Writing summary for January

So, looking back over the month, in January I wrote 8,207 words.  That's not a lot, but Januarys tend to be light on word count for me.  I tend to catch up with the program as the year progresses.

A good portion of those words went into my wip (work in progress).  I've been working on a couple of short stories that I will finish in February.  One is for a workshop, and both will be done and hopefully in the mail by the end of the month.

I finished James Scott Bell's BREACH of PROMISE (which was a hard book to read emotionally but good nonetheless).  My stuff to read stack is very high but I admit that Stephen King's UNDER THE DOME seems to be calling my name the loudest at the moment.

Have a bunch of short stories to turn around and some decisions to make on a couple of novels that I need to send out. 

Looking forward to going to Oregon later this month for 2 workshops.  Lots of old and new friends to spend time with and a great opportunity to listen to great writers.  Good stuff.

So here's hoping for a lot of new words written and new books read to talk about on March 1st.  Have a good one, everybody.

Writing in 2009 and looking to 2010

As I look over my records for 2009 I find myself pleased with my results even though I fell short of my goals. 

One thing to consider last year was that a number of major things occured on the personal front.  My oldest son, John, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Freed Hardeman University and was married the following month. I've had issues with medication which led to problems at the end of 2009 I am just now recovering from.  Don and I still care for his parents in our home, and we've had people moving in and out for various periods of time.

So, how'd I do in 2009?

• My total word count (new fiction) for 2009 was 172, 810.  While this fell short of the 200k I aimed for it was still more than the previous year.
• I wrote 11 short stories, same as last year.
• I finished one novel and started another one.
• I did participate in Nanowrimo, but failed to hit 50,000 words.
• I kept up with my weekly column in the Highlands County News Sun despite all the personal stuff.  I consider that a victory.
• I wrote at least 500 words/day for 147 days straight.

Would I have liked to have done more?  Sure.  Did I sell anything?  Nope.  Some of that's not in my control, but I could (and should) be sending out my manuscripts in a more timely fashion.  A quote of Issac Asimov is appropriate here: "You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer." 

So, what do I want to accomplish on the writing front in 2010?  Here are my goals.  Notice that selling something isn't a goal, because I can't MAKE anyone buy something.  But these goals should increase my odds...

• 200,000 new fiction words for the year.  I was close in 2009 - I think I can do it.
• 20 short stories for the year.  Almost double my output from 2008 and 2009.
• I'd like to beat my writing streak of 147 days.
• Get everything out in the mail some way, some how.  The goal is to get this done by the end of February.  Once everything is out, turn things around within 48 hours.
• Finish my current novel and complete a second novel.
• Participate in Nano and succeed this year. 
• Keep up with this blog at least once  a week.
• Continue to improve the column.  Also, put together a collection of past columns and try to sell it.

Those are my goals for 2010.  Will I succeed?  We'll see when we come to 2011!

*Tap tap* is this still on?

Hey, yeah, it's me.

I know I haven't done much with the blog for months. I'd go into the reasons but they'd probably bore you to tears and who wants that?

I WILL tell you that I plan to revisit this blog, and post at least once a week on it. There will be news, quips, things that catch my fancy, etc. You're welcome to join into the conversation, such as it is.

I have a couple of things to share, and they will be the next two posts. After that, we'll see.

Any questions or topic suggestions? Let me know!

The death of a streak

Well, my streak of writing 500 words a day died after 147 days.

What happened?

Short answer is, life happened.

Longer answer is more complex.

I came off an intensely busy summer - a son who graduated from college, underwent dental surgery, and got married in a matter of weeks; three wonderful but intense back to back workshops; a vacation with Don.

I finished a 90,000 word novel at the end of August. It was intense and somewhat draining.

I've been helping to care for my inlaws and dealing with other issues on the homefront.

The upshot? I think I drained all my reserves - physically, mentally, and most importantly for this post, creatively.

So right now I'm taking some time to recharge. Don, bless his heart, sent me to a local hotel for a couple of days. From now until Monday afternoon, I'm responsible only for myself.

Hopefully, that will get the creative brain up and running again. Yeah, I fell down. But I'll get up and start another streak soon. I did it once - I can do it again.

The Importance of a Streak

I've been working on a streak of writing 500 words a day. I sought to do it so that no matter how little I was able to get done on the writing front, I'd know I got at least something done on the writing front.

I'd kept the streak up for 48 days when today happened. It was one of those days where for a variety of reasons I had problems doing anything remotely productive. I was a mess mentally and emotionally.

I was tempted to not bother. No one else would care. Not doing those words wouldn't spell the end of my writing career. It's just a number.

But after you write 500 words a day for 48 days, it's really hard not to. It's hard to turn your back on.

And that's the value of a streak for me. It's what keeps me writing on a day like today, when I ask myself why I bother. When I don't feel like it. When I think I'm never going to succeed.

Tomorrow will hopefully be brighter. Tomorrow I hope to have my optimistic outlook and confidence back.

But today I wrote 544 words in spite of it all.

That's a good thing.

Nano is coming!!

National Novel Writing Month (Nano) is coming in November!

Nano is a period of insanity where bold and insane writers pledge to attempt to craft 50,000 words in the month of November.

I'm the Municipal Liason for Sebring, and trying to kick things off here.

If you live in the area, email me and let me know!

Or, go to www.nanowrimo.org

A book I hadn't read in so long...

I teach a Ladies Bible class on Tuesday mornings. I was doing a lesson I called "Nameless Service."

Sometimes when I teach I recall things that apply. I think this is God's way of helping me out.

This time, as we talked about not having to take credit and thanks for everything we do reminded me of a child's book I read when I was young, called "Understood Betsy."

It had been years - perhaps more than 20 - since I read the book, yet I recalled parts of it clearly. I'd read it several times and loved it. I can still see the cover of it in my mind.

Wednesday I did a websearch and to my delight found the book (published in 1917) was available to read. It was as good as I remembered it.

Will my writings be like that for someone? Something they'll remember with pleasure even years after they read it?

I hope so.

By the way, if you want to read the book yourself, you can link to it here.

Whoops...forgot to mention...

Sometime the week before last I wrote my 100,000th word for the year 2007.

I now have 23 short stories making the rounds of different publications.

I am still working on a novel I started back in January. Trying to market another novel to publishers.

And a third one will be critiqued by fellow writers later this month.

So far, no new sales or encouraging words. Welcome to the writer's life. :-)

Writing - week 12

Total words for the week: 6,220

Total words for the year: 84,458

Still working on the novel I started in January. Started a short story last week, but it's longer than I expected so I didn't finish it yet. :-)

Catchup on the writing status...

It's been a while, but I've been really tired and trying to catch up on my sleep.

Anyway, while in Oregon I did write 30, 547 words. That was 2 short stories and a lot done on my current novel. All in all a successful time.

This past week I wrote only 2,425 words. But I was tired, in and out of town, and college kid came home for Spring Break, so it's understandable. I did make a massive push to get stuff out in the mail.

This week I need to get some more queries out on my novels and try to get caught up on paperwork.

And the blog. I promise.

Writing - week 8

A little behind in posting this week...

Total words written this week: 6036
Total for year: 42,813

Also got a short story written. Had a couple come back that need to go out again and need to get the short story in the mail.

Still working on this writing thing. :-)

Writing - week 7

Words for week - 6208

Words for year - 36,777

Total words out - 218,100

Did get a new short story done and mailed out.

Nothing really new this week - just maintaining.

Writing - week 6

Week 6 – 6,015 words

Had to fight to get that much and did it on a very strong medication (which is scary because I don't remember writing some of it - it's not bad, but I'm wondering where it came from).

Total words for 2007 - 30,569

Broke the 30,000 word mark this week. Happy about that.

Total words out: 214,700 Finished a short story and it's out in the mail today.

Sold a short story to Leading Edge last week, my second fiction sale. So a nice week overall.

Writing - week 5

Words this week: 2789

Total words for 2007: 24,554

No new short stories out this past week. A lot of real life stuff kept me away from the keyboard.

On the plus side, I got some queries out for two novels I am shopping around.

Back to work...