First Major Work - 18,000 words so far

Neverwhere · Sep 16, 2014

Hi,

It's not much of an achievement but I've been challenging myself to write 2,000 words a day on my first novel. So far I'm at just under 20,000 words of my first draft. It's hard to keep putting that many words on the page everyday but I just want to create a habit out of writing, right now and if that means I'll finish a first draft in a few months then so much the better.

krypticjotter · Sep 16, 2014

Congrats! on the word count and sticking to your goal
Keep up the good work :hooray:

Siri Kirpal · Sep 16, 2014

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Good work! Keep Up! (But if life throws stuff at you, it's okay to do less.)

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

arcan · Sep 16, 2014

Conngratulations.

Phaeal · Sep 17, 2014

Persistence and regular work are the keys to finishing scripts, so you're on the right track! Onward.

lottarobyn · Sep 17, 2014

2k per day can be a lot! Especially if you have something else going on full-time (work, school, family). If you can keep up that pace, you'll have the first draft knocked out in no time.

Jonathan S. · Sep 17, 2014

Keep it up! 2,000 is a lot! Congrats.

wampuscat · Sep 17, 2014

2K a day is awesome! Congrats!

Neverwhere · Sep 17, 2014

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I agree 2k a day is very challenging, much more so than I anticipated but I'm not willing to lower my quota since I seem to be making it so far. What I like about it is that it forces me into short bursts of deep focus in order to get the words out and then critically think about each scene and what is and isn't being portrayed there. I rewrote a single chapter three times before I got the right mix of action, characterisation and backstory into it.

I'm aiming for a finished work around 60-70k words, but I tend to ramble and write redundancies so it'll probably end up twice that in a first draft. Overall I'm enjoying the slight high you get from smashing out words, that feeling of moving towards something rather than being stuck. I can't claim what's going onto the page is high quality but it's better than nothing at all.

grayworld · Sep 17, 2014

Yeah, it's all about cranking out words. I know that sounds trite, but it's true. Just keep doing that. In the end, it'll pay dividends. Just keep working and working and working. That's key.

Neverwhere · Sep 17, 2014

20,500 words as of today. Yay! The most I've ever written on a single topic. My characters are really starting to come to life now and I'm finding it easier to build scenes and know what the dialogue should be. I'm getting a sense that this is a story and not just useless ramblings in a vague direction. Mission accomplished for today!

ssbittner · Sep 17, 2014

Congratulations! Keep at it, and you'll have a whole novel before you know it.

joelisawriter · Sep 23, 2014

Congratulations! It's inspiring to a newcomer like me to know that you're a real human being going through this stuff, too!

pinkrobot · Sep 23, 2014

Great job. Ever done NaNoWriMo? With 2,000 words a day you'd certainly write that 50,000 word novel in a month.

HeavyAirship · Sep 27, 2014

Good job! I can only keep up that pace for a few days before I burn out.

Neverwhere · Sep 28, 2014

pinkrobot said:
Great job. Ever done NaNoWriMo? With 2,000 words a day you'd certainly write that 50,000 word novel in a month.

No. No idea what that is. But I guess it's a good thing if I can crank out 50k a month.

Cosy_Mimi · Oct 2, 2014

That's great - well done !

Neverwhere · Oct 6, 2014

Currently at 24,000 words. Not as far as I would like but life got in the way these past few weeks. Plus I had to take some brain time to really get in my head what I wanted to convey in terms of character development.

Rebel-Dynasty · Oct 14, 2014

Neverwhere said:
Currently at 24,000 words. Not as far as I would like but life got in the way these past few weeks. Plus I had to take some brain time to really get in my head what I wanted to convey in terms of character development.

Don't get discouraged--I think losing steam every now and then is part and parcel to the whole writing experience. As long as you try to write every day, and most importantly, you're enjoying it, then you'll do just fine. ^^ Hang in there!

K1P1 · Oct 14, 2014

Neverwhere said:
Currently at 24,000 words. Not as far as I would like but life got in the way these past few weeks. Plus I had to take some brain time to really get in my head what I wanted to convey in terms of character development.

Just keep hammering away at it. As it gets longer, it will be more difficult to manage - holding it all in your head, making revisions for consistency, and keeping it going in the right direction. It will all grow more and more complex, so I think you can expect to slow down some as you progress.

Ian Thompson · Oct 20, 2014

Keep going it will be worth it.

I feel pleased if I manage to get 500 words down in a day. So 2000 is awesome.

First Major Work - 18,000 words so far

Neverwhere

krypticjotter

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process

arcan

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

lottarobyn

Jonathan S.

wampuscat

Recovering adjective addict

Neverwhere

grayworld

Neverwhere

ssbittner

scientist, artist, writer

joelisawriter

pinkrobot

I poke badgers with spoons

HeavyAirship

Aboard my phaneron.

Neverwhere

Cosy_Mimi

Neverwhere

Rebel-Dynasty

Writer

K1P1

Procrastination is its own reward

Ian Thompson