word count

[julesjones]

There has been none tonight and last night, because I have been sorting out the mess that resulted when my attempt to renew my paid LJ account triggered the fraud protection on my bank account. Prior to that, I had over a week's worth to report. The running totals each day were

Saturday 21734, Sunday 21857, Monday 22178, Tuesday none, Wednesday 22504, Thursday 22763, Friday 23063, Saturday none, Sunday 23195, Monday 23516.

Not many words per day, but I've been writing regularly (as in at least 5 days a week) for a month now. This is the longest I've been able to keep it up (ooh er missus) in three years. Something to do with not being busy learning a new job, house-hunting, taking months to get over a vicious respiratory viral infection, moving, having a serious acute episode of one of my chronic medical problems, or having crippling [*] side-effects from the medication for the latter. I shall enjoy it while it lasts. It's been horribly frustrating having stories in my head but not being able to put them down on electrons.

[*literally crippling by the end. The replacement drug had new, even more exciting side-effects. The replacement replacement has not shown any tendency to bite so far.]

Comments

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Well done! Steady daily progress really does build up nicely.

[julesjones]

One of the most helpful bits of advice I've ever had was Terry Pratchett (I think passing on something *he'd* been told, though I can't remember now) saying on alt.fan.pratchett that 300 words a day is achievable for someone in a full-time job, and 300 words every day for a year is 100,000 words, and that's a novel.

I know writers who can do nothing for a few weeks and then write in massive bursts over a weekend (hi, seawasp:-), but I really need to write at least a few words nearly every day, or I lose momentum. I'd prefer to be doing 300 words, but even a steady 100 words consistently is more than I've been able to manage for a long time, so this gives me hope that I might actually finish a novella by the end of next year.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Before I got the bad news this July, I'd been writing steadily for just over four months, aiming for a minimum of 200 words a day, six days a week. I'd got up to over 42,000 -- almost my lifetime max -- before everything ground to a halt again. Once I got going, writing 250-300 daily came quite easily, with occasional spurts of 500-750. Really must wrangle my brain and get back in the habit!