For the second month in a row (out of two total so far) I have met and surpassed my goal! That's right, I procrastinated all day long, but before the clock struck midnight based on my local area's time I was able to finish off the total words for the month. To my friends that are reading the story, I bet you all are happy that I started writing a blog about this since it has now gotten me over a hundred pages of words and double the length of my previous longest story.
On a slightly less related note, there are so many things in the next chapter that I like that I can't wait to give it to my readers. I think they will find all of the different things maybe moving a bit slower than expected, but there are really a lot of rich details in there as well. Also, I've got the next chapter planned out.
Edit: The new poll for the month is now available. It would be nice if people voted, but whatever. Last month's poll ended with a tie between let jack read it and no... which means I'm just gonna be lazy and not send it to more friends...
Words for the Month: 40,016 / 40,000
Total Words: 80,059
Months Successful: 2 / 2
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
An Important Achievement
So I know that this should be where I post something about how wonderfully I've achieved 80,000 words in a single story right here, I mean it is the very last day of the month and that is where I should be. However, this blog post is to actually celebrate the achievement of making 100 pages of story.
Why do I find this to be so damn important? Because I write single-spaced and with one inch margins (where words normally keeps the margins at one and a quarter on each side, so I gain half an inch). I also don't go onto the next page unless I'm at the next chapter. Well, I've filled 100 pages with words that somehow come together to make a tale of about a man's journey. That's amazing.
Let me put this into perspective. A ten page paper written for school would have been double spaced and with a title page. Now, on a double-spaced page you can normally fit about 350-450 words with a 400 word average if you don't space the top margins too much. This means for a single-spaced page my average number of words per page is 700-900 words with an average of about 800 (though I found I'm about 820). That means I've written about 200 pages worth of paper space in comparison to any of my academic friends currently writing thesis papers. And that doesn't include a title page. Make sense why I see it as an achievement now?
To my friends that are reading the book, this means that I've actually given them a somewhat decent in length read. I mean, let me be fair when I say it sucks when you book ends at about page 20 and then the damn author doesn't continue. Also, it means if they were putting all of this together in a word document (which if they were smart they could just ask me to send them the full document, though that is turning out to be a much large file with each time I'd have to send it), they would have something that causes my computer to keep saying "OVERHEAT" and then explode. Thank God the save button works so damn well... and it auto saves like every minute. (Note to readers: actual computer has never overheated and then exploded... except when playing the video game Starcraft 2).
Just one last thing, it will be at least another 2 months of dedicated writing like I have been doing for these past 2 months just to get another 100 page achievement marker. If I was doing this by pages, I'd be done for the night because I would probably go every 50 pages. My friends should be thanking me I'm doing it by words and not by pages (and also, that makes me fell more inclined to make the paragraphs longer... where as if done by pages I would chop them up to make more pages faster).
Now back to working for my other achievement, which is just over 3,000 words away. For those that don't remember me posting this a few days ago, that is somewhere between 2 hours and 4 hours of work based on how many words per minute I can write. I'm going to write just a bit more for tonight (because yes, 1 in the morning is still just getting to sleep time for me) and then I'll finish it up in the morning.
Words for the Month: 36,834 / 40,000
Total Words: 76,877
Why do I find this to be so damn important? Because I write single-spaced and with one inch margins (where words normally keeps the margins at one and a quarter on each side, so I gain half an inch). I also don't go onto the next page unless I'm at the next chapter. Well, I've filled 100 pages with words that somehow come together to make a tale of about a man's journey. That's amazing.
Let me put this into perspective. A ten page paper written for school would have been double spaced and with a title page. Now, on a double-spaced page you can normally fit about 350-450 words with a 400 word average if you don't space the top margins too much. This means for a single-spaced page my average number of words per page is 700-900 words with an average of about 800 (though I found I'm about 820). That means I've written about 200 pages worth of paper space in comparison to any of my academic friends currently writing thesis papers. And that doesn't include a title page. Make sense why I see it as an achievement now?
To my friends that are reading the book, this means that I've actually given them a somewhat decent in length read. I mean, let me be fair when I say it sucks when you book ends at about page 20 and then the damn author doesn't continue. Also, it means if they were putting all of this together in a word document (which if they were smart they could just ask me to send them the full document, though that is turning out to be a much large file with each time I'd have to send it), they would have something that causes my computer to keep saying "OVERHEAT" and then explode. Thank God the save button works so damn well... and it auto saves like every minute. (Note to readers: actual computer has never overheated and then exploded... except when playing the video game Starcraft 2).
Just one last thing, it will be at least another 2 months of dedicated writing like I have been doing for these past 2 months just to get another 100 page achievement marker. If I was doing this by pages, I'd be done for the night because I would probably go every 50 pages. My friends should be thanking me I'm doing it by words and not by pages (and also, that makes me fell more inclined to make the paragraphs longer... where as if done by pages I would chop them up to make more pages faster).
Now back to working for my other achievement, which is just over 3,000 words away. For those that don't remember me posting this a few days ago, that is somewhere between 2 hours and 4 hours of work based on how many words per minute I can write. I'm going to write just a bit more for tonight (because yes, 1 in the morning is still just getting to sleep time for me) and then I'll finish it up in the morning.
Words for the Month: 36,834 / 40,000
Total Words: 76,877
Monday, August 30, 2010
Getting Closer
I made a bad choice today of going with my Mom to a home improvement store. I forgot that those places are like the black holes of time and souls once you walk inside of them, at least for my family. We spent three hours in two home improvements stores and only bought one track light. We went in not for a track light. In truth, we went to the first store in look for a type of door, which did not exist, and then for a hook, which also did not exist. Then we went to the second store (which was not the same as the first... as in not the same company) and went looking for a medicine cabinet. They had one that was what my Mom wanted, but the package was opened and she feared it was already broken. We did not buy it. However, we did end up finding a track light that I don't want to hang but I know she is going to try and make me hang. I plan to try not hanging that piece of crap. We also searched for the imaginary hooks again, which still did not exist.
So three hours later I came back with two things. One was an idea for some stuff that will happen later in my story (and it is really cool, can't wait to write about it). I've noted it into my sticky note for this story (which I usually don't think TOO far ahead with, else I might get bored). Anyway, the second thing I brought back was a huge bag of annoyance. I didn't want to write and I didn't even want to watch TV. All I wanted to do was lay down and sleep. I chose to write though and ended up spending an hour trying to make 1,000 words make sense. I gave up and decided to play video games for a little. That seemed to help.
Anyway, just finished up writing a little bit more and I'm getting closer to making my goal for this month. Hopefully by tonight I will be within 5,000 words of the goal (and I'm hoping to be within 3,000) so that writing for tomorrow won't be too bad. I'm positive that I'm going to make it this month though. Amazing considering where I was like 10 days ago.
Words for the Month: 34,528 / 40,000
Total Words: 74,571
So three hours later I came back with two things. One was an idea for some stuff that will happen later in my story (and it is really cool, can't wait to write about it). I've noted it into my sticky note for this story (which I usually don't think TOO far ahead with, else I might get bored). Anyway, the second thing I brought back was a huge bag of annoyance. I didn't want to write and I didn't even want to watch TV. All I wanted to do was lay down and sleep. I chose to write though and ended up spending an hour trying to make 1,000 words make sense. I gave up and decided to play video games for a little. That seemed to help.
Anyway, just finished up writing a little bit more and I'm getting closer to making my goal for this month. Hopefully by tonight I will be within 5,000 words of the goal (and I'm hoping to be within 3,000) so that writing for tomorrow won't be too bad. I'm positive that I'm going to make it this month though. Amazing considering where I was like 10 days ago.
Words for the Month: 34,528 / 40,000
Total Words: 74,571
Sunday, August 29, 2010
OH MY F***ING GOD!
Seriously, I have 3 days (including today) left to write 10,000 words and my Dad is being the MOST annoying person on the planet. He's like "go look this up for me and see if it is worth it," and then starts vacuuming in ALL of the rooms I am trying to write in. I can't even hear myself think and it is driving me crazy! For f*** sakes, I wish he would go find something better to do than vacuum the entire house!
Seriously, I'm going crazy with how much interference he is causing with my writing. Like if there is a reason I don't complete this month, it is because he won't stop annoying me. And the worst part is that he thinks I'm a problem...
On another note, I have finished chapter 6 (which was longer than expected, but that was nice because it means more words) and I am moving onto chapter 7. I think Chapter 7 will finish up this month's goal as well, though I don't know if the chapter will continue on past the goal.
Everyone pray that my Dad dies, it seems to be the only way I'll get anything done.
Words for the Month: 30,216 / 40,000
Total Words: 70,259
Seriously, I'm going crazy with how much interference he is causing with my writing. Like if there is a reason I don't complete this month, it is because he won't stop annoying me. And the worst part is that he thinks I'm a problem...
On another note, I have finished chapter 6 (which was longer than expected, but that was nice because it means more words) and I am moving onto chapter 7. I think Chapter 7 will finish up this month's goal as well, though I don't know if the chapter will continue on past the goal.
Everyone pray that my Dad dies, it seems to be the only way I'll get anything done.
Words for the Month: 30,216 / 40,000
Total Words: 70,259
Saturday, August 28, 2010
I'm Going For It
Four days (including today) left until the end of the month and 13,000 words to go. That was not how far I had left when I got up this morning, but after thinking everything over I decided that I really wanted to make my goal for the second month in a row.
Now, I know that it has been a strange and exhausting month filled with lots of love and a lot more yelling, but that's not why I'm doing this. I feel like if I don't accomplish this goal, then I'm wasting time with my life. And besides that, the point of starting this whole blog was just to show me that if I put in the effort, I could have a story several thousands of words later. Well, I want to feel accomplished for the second month in a row, so I'm going to put in the hours and really work to have that feeling.
No congratulations yet, but I'm gonna keep this updated on how much less I have over the remaining course. And just so we are clear, I want to have 3,000 more words done before I go to sleep tonight. That will make a startling 7,500 words for today... which is a lot for me to write especially since my concentration is... oooh what's that?
Oh right, after that I want to do 5,000 word a day until I am done. And just as was completely unplanned, I will be done on time for the second month... if all things go to plan...
I'm off to buy cleaning supplies!
Words for the Month: 27,048 / 40,000
Total Words: 67,091
Now, I know that it has been a strange and exhausting month filled with lots of love and a lot more yelling, but that's not why I'm doing this. I feel like if I don't accomplish this goal, then I'm wasting time with my life. And besides that, the point of starting this whole blog was just to show me that if I put in the effort, I could have a story several thousands of words later. Well, I want to feel accomplished for the second month in a row, so I'm going to put in the hours and really work to have that feeling.
No congratulations yet, but I'm gonna keep this updated on how much less I have over the remaining course. And just so we are clear, I want to have 3,000 more words done before I go to sleep tonight. That will make a startling 7,500 words for today... which is a lot for me to write especially since my concentration is... oooh what's that?
Oh right, after that I want to do 5,000 word a day until I am done. And just as was completely unplanned, I will be done on time for the second month... if all things go to plan...
I'm off to buy cleaning supplies!
Words for the Month: 27,048 / 40,000
Total Words: 67,091
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Curses...
And so I really did plan to write a lot more before going to sleep, but now I'm at that stage of tired where I can't think straight. Great for writing God knows what and getting ideas, bad for writing good stuff. Oh well, at least I got more words onto the paper.
If you really wanted to know, video games distracted me yet again and then later the internet died. Both kept me up late. Stupid video games, but so much fun... I'm tired and plan to sleep now.
Words for the Month: 23,598 / 40,000
Total Words: 63,641
If you really wanted to know, video games distracted me yet again and then later the internet died. Both kept me up late. Stupid video games, but so much fun... I'm tired and plan to sleep now.
Words for the Month: 23,598 / 40,000
Total Words: 63,641
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
A Good Hour vs A Bad Hour
Today I actually texted my friend telling her I was trying to write, but I could not get the words for formulate in my head. I was having word block, which is an extent of writers block that comes not because I can't get the ideas to formulate but rather I can't get the different ideas to come together when I put them into words. In other words (ironic pun?), I have the thoughts and the want to write but I lack the wording that makes it make sense. SO I end up sitting there trying to figure out a way to make him walk across the street or think of something.
There is another type of writers block which I will call ideal block. This one is a bit less explanation heavy. To be simple, the writer can't come up with an idea to write about and so he/she/it (it being the author of Twilight...) just sits there trying to think of what the damn characters will do next. This one is actually much harder for me to end up in as I usually have the end of the story in my mind before I know the beginning. I don't know why, but I tend to think of the ending before I get there. Even for the current one I am writing, I have a sort of selected ending I'd like to reach.
Now the reason this story has gone on longer than any other I've tried to write is simple, the ending is interesting (and twisty like a lemon) but the middle is extremely creative to come up with. There is person standing on a street in this story, doing nothing for ten minutes as the bus comes (and yes I have written about that... it was colorful and I think it makes people think I might be high when I write). It is about a person diving deep into one of my favorite subjects and seeing what happens, going places where I know the scenery but I want to see what they do. So in a way, I keep myself interested by pushing the main character forward. I know, crazy but it works.
Anyway, I had word block and I was really trying hard to get to the next part even though I couldn't make it. In one hours time I wrote about 500 words. Now in the same hour length of time I was writing tonight (and I actually had to break the word block I had created last time in the book) and I ended up writing just under 1500 words. It is pretty obvious why I stopped writing earlier and did something else, where nine out of ten times it is better to stop and go find something else to do until the word block passes.
At any rate, I'm back on writing and I'm way far behind to make my goal still. Maybe if I keep writing like crazy and insert random blahs here, then I can make it. Hurray. Let's all celebrate anyway after. Also, note that I wrote this before midnight, which is unusual for me but I wanted that to be clearly stated.
Words for the Month: 22,778 / 40,000
Total Words: 62,821
PS - Stupid math making me think how I actually could possibly make this month if I tried better...
There is another type of writers block which I will call ideal block. This one is a bit less explanation heavy. To be simple, the writer can't come up with an idea to write about and so he/she/it (it being the author of Twilight...) just sits there trying to think of what the damn characters will do next. This one is actually much harder for me to end up in as I usually have the end of the story in my mind before I know the beginning. I don't know why, but I tend to think of the ending before I get there. Even for the current one I am writing, I have a sort of selected ending I'd like to reach.
Now the reason this story has gone on longer than any other I've tried to write is simple, the ending is interesting (and twisty like a lemon) but the middle is extremely creative to come up with. There is person standing on a street in this story, doing nothing for ten minutes as the bus comes (and yes I have written about that... it was colorful and I think it makes people think I might be high when I write). It is about a person diving deep into one of my favorite subjects and seeing what happens, going places where I know the scenery but I want to see what they do. So in a way, I keep myself interested by pushing the main character forward. I know, crazy but it works.
Anyway, I had word block and I was really trying hard to get to the next part even though I couldn't make it. In one hours time I wrote about 500 words. Now in the same hour length of time I was writing tonight (and I actually had to break the word block I had created last time in the book) and I ended up writing just under 1500 words. It is pretty obvious why I stopped writing earlier and did something else, where nine out of ten times it is better to stop and go find something else to do until the word block passes.
At any rate, I'm back on writing and I'm way far behind to make my goal still. Maybe if I keep writing like crazy and insert random blahs here, then I can make it. Hurray. Let's all celebrate anyway after. Also, note that I wrote this before midnight, which is unusual for me but I wanted that to be clearly stated.
Words for the Month: 22,778 / 40,000
Total Words: 62,821
PS - Stupid math making me think how I actually could possibly make this month if I tried better...
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
A Good Day
Today was a good day to write. I actually did really well too, I mean considering that recently I've either written a lot of stuff in a single run or absolutely nothing all day. Best part yet is that I'm just barely under the halfway point for the month. Okay, I know saying that with 7 days left (including this one) is not exactly the best of things. I'm just trying to stay positive is all.
If you want to know the math but don't want to do the math, I technically have to write approximately 3,000 words a day to finish this month. In actuality I think it is a little bit below that, but who keeps track of that. Anyway, writing that much in a single day is not that bad and especially considering that about 24 hour ago I was down 5,000 words from where I am now. I don't know... maybe if I can make another 5,000 tomorrow I'll shoot for this month too. It is definitely exciting to see this coming together.
As far as the story goes, things are starting to go further into where I really wanted to take my readers when I first came up with this idea. By this I really mean that although I have a plot to tell (one that is currently very loose and nondescript in my head), I had a major theme that I wanted to hit. This chapter really starts to open it up into that place and show off what I was heading for. Hopefully I can keep this idea going, I'm really happy with how this story is coming out.
Also, I thought I'd just say to one of my friends that I am going to finish this story and not because I have to but because I want to prove to her that she is wrong. Sure, I've started at least ten ideas since I first started sending her stories and, sure, she won't pick up this one and read it unless she knows that there is going to be an ending. Well, almost double the length of my previous longest story and still going fairly strong. Lets see who wins in my own personal writing contest. Me or shut the hell up, me. And for the record, I know that didn't make any sense.
To my other friends that are reading this, any comments?
Words for the Month: 19,526 / 40,000
Total Words: 59,569
If you want to know the math but don't want to do the math, I technically have to write approximately 3,000 words a day to finish this month. In actuality I think it is a little bit below that, but who keeps track of that. Anyway, writing that much in a single day is not that bad and especially considering that about 24 hour ago I was down 5,000 words from where I am now. I don't know... maybe if I can make another 5,000 tomorrow I'll shoot for this month too. It is definitely exciting to see this coming together.
As far as the story goes, things are starting to go further into where I really wanted to take my readers when I first came up with this idea. By this I really mean that although I have a plot to tell (one that is currently very loose and nondescript in my head), I had a major theme that I wanted to hit. This chapter really starts to open it up into that place and show off what I was heading for. Hopefully I can keep this idea going, I'm really happy with how this story is coming out.
Also, I thought I'd just say to one of my friends that I am going to finish this story and not because I have to but because I want to prove to her that she is wrong. Sure, I've started at least ten ideas since I first started sending her stories and, sure, she won't pick up this one and read it unless she knows that there is going to be an ending. Well, almost double the length of my previous longest story and still going fairly strong. Lets see who wins in my own personal writing contest. Me or shut the hell up, me. And for the record, I know that didn't make any sense.
To my other friends that are reading this, any comments?
Words for the Month: 19,526 / 40,000
Total Words: 59,569
Monday, August 23, 2010
Hmm... this month might be too far gone now...
I'm not sure I can pull myself out of the hole this month and save the book. If only life was less stressful and I had more things that made me want to write in it. Oh well, I'm not going to give up. However, if I don't make it, should I put myself in the negative and try to get out of it next month? Just a random question I wonder...
So I started working on Chapter 6 today, much to my friend's delight, and I'm actually pushing myself to see how far I can take it before the end of the day. If everything goes as not planned, then I might actually finish it today. No fingers crossed please, but that would be amazing and put me back on track, which would be crazy. Seriously, crazy!
Words for the Month: 16,851 / 40,000
Total Words: 56,894
So I started working on Chapter 6 today, much to my friend's delight, and I'm actually pushing myself to see how far I can take it before the end of the day. If everything goes as not planned, then I might actually finish it today. No fingers crossed please, but that would be amazing and put me back on track, which would be crazy. Seriously, crazy!
Words for the Month: 16,851 / 40,000
Total Words: 56,894
Friday, August 20, 2010
Chapter 5 is Done!
I finished chapter 5 as promised for my friend and I have already sent it out. So have fun reading that and enjoying all of the things that happen in the chapter. Honestly, that was probably one of the more interesting ones, but more so my friend is going to hate me because it ends on a cliff hanger yet again. Oops, didn't mean for that (yes you did, don't lie), but it happened. Also, happy birthday to one of my friends!
As far as me being behind... dang, I am so damn far behind. I fear I might not make this month, but I also blame that on my family for making this month so damn stressful. Hopefully in these last ten days I can really kick out some amazing stuff. I'd really hate to fail my own goals for the month, but it is a possibility since my family drives me crazy.
Good luck and good night... no wait that's not mine.
Words for the Month: 14,459 / 40,000
Total Words: 54,502
As far as me being behind... dang, I am so damn far behind. I fear I might not make this month, but I also blame that on my family for making this month so damn stressful. Hopefully in these last ten days I can really kick out some amazing stuff. I'd really hate to fail my own goals for the month, but it is a possibility since my family drives me crazy.
Good luck and good night... no wait that's not mine.
Words for the Month: 14,459 / 40,000
Total Words: 54,502
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)