So here I am, sitting with half-eaten drafts and feeling almost dejected that NaNo is over and how (too) easy it was for me to stop writing the second I didn’t have…
…Accountability.
So I’m starting this thing now…
instead of January because starting is always difficult and there’s enough pressure come January… the habit is already sitting in my brain as is, fresh from NaNo, so why not?
I’m sitting on Many Many drafts and no accountability for finishing them. It’s not because I’m necessarily lazy or displeased with those drafts. I think my brain struggles to keep On Task with a project when it feels like the yield for it is just too far away. So I’m hoping that by chipping away at these things a little bit every day I can get a few of these Drafts, officially completed.
Maybe I’ll make an official page for those who want to keep up with my Saga as I go. The goal was to do this for (at least) a year but I would like to be able to keep this habit indefinitely.
Parameters, The Goal, Yadda Yadda
I’ve been writing for years now so I think I have a pretty good grasp of what should be feasible for me.
So lets get into it:
- 500-1000 words a day.
- Weekends don’t count UNLESS I’m IN IT
- Missed days do NOT need to be ‘made up’
- But try not to miss more than 3-5 per month.
Pretty simple. The idea is that there’s no Penalty for missed days. I think I beat myself up over this sort of thing Too Much & discourage myself otherwise & give up halfway. This is about longevity & encouraging progress. Every little bit counts and every little bit is a step towards completing something.
ANYWAY– here’s December 2024’s progress so far.
- DEC 11: TAKE OUT — 868
- DEC 12: TAKE OUT — 515
- DEC 13: TAKE OUT — 746
- DEC 14: MYTH RETOLD BLOG POST — 1,480
- DEC 15:
- DEC 16: TAKE OUT — 813
- DEC 17: TAKE OUT — 609
- DEC 18: TAKE OUT — 530
- DEC 19: TAKE OUT — 557
- DEC 20: TAKE OUT — 571
- DEC 21:
- DEC 22:
- DEC 23: TAKE OUT — 553
- DEC 24: X-M — 291
>>>>>>>>TAKE OUT — 782 - DEC 25:
- DEC 26:
- DEC 27: TAKE OUT — 527
- DEC 28: TAKE OUT — 585
- DEC 29: TAKE OUT — 640
- DEC 30: TAKE OUT — 575
- DEC 31: TAKE OUT — 625
MONTH RECAP
Wowee, first month of the dang thing and we’re off to a great start. I’m already breaking my ‘take a break on weekends’ rule but I think that’s just because my current draft has me by the freakin throat. I’m just about finished that one, though. Weirdly enough I might just even jump straight into editing it when the draft is done. I know where I’d like to add a few scenes and tighten up others. It’ll be nice to reread it over now that I’ve got my big sprint in and see if my prose has suffered from my dire need to finish the thing before it escapes my brain.
IDK why im like this I just am.
Anyway, this first month was good. It wasn’t the FULL month but it might as well have been considering I’ve been writing straight through the holidays.
I’m realising that maybe 500-1000 words is a pretty good sweet spot to be writing in. 500 ensures I get a good chunk of some scenes done. I’m surprised I’m playing conservative and hovering on the 500 words end these days, but I think weirdly enough that just comes with writing a script instead of strictly prose or walls of text. I know you cram in more WC with the number of times you repeat someone’s name for Dialogue but the scenes develop faster than they might with prose so I feel like I’m almost writing too fast, if that makes any sense?
Anyway.
I’m excited to keep this habit going. They say if you can hold onto a habit for 30 days, it really does stick so I’m hoping that’s the case.
We’ll find out how I fare in the next few months, though those are the quieter ones, the habit shouldn’t be too hard to keep up!
I’ll have to start thinking about what my next draft is going to be… hmmMM.