The Finish the Damn Book Challenge

William Randall · Feb 2, 2011

Having started too many novels and finished far too few (zero!), this is just what I need.

My WIP: Cow Tipping (18,000 / 40,000 words)

40,000 seems a bit meager, but it's YA and my mental capacity can't handle much more than that.

My goal: 500 words per day

Kewii · Feb 2, 2011

Welcome William

I like your title. Good luck with the writing goals!

David Poellot · Feb 2, 2011

600 words tonight

KrakatoaInk · Feb 3, 2011

Great job you guys! Kewii, I think the writing every day is a great goal. It's perfect for those times in your life when it's overwhelming to do anything more. I also think at the end of the day it isn't always about word count. I'm currently rewriting HIDDEN. I finished Draft 2 and realized I needed to restructure and develop the subplots a lot more. So I spent a month restructuring. It means throwing out a lot of the 100,000 words that are already there. So I did and I'm rewriting from scratch and cutting in a few scenes that still work. While I'm focused on word count right now, in 2 months, when the rewrite is finished, it won't be word count that matters. It'll be revising, rearranging and removing various words that are already there (as well as writing a few more, no doubt).

I love the process.

My goal is 1,500 words per day. Today I wrote 1,494.

Eddyz Aquila · Feb 3, 2011

Back to work!

Novel 3 - 668 words. Target - 120.000.

Long way to gooo

KrakatoaInk · Feb 3, 2011

Today I wrote 1,493 words. I have to admit, they weren't all that hot but considering I didn't go and nap, which is what I WANTED to do, I'm pretty proud of myself. =)

Monkey · Feb 3, 2011

Hells yeah, Krakatoa! Over a thousand words when you felt like a nap, instead, is absolutely awesome.

I've been getting my hour in each day, but I've fallen into the trap of revising as I go, so my progression has been relatively slow.

New total: 12,600 words

Monkey · Feb 3, 2011

William Randall said:
Having started too many novels and finished far too few (zero!), this is just what I need.

My WIP: Cow Tipping (18,000 / 40,000 words)

40,000 seems a bit meager, but it's YA and my mental capacity can't handle much more than that.

My goal: 500 words per day

How exciting! I really want to see you stick this through. Remember, the first draft doesn't have to be perfect...it just has to have a beginning, a middle and an end! Especially an end. :tongue

Your target length is pretty short...but I have that problem, too, sometimes. The first draft of the first novel I finished through this thread was about 30k shorter than it needed to be. Then I got some fantastic advice from another writer here at AW, put in a new subplot and made the antagonist a POV character, and got about 20k more words. It still got agent rejections (those who made personal comments mentioned the length), but it's currently being made into an e-book with a very reputable publisher.

My suggestion is to go ahead and shoot for 40k. Get that taste of sweet victory when you finally hit "The End". Then go back, add some subplots, play around with POV, and see if you can't add at least 10 or 20k. That would still put you a little short, but perhaps in the publishable range for YA.

Whatever you decide, good luck! And see this one through to the end!

David Poellot · Feb 3, 2011

600 words tonight

I've dozed off reading before, but this is the first time I've dozed off writing. I think I'm working too many hours.

KrakatoaInk · Feb 4, 2011

Well, what I wrote yesterday was somewhat crap, so I rewrote it today and then added another 500 words to it.

I'm actually rewriting the novel subplot by subplot, then I'll go back to the main plot. So I'm on subplot 1 right now.

The Draft 3 Rewrite is now at 5,000 words. Only about 75,000 to go. =) (I'm trying to shorten it up from 100k words to 80k as well in the rewrite. Keep everything tighter.)

Monkey · Feb 4, 2011

David Poellot said:
600 words tonight

I've dozed off reading before, but this is the first time I've dozed off writing. I think I'm working too many hours.

Now that's some inspiring dedication.

Got a thousand words in tonight, and set up a scene that should be quick to write.

Margarita Skies · Feb 5, 2011

svart1ngr said:
42,000 words.

Thinking the book is going to be about thirty chapters, and I'm working on Fourteen, which is the setup for the big heist in the middle of the book. Aw, yeah.

Great job!! :Thumbs:

William Randall said:
Having started too many novels and finished far too few (zero!), this is just what I need.

My WIP: Cow Tipping (18,000 / 40,000 words)

40,000 seems a bit meager, but it's YA and my mental capacity can't handle much more than that.

My goal: 500 words per day

WELCOME TO THE FINISH THE DAMN BOOK CHALLENGE!!

You're still doing an amazing job, and 40k words for a YA are not too bad. Big :Trophy:

for you!!

Kewii said:
Welcome William

I like your title. Good luck with the writing goals!

I like William's title too and I wish him the best. :Clap:

David Poellot said:
600 words tonight

Outstanding!! Much better than me because I am in a much needed hiatus. Even the Lean Mean Book-Finishing Machine needs a break.

I've made my decision, 3500 daily words for a 98-100k novel. Would still finish first draft in a little over 30 days, not too bad.

KrakatoaInk said:
Great job you guys! Kewii, I think the writing every day is a great goal. It's perfect for those times in your life when it's overwhelming to do anything more. I also think at the end of the day it isn't always about word count. I'm currently rewriting HIDDEN. I finished Draft 2 and realized I needed to restructure and develop the subplots a lot more. So I spent a month restructuring. It means throwing out a lot of the 100,000 words that are already there. So I did and I'm rewriting from scratch and cutting in a few scenes that still work. While I'm focused on word count right now, in 2 months, when the rewrite is finished, it won't be word count that matters. It'll be revising, rearranging and removing various words that are already there (as well as writing a few more, no doubt).

I love the process.

My goal is 1,500 words per day. Today I wrote 1,494.

I loved your message and your 1494 words are amazing. Well-deserved :Trophy:

for you.

Eddyz Aquila said:
Back to work!

Novel 3 - 668 words. Target - 120.000.

Long way to gooo

That's still awesome! 600 is much better than 0, so go, go, go!! Keep up the good work, champ!! :Thumbs:

KrakatoaInk said:
Today I wrote 1,493 words. I have to admit, they weren't all that hot but considering I didn't go and nap, which is what I WANTED to do, I'm pretty proud of myself. =)

And I am very proud of you, too, because that is outstanding!! I used to take naps but not anymore. Just don't want my sleep cycle to get reversed, you know, sleeping during the day and playing at night. I was starting to go that route when I used to nap last year. Not good. I guess it all depends on the person. Here's a :Trophy:

for you!!

Monkey said:
Hells yeah, Krakatoa! Over a thousand words when you felt like a nap, instead, is absolutely awesome.

I've been getting my hour in each day, but I've fallen into the trap of revising as I go, so my progression has been relatively slow.

New total: 12,600 words

Word!!

for Monkey!!

Monkey said:
How exciting! I really want to see you stick this through. Remember, the first draft doesn't have to be perfect...it just has to have a beginning, a middle and an end! Especially an end.

Your target length is pretty short...but I have that problem, too, sometimes. The first draft of the first novel I finished through this thread was about 30k shorter than it needed to be. Then I got some fantastic advice from another writer here at AW, put in a new subplot and made the antagonist a POV character, and got about 20k more words. It still got agent rejections (those who made personal comments mentioned the length), but it's currently being made into an e-book with a very reputable publisher.

My suggestion is to go ahead and shoot for 40k. Get that taste of sweet victory when you finally hit "The End". Then go back, add some subplots, play around with POV, and see if you can't add at least 10 or 20k. That would still put you a little short, but perhaps in the publishable range for YA.

Whatever you decide, good luck! And see this one through to the end!

Excellent message!! :Clap:

Going to take that to heart too!

KrakatoaInk said:
Well, what I wrote yesterday was somewhat crap, so I rewrote it today and then added another 500 words to it.

I'm actually rewriting the novel subplot by subplot, then I'll go back to the main plot. So I'm on subplot 1 right now.

The Draft 3 Rewrite is now at 5,000 words. Only about 75,000 to go. =) (I'm trying to shorten it up from 100k words to 80k as well in the rewrite. Keep everything tighter.)

Monkey said:
Now that's some inspiring dedication.

Got a thousand words in tonight, and set up a scene that should be quick to write.

whacko · Feb 5, 2011

I think I'm on the final furlong. With a bit of luck, and dedication, I'll be looking for betas this month.

And dedication... where's Roy Castle when you need him?

Regards

Whacko

muravyets · Feb 5, 2011

I need this! Thank you! I especially like the part about doing something to the novel before I log onto the internet. I so need that discipline. Here goes, commitment time:

WIP: Untitled
Words: 829
Goals: February = finish full outline; rough draft Act 1; settle on a working title. General = finish the damn book, like it says in the thread title.

Today: I wrote the 829 words; completed outlining all major parts of Act 1; outlined the piviotal midpoint scene (which was fun because it's sexy); and jotted down some character development ideas.

KrakatoaInk · Feb 5, 2011

1178 words and a completed scene tonight after a long, wonderful day throwing my son's first birthday party.

KrakatoaInk · Feb 5, 2011

muravyets said:
I need this! Thank you! I especially like the part about doing something to the novel before I log onto the internet. I so need that discipline. Here goes, commitment time:

WIP: Untitled
Words: 829
Goals: February = finish full outline; rough draft Act 1; settle on a working title. General = finish the damn book, like it says in the thread title.

Today: I wrote the 829 words; completed outlining all major parts of Act 1; outlined the piviotal midpoint scene (which was fun because it's sexy); and jotted down some character development ideas.

Welcome! Sounds like you've got great goals and tools. I look forward to hearing more about your progress!

Kewii · Feb 5, 2011

Welcome Muravyets. I hope this thread pushes you on your way.

Nice job KrakatoaInk.

I have managed to forget my writing notebook at home today

(I do my writing over a prep usually, because of coaching/playing sports after school). So I'm going to have to try to write something then transfer it later.

Ah well. Writing a scene twice usually helps my writing improve

cameron_chapman · Feb 6, 2011

I'm back! This thread helped me immensely when I was finishing up a novel last year, and now I need help again with getting fifty pages on a different WIP done by the end of this month.

Why the end of this month, you ask? Because I entered WEbook's PageToFame contest last year with the first page of a new WIP. It got elevated to round 2, and so I wrote the next four pages. No big deal, took me a couple hours. Well, it got promoted to round 3 at the end of November. I thought I'd have 6 months to write the next 45 pages, but checked a week or so ago and for round 3 we only get 3 months! (Round 1 to Round 2, when you only have to come up with another 1,000 words or so, they give you 6 months, but when you have to write another 11,000+ words, they only give you 3? WTF?!?)

WIP: Dragon Rider (I hate this title, but I came up with it fast and have yet to think of a better one)
Words: 1,153
Goal: 15,000 words by February 20th (we'll call it 1,000 words/day)

On the plus side, I do have a full outline for the story, all set up in Scrivener, so at least I'm not starting from nothing!

gothicangel · Feb 6, 2011

Forgot about this thread.

Finished current revisions about a week ago.

:hooray:

KyraDune · Feb 6, 2011

Congrats to everybody that's rolling along with their writing. I wrote 15,436 words yesterday which brought my fourth and final draft of Shadow of the Dragon to completion. I will now accept your applause and adulation.

nfabienne · Feb 6, 2011

Rendered Love
Final word count~63,473
New Goal~ sending out manuscripts, working on queries...
Deadline~ ASAP

Monkey · Feb 6, 2011

Welcome to the Challenge, Muravyets!

Welcome back, Cameron!

And congrats on a finished book, Nfabienne! Good luck with the query work. I'm willing to help via PM if you'd like, or on SYW if you're willing to post it.

And congrats to everyone who are meeting their goals!

David Poellot · Feb 6, 2011

KyraDune said:
Congrats to everybody that's rolling along with their writing. I wrote 15,436 words yesterday which brought my fourth and final draft of Shadow of the Dragon to completion. I will now accept your applause and adulation.

You wrote what??? That's not possible!!! Where do you find the hours in the day?

If my eyes are reading correctly, great job! I wish I had that many hours in the week to write.

David Poellot · Feb 6, 2011

200 words. I'm also trying to incorporate Maass' Breakout Novel workbook, as I also try to build settings. So, slow going for a little while now.

Victoria · Feb 6, 2011

Alright. I'm in the whittling stage right now. I need to condense by about 10,000 words. My goal is to chip at five chapters per week until I meet my goal. I've already knocked off about 500 words, so at least I have a running start. Taking off is so much harder than putting on.

The Finish the Damn Book Challenge

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