oh, I'll write after this song or after this video' but then that video turns into two videos and that three-minute song turns into a ten-minute gigatrack by 'Opeth' for example. Then, I'll get cracking with something worthwhile, ala, writing. Happily, I've started my new novel which I'm keeping a secret for the meantime since I'm known to cancel out projects in order to start them another time. Remember that sci-fi idea I wrote about earlier? Yep, that's been thrown away for now as I'm not at all ready to board a spaceship to an entirely new universe for a series of books. There are other stories I want written, edited and twiddled with before I can even think about something as arduous as a sci-fi series.
And, it's just such a 'cancelled project' I left alone last year that I've brought back from the brink, started over and began to re-write. The problem with that book (which I shall code-name ALWC) is that I had written it in the wrong perspective. I prefer the first instead of third-person perspective and I also made the MC way too young for the story and all of the silly things I did with writing had overgrown my original manuscript. That manuscript had been abandoned past 50,000 words. 50K words bound for the dumpster! I'm sure like many of us, maybe ALL OF US feel like we're killing our babies when we throw out rubbish work. But, never get rid of them altogether. The manuscript may be torn asunder but if the story's good enough, if you feel strong enough about it, I reckon it'll find a secluded corner in your brain-box, stay there for a while and when it's time, it'll surface, tug at your sleeve and ask for another go-around. In fact, I know there's another novel waiting for another chance after ALWC is done with and that novel I had finished. Sadly, I realized it just wouldn't cut it with publishers since the story gets started halfway through. And, that's just no way to write or read a book.
I may have digressed a little from my original topic but, to make it plain: writing one thousand words a day is bloody hard. It's difficult to find the time to jam in those 1K words when I'm editing one of my novels for the last time before it's finished but I'll get there. Despite that I'm way over the monthly target, when I miss a day of 1K words, that's a day wasted. I want to write everyday and I try my best (most of the time) to do so but dammit if I'll switch off my internet. Some will switch it off (including me from time to time) but ordinarily, I make it through because if you're that engrossed in your own story, you probably won't want to leave Word. There are faint beacons of light on the horizon though, I've done well with the challenge, my novel I've been editing is SO CLOSE TO COMPLETION, and I've got a brand-spanking new book underway that reads and flows a hell of a lot better than the original manuscript. Plus, a novella I'll edit next month (more on that next week I think) and new ideas all queued up such as a new novel which I suspect I'll start just before the summer. For me, at least, that's a lot of work... I mean, a lot of writing!
Plus, I thought I might share ten songs that are at the top of my playlist each week. You know, a little sharing.
Top ten for this week:
I'm somebody who often procrastinates. I always put things off and say to myself, 'oh, I'll write after this song or after this video' but then that video turns into two videos and that three-minute song turns into a ten-minute gigatrack by 'Opeth' for example. Then, I'll get cracking with something worthwhile, ala, writing. Happily, I've started my new novel which I'm keeping a secret for the meantime since I'm known to cancel out projects in order to start them another time. Remember that sci-fi idea I wrote about earlier? Yep, that's been thrown away for now as I'm not at all ready to board a spaceship to an entirely new universe for a series of books. There are other stories I want written, edited and twiddled with before I can even think about something as arduous as a sci-fi series.
And, it's just such a 'cancelled project' I left alone last year that I've brought back from the brink, started over and began to re-write. The problem with that book (which I shall code-name ALWC) is that I had written it in the wrong perspective. I prefer the first instead of third-person perspective and I also made the MC way too young for the story and all of the silly things I did with writing had overgrown my original manuscript. That manuscript had been abandoned past 50,000 words. 50K words bound for the dumpster! I'm sure like many of us, maybe ALL OF US feel like we're killing our babies when we throw out rubbish work. But, never get rid of them altogether. The manuscript may be torn asunder but if the story's good enough, if you feel strong enough about it, I reckon it'll find a secluded corner in your brain-box, stay there for a while and when it's time, it'll surface, tug at your sleeve and ask for another go-around. In fact, I know there's another novel waiting for another chance after ALWC is done with and that novel I had finished. Sadly, I realized it just wouldn't cut it with publishers since the story gets started halfway through. And, that's just no way to write or read a book.
I may have digressed a little from my original topic but, to make it plain: writing one thousand words a day is bloody hard. It's difficult to find the time to jam in those 1K words when I'm editing one of my novels for the last time before it's finished but I'll get there. Despite that I'm way over the monthly target, when I miss a day of 1K words, that's a day wasted. I want to write everyday and I try my best (most of the time) to do so but dammit if I'll switch off my internet. Some will switch it off (including me from time to time) but ordinarily, I make it through because if you're that engrossed in your own story, you probably won't want to leave Word. There are faint beacons of light on the horizon though, I've done well with the challenge, my novel I've been editing is SO CLOSE TO COMPLETION, and I've got a brand-spanking new book underway that reads and flows a hell of a lot better than the original manuscript. Plus, a novella I'll edit next month (more on that next week I think) and new ideas all queued up such as a new novel which I suspect I'll start just before the summer. For me, at least, that's a lot of work... I mean, a lot of writing!
Plus, I thought I might share ten songs that are at the top of my playlist each week. You know, a little sharing.
Top ten for this week:
- 'Guest List' by the Eels
- 'Death' by White Lies
- 'Language' by Porter Robinson
- 'Vandalism' by Porter Robinson
- 'Unison' by Porter Robinson
- 'Bookstore Remix' which you can find on YouTube by searching 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind remixes'
- 'Phone Call' by Jon Brion
- 'Behind Closed Doors' by Rise Against
- 'Tomorrow' by Avril Lavigne
- 'The Drapery Falls' by Opeth