Redundant redundancies and a better direction lead to a BIG negative word-count

The day's final word count.

Yesterday I finished with 22,297 words. Today I started in a bit before 8 AM, full of coffee and certainty that I knew where I’d be going. I picked up exactly where I left off, and adding to yesterday’s scene — and then, hitting a chunk of older material that was wrong — I pulled… Continue reading Redundant redundancies and a better direction lead to a BIG negative word-count

No jury duty, 1588 words, and am now over 20% through Book 3 of 5 (also… fasting…)

I’m grateful for writing, and for being well into a story that holds my attention and makes me need to know what happens next. Having been fasting since Sunday night, I’ve now had nothing but coffee, water, and vitamins for long enough that my hindbrain has started taking action against me. My legs keep picking… Continue reading No jury duty, 1588 words, and am now over 20% through Book 3 of 5 (also… fasting…)

Good wordcount, a good concept… but, jury duty willing, tomorrow I’ll be doing a fair amount of fixing

Yesterday’s jury duty message was, boiled down, “Call again today.” So at 5:30 tonight, I’ll find out whether I’ll be working tomorrow or not. Meanwhile, instead of my daily short fast (from the night before until around 4 or 5 PM, when I eat my daily meal) — I’m doing a long fast. For folks… Continue reading Good wordcount, a good concept… but, jury duty willing, tomorrow I’ll be doing a fair amount of fixing

The past visits my main character’s present, and she meets a piece of her father. 1297 words, 15,501 total

I’m still ahead of my target completion date for finishing the first draft, though I’m only gaining ground in little bites. Little bites, though, are repeatable — and a lot more fun than running up against “to hit my deadline, today I have to write 10,000 words.” I’ve done that before. It’s an exercise in… Continue reading The past visits my main character’s present, and she meets a piece of her father. 1297 words, 15,501 total

1286 words, and a nice twist in the story.

I got my 1250 words with a few extra today, though it took longer than three hours, and there are a fair list of things I didn’t get done… and that I’ll have to do tomorrow, so there might not be any (or many) words Thursday. What I got was hard going, but I like… Continue reading 1286 words, and a nice twist in the story.

Ohio #3: Net gain of 1079 words … and quick notes about The Emerald Sun and the Moon & Sun series

As always, I started out the morning by doing a quick read-through of what I got the day before, doing light edits (and sometimes removing stuff that does not work), and then rolling from there into writing the new scene. I lost a chunk of words to having managed to say the same thing twice… Continue reading Ohio #3: Net gain of 1079 words … and quick notes about The Emerald Sun and the Moon & Sun series

On jury standby — so I wrote 1279 more words, and discovered the answers to a couple of grim secrets

The court did not need me today. I’ll have to call the private number each evening before the next session for the next two weeks to see if I need to report the next day. So every word I get for the next two weeks is literally on borrowed time. I owe it to the… Continue reading On jury standby — so I wrote 1279 more words, and discovered the answers to a couple of grim secrets

I’m off my game — had a bad writing day. 486 words.

So here’s the deal.  I have jury duty coming up next Monday. Have never done it before, but I didn’t try to get out of it. I’m a citizen. This is part of what being a citizen means. So if there’s an upcoming trial scheduled during my period of service, (which I won’t know until… Continue reading I’m off my game — had a bad writing day. 486 words.

Tougher day than expected: 1106 words, a bit of ripping out… and the whiff of “big bad”

I always start my words by reading through what I wrote the day before, and fixing a few typos, and getting myself back into the voice of the book —  And I discovered I’d been redundant yesterday, repeating a fair amount of material across a break between two chapters.  So I started out the morning… Continue reading Tougher day than expected: 1106 words, a bit of ripping out… and the whiff of “big bad”

Mondays, Death, and Taxes: Life’s Sure Things

I did not get everything done on taxes over the weekend — and being self-employed is not anything like working a 9-to-5 job where you get money back. When you’re self-employed, you always owe. Making sure you find and identify the receipts for everything that was deductible, therefore, is a critical and damned stressful task.… Continue reading Mondays, Death, and Taxes: Life’s Sure Things