2018 Fiction Word Count
Progress Bar from Writertopia
For my yearly goal, I calculated what 600 words for 365 days is (219,000). Then I remembered I only met the daily goal 58 days last year and divided the grand total in half. I ended up meeting this goal in June.
Insights To Not Forget:
A checkbook-sized weekly planner for the entire year is the perfect size to keep my word count and writing time tallies in. I was using one that size but with the month printed in a table over two of its pages, and could never squeeze in the whole days work in the box. So I switched to a version that puts one week on two pages and gives each day six lines (Saturday and Sunday end up smaller) which turned out to be plenty of room. I have spreadsheets too, but saving has failed on me and the numbers have ended up skewed on the spreadsheets. It is still good practice to have a paper back-up, and it gives you a different way of viewing the same data. You can glance back at a few weeks and see if it's becoming a thing to miss writing on Thursdays. Of course now that I found my perfect paper back-up, I can't find a 2019 version to buy. :p I finally found it in the third store I went to for it.
I can concentrate on one big thing and stack the rest of my needs doing items around it. On Monday - Friday, the big thing is my paying job tasks and it's easy to pepper the day with editing, composing, etc. broken into fifteen minute sprints. I have been trying to replicate that on the weekend and failing and it finally dawned on me why; things are reversed: one writing project that I come back to in breaks during housework chores.
What does this do to writing and editing every day? This insight is actually from Rachel Aaron's 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love. Her chapter "Editing for People Who Hate Editing" gave me the new technique I'm experimenting with on Liberation and pointed out
However, what most people fail to realize is that editing, like writing, is a skill. Like any skilled activity, it gets better and easier with practice and attention. ... The same skills that make you a good storyteller make you a good story perfecter, you just have to stop hating the process and start treating your editing like you treat your writing--something you strive to be good at, something you do every day, and something you want to make a career out of.So as soon as I had something to edit this year, I have been editing and writing a little every day, and I've been pleased with my results this year. I will experiment with making one weekend day writing day and the other editing day and see how that goes in 2019.
Last insight, I'm adding word counts to these write ups. Not that I want to make anyone reading these feel bad about their own productivity, I just can't find these numbers when I need them for other tallies. And I keep having novels that span years in creation, which really makes the math harder. :p
Stories I Finished:
Star Wars: Looking For Home: My Home Is You: Word count = 108,311 (85,974 words in 2018 + 22,337 words in 2017). Posting started in December 2017, and finished all the edits and posting all the chapters in July 2018.
Star Wars: Looking For Home: Forsaken No Longer, Outcast No More: Word count = 11,881. The question was asked what was going up for Halloween in June, while I was finishing up My Home Is You posts and the Mission on Mimban Tumblr series. I said I probably wouldn't participate since I can't write horror. "Go ahead, fluff is fine too!" So I started up a 11,881 short story about the Festival of Outcast Spirits Naboo has as the family is descending on Varykino for Luke and Mara's wedding seen through Korora Jade-Skywalker's eyes.
Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: Liberation: Word count = 63,585 (27,205 words in 2018 + 36,380 words in 2017). Finished the first draft on May 17, 2018. I tried out a new editing technique to get to the next draft (verdict is I like the technique) so this is almost ready for the beta.
Splinter of the Mind's Eye Analysis: Word count = 29,747. So this suggested itself after I finished up a novel first draft and wasn't ready to start another novel. Rescue the Farmboy series is getting short stories in between the novels and before I reread this book, I thought it would be a good basis for a fix-it fic short story. The short version of how I felt after rereading this book:
So the fix-it fic will happen but the analysis made it a much bigger project that I had first envisioned.
I also got a few short pieces done for Tumblr, interesting ideas but not full stories to count.
Stories I Didn't Finish:
Zyverse: I worked on this early in 2018, but it fell away. So I finally came to the conclusion to take it off my Business Plan as the original fiction I will publish. I like the universe, but multiple works haven't come to me yet and you need a series to be successful.
Reference Wiki: Word count = 53,693. I did a lot of work in getting my character references into this new format, but I never finished putting in what I already have written or writing what I need to write.
Strix: Forget the Sun: I did touch it this year. At least enough to get stuff moved into a Scrivener file.
Star Wars: Unexpected Consequences: Word count = 31,008. I started the first draft in September 8th, but I still have two-thirds left to write going into 2019. I'm enjoying this change up to Thrawn Trilogy.
Cookbook: Word count = 6755. This is a personal project. Scrivener included a cookbook template. I have a basket full of magazines that I'm only keeping for the recipes. I have cookbooks with notations that I tweaked for my health reasons. All I want is one place to go looking for food ideas when I have no decision power to feed myself. I doubt I will share it with anyone.
TLJ Story Grid Project: Word count = 383. I got talked into doing my original idea of deconstructing the Last Jedi according to the Story Grid method. This will probably be as long and as involved as the Splinter of the Mind's Eye Analysis.
My favorite story this year: Star Wars: Looking For Home: Forsaken No Longer, Outcast No More. I had no plans to write it and I have never wrote that many scenes in a young child's POV before. But I enjoyed it and it looks like a lot of readers did too.
Story most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Splinter of the Mind's Eye Analysis. I know Tumblr isn't built for discourse and I really don't want to port it some where else when the energy is better spent on my resulting novel, but I thought it would generate more notes or commentary back to me. *Shrug*. Hmm, if I want to try out @frangi's aesthetics focus, the adjective for Mimban spring to mind "swampy" and "foggy."
Most fun story: Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: Liberation. I'm excited about showing this one off next year.
Stories I wrote that I never thought I'd write: My own personal cookbook. I hope it makes looking up recipes easier for me.
Hardest story to write: Strix: Forget the Sun because I keep setting it aside. That is ending in 2019 because I finally got a glimmer of an idea on what to write for the third story (which is more than I have ever gotten for more stories in the Zyverse) and I'm moving forward to self-publishing a trilogy.
Biggest disappointment: That I forgot about Zy's Universe. Again.
Biggest surprise: That I keep draping novels over the year's break. It would be so much easier on my math if I could start and finish in one year.
What's your favorite piece of dialogue you wrote this year? From Star Wars: Looking For Home: Forsaken No Longer, Outcast No More:
“The Naberries?” Mommy started with a questioning tone.But Madam Minnau didn’t slow down. “They said they would arrive after the observance but they can do it here with you and Amidala’s grandchildren! We’ll need floating lanterns. I’ll send Kun over for some. We’ll do the family proud this Festival and your wedding, milady. Have no worries. I’ll get started on the food and get the costumes out of storage too.” The turbaned woman whirled, marched down the entrance hall, and quickly disappeared through a door at the end.
Mommy looked down at Vashalh and Korora. They both looked up at her. “Did I just agree to a party tonight?”
Korora jumped. “Party! Party! Party!” Parties were the best, especially when people brought her presents.
“Madam Minnau is acting like you agreed, Maitrakh Jade. The merchant also said the Festival was tonight,” Vashalh said.
“What did I miss since I was so focused on the wedding logistics?”
What's your favorite piece of description or narration you wrote this year? From Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy: Liberation:
The air that hit Luke’s face was thick with moisture. Vaporators would burn up pulling so much moisture out of the air on Yavin 4. The mechanical smells from the ships and speeders competed with a luscious green smell that he had previously only smelled in the hydroponic chambers back at the homesteads. The freighter’s landing bay was a field scraped free of vegetation in order for large ships to have a flat surface and ringed on three sides by trees nearly as tall as the massive conical stone building that was a hive of activity. Luke stopped walking to take it all in and Biggs stopped next to him.
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would, less, or about what you predicted? I'm pleased with my word counts, but surprised I don't have more out there ready to read. I wonder if that will go up if I maintain a steadier pace with my editing.
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? Jumped into a new fandom and it wasn't too bad. That's really not risky though my anxiety sometimes can't tell the difference.
Did you meet last year's goals?
That's a no, and boy, how is it a no.
The goals from my 2018 one-page business plan are:- Reach 130,000 words in the stories in Zy's Universe. -- If I touched this universe at all, it was early in the year and it was just to organize the Scrivener project better. I have officially dropped all of this from my original fiction plans.
- Edit Stellar Gift of Death to a draft ready for beta reading. Use Ali Luke's Two-Year-Novel Plan.
- Edit "Words of Parting" according to the feedback I got
- Edit "Blue Man on the Porch" to a draft ready for beta reading
- Write a short story on Xeryl's background
- Write the Ail 12 on vacation case that ended in a shootout (new take on the "Case of the Hideous Medallion")
- Plot two sequels to Stellar Gift of Death
- Begin writing the next novel in the series
- Finish putting story projects into Scrivener
- Finish rough draft of Strix: Forget the Sun
- Move what is already done into Scrivener -- started but stopped before finishing
- Finish rough draft according to beat sheet -- didn't start
- Finish rough drafts of Star Wars AUs
- Write Star Wars: Rescue the Farmboy (Original Trilogy AU) -- Finished Liberation currently editing
- Write Lucinda's story -- started Unexpected Consequences, currently writing
- Post regularly to Intentionally Left Blank -- I don't think I did this at all
- BookWorm's Library maintenance -- started the Reference Wiki, but dropped it
- Add Media Center to BookWorm's Library -- didn't start
- Post to Tumblr -- did do pretty regularly
- Add more fanfics to AO3 -- didn't start
- Work on home concentration. -- I want a day of nothing but writing on the weekends unless I have other plans. -- What I want is not what I got. New plans now!
My daily writing plans to help the above list of goals get done:
- Write 600 daily words. Can be split among the projects. -- I am pleased that the number of days I met or exceeded the goal increased to 105 out of 365.
- Work in meditation time with Brain FM. -- I'm never in a good spot to use this.
- Do more chores in the morning so I have evening time for writing. -- So my mornings are now filled with online classes when I get booked, I need to do chores whenever I have a second to do them.
- Reward myself when goals are reached. -- I haven't been reaching any goals with either a carrot or a stick.
Do you have any goals for the coming year? The goals from my 2019 one-page business plan are:
- Use Ali Luke's Two Year Novel Plan to finish the Strix series -- It maybe overly ambitious to try to finish all three novels in the same time frame. What I'm hoping to do is finish ahead of the schedule and pick up the next one.
- January - February 2019: Move all files into Scrivener
- January - February 2019: Outline the trilogy
- March - July 2019: Finish Strix: Forget the Sun's first draft
- March - July 2019: Finish Strix prequel story's first draft
- March - July 2019: Finish Strix sequel story's first draft
- August - December 2019: Finish Strix: Forget the Sun's second draft
- August - December 2019: Finish Strix prequel story's second draft
- August - December 2019: Finish Strix sequel story's second draft
- Writing Star Wars AU fanfics
- Send Rescue the Farmboy: Liberation to beta reader
- Finish Rescue the Farmboy: Liberation's third draft
- Finish Rescue the Farmboy: One More Service's second draft
- Send Rescue the Farmboy: One More Service to beta reader
- Finish Rescue the Farmboy: One More Service's third draft
- July 2019: Finish Unexpected Consequences' first draft
- December 2019: Finish Rescue the Farmboy: Mission on Mimban's first draft
- Post regularly to Intentionally Left Blank, Dreamwidth, Discipline Under Fire, Tumblr Random Thoughts, Pillowfort
- BookWorm's Library website maintenance
- Make sure the software is up to date once a month
- Add any files that need adding
- Add Media Center to BookWorm's Library
- Create section
- Make artwork
- Code section
- Upload files
- Publishing the Strix series
- November 2019: Research candidates for professional editor
- January 2020: Hire a cover designer deadline 3 weeks before end of March 2020
- January 2020: Hire editor and send off material deadline 3 weeks before end of March 2020
- March 2020: Receive corrections and artwork
- Add more fanfics to AO3
- Upload Zackverse in story order
- Upload Rescue the Farmboy: Liberation to Ao3, FF.net, and the Library when finished
- Upload Rescue the Farmboy: One More Service to Ao3, FF.net, and the Library when finished
- Upload Star Wars: Unexpected Consequences when edited
My daily writing plans to help the above list of goals get done:
- Write 600 daily words. Can be split among the projects. I'm making the yearly goal to reach whatever number I actually reach on December 31st.
- Write and edit every day. Pick one for Saturday and do the other on Sunday.
- Work in meditation time with Brain FM.
- Use my Kanban Flow checklist consistently.
- Don't let chores pile up now that you have two jobs plus writing to do.
- Reward myself when goals are reached.
Here's to 2019. We'll get through it together.
