Weekly Wordcount
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What is This?
Weekly Wordcount is a post-NaNoWriMo attempt to continue writing a reasonable amount throughout the entire year. Everyone sets their own wordcount goals for a week, giving their own values to draft, edit, blogging, and collaborative writing.
How Did I Do?
My weekly wordcount goal is set to 1,000. According to my GoogleDoc Spreadsheet, I hit 8362.5 words this week, in a combination of new drafts, editing, and collaborative fiction.
I know, that’s WAY over the weekly goal, but some weeks are going to be feast and some will be famine. I’ll probably bump up my goal after a few weeks. I’ve never actually tracked how much I write before, so I’d rather ease my way into it than give myself a goal that’s going to drive me nutters.
Specific stories that got love over the past seven days include:
- Editing the last Choose installment
- Writing a new Blue Moon installment
- Editing a previous Blue Moon installment (which will get posted this week)
- Writing and editing a new Whiskers and Lace letter (which will get mailed out today and posted whenever Bre gets the envelope)
- A collaborative RP session with Anna and Lauren
- Some Song of Binding editing
There are days – I won’t lie to you – when I wish I had fewer writing projects so I could focus more on one at a time. I think I like being slightly overclocked, though – I keep finding excuses to get myself in a mess. If I’m going to be experimenting with different writing objectives, now (when I’m not yet actively seeking an agent or publishing) is the best time to do it, right?
Right.
How Did YOU Do?
Anyone else? How did you do with your writing goals? Remember, we’re not here to judge, we’re here to encourage. =]
Writing Tip of the Week
“And Then”
When doing editing, every time you see “and then”, you can probably replace it with either “and” or “then”. It’s one of those odd little foibles that gets easier to spot and fix as you practice it. The two words actually have utterly different meanings – “then” indicates that I did one thing, THEN I did another. “And” means I did two things at the same time.
“She walked into the room and then she dropped with an exhausted sigh to the couch.” (Hey, it’s Monday morning. If you want creativity, send coffee.)
“She walked into the room and then called her dog, hoping for a snuggle.”
The first one is a “then” sentence. The second is an “and” sentence.
“She walked into the room, then dropped with an exhausted sigh to the couch.”
“She walked into the room and called her dog, hoping for a snuggle.”
Note: I believe this is still one of those grammar “rules” living more within the realm of opinion than law.
It is my personal opinion that “and then” is an unnecessary and wishy-washy phrase which should be replaced with a more decisive term. There are plenty of folks who disagree with me and they’re no more wrong than I am.
If you choose to use “and then” because it feels more natural to you and you disagree that it could be more decisive, that’s fine. I’m not laying down the law while wearing mirror-lens aviator glasses here, I’m just offering a tip.
Note the second: A grammar kingpin I am not, nor is my writing as “tight” as it needs to be. I think it’s perfectly valid to post advice that I am learning to follow, myself. =]
(Yes, I’ve been blogging long enough that my disclaimer is longer than my actual advice. Uff da.)
i printed out my manuscript, and i started editing. i’ve crossed out so many lines (an entire chapter even), that my wordcount is probably a negative number at this point. I wouldn’t be surprised if I pulled off a reverse-nano, deleting 50,000 words in a month!
@Krizzlybear
Silly rabbit. Editing is editing. You took the time and effort to edit (and editing DOES include deletion!). Impossible to get a negative wordcount there!
When you’re doing heavy edits like that, I’d recommend using starting OR ending wordcount (whichever is higher) and using at least 1/2 wordcount (if not more, depending on how much you ended up rewriting) instead of the 1/4 that I use for the quick grammar swipes I do to my stuff before posting.
I am HUGELY happy to hear you’re cleaning up your NaNo novel! Not just because I want to read it, though that is a factor, but also because it takes a lot of gumption to edit a novel written that quickly.
I know from experience – those first drafts are a lot more like half-drafts, sometimes!
I am at 3k this week, which was purely writing, no editing counted, since I am not editing Death’s Door yet. Two thirds were a rather large Feather Path chapter and another third was a catch-up prompt for the Saucy Wenches podcast. The latter is now a continuous story-arc of pure unadulterated randomness, which recently got the name Becalmed.
I am also seriously starting to consider starting yet another story on my blog, and also have been setting up a letter game, inspired by Bre and Tami’s idea. Someone stop me… please… *whimpers*
And glad you have started editing, Krizz. I have panic attacks when I think of tackling my NaNo novel. New Year’s resolution will be needed!
.-= Iris´s last blog ..Becalmed: Chapter 5 =-.
@Iris
*laughs* If you’re seeking a voice of reason to keep you from taking on too many projects, I’m probably the worst person to ask!
We have two Saucy Podcasts on How To Edit Your Novel coming up, including one to be recorded tonight! Fear not, we’ll get you in editing shape! <3
And then you hit on one of my personal peeves! *grin*
I detest “and then.” But I do recognize my bias, and probably allow too many of them in my editing than I should. So a warning to my authors: If you don’t fix “and then,” I will! *evil laugh*
Hmm…perhaps I should look at how much editing I did this week…I’m sure there is at least 3K there. :)
.-= Steve Hall´s last blog ..Coming Soon to An Aerie Near You! =-.
0.
Yes, I probably could have squeezed in some time some where for something, but here goes my list of excuses anyway:
I had a crazy insane super busy week – all the shows I direct were in performance mode, so I was wrapping all that up…happy to report they went off without a hitch and I only had to go onstage once to drag a pair of scene stealing twins out of the spotlight ;)
The husband starts vacation this week, the holiday decorations are up and my Christmas cards are almost done…so I plan to make up for this last week and double my efforts!
Thanks for the word count check – it will keep me motivated!
.-= Mama Nice/Drama Mama´s last blog ..Edward is watching you…while you pee. =-.
@MamaNice
That’s okay! Life happens to everyone, and it’s good to keep things balanced and prioritized (plus, after NaNo, you DESERVE a break!).
Thanks for checking in! =]