Well, here in Japan November 30th is closing in on me. Yet I finished on November 29th. Hitting the 50,000 words that is. I still have a VERY unfinished novel sitting in front of me, that's daring me to go another 30 or 40 thousand with. I think a good 80-90 thousand word novel would really make my life so much better, even if it is a first draft. And oh, how flawed it is. But it's sort of like that diamond analogy. If I clean it up well enough, maybe someone will like it!
In any case, I wanted this thread to be sort of a "stories from the trenches" sort of thread. What helped motivate you to finish? What tricks did you use that helped you reach the goal? What caused you to not reach your goal? Will you try again next year? Did your inner editor plague you to the ends of the earth?
In my case I found this:
Good:
1. I found out if I set aside about an hour or two after work each day, I can do this. Steadily. As in being part of my daily schedule. As most writers will say "writers write." That means writing. Everyday. Even if it sucks. I managed to do this despite working a normal 40 hour a week job. Granted I don't have kids and I have an understanding wife, so that helped me out a lot. But I did it, even doing regular, everyday stuff. I spend 10 minutes less watching TV, 30 minutes less surfing the internet, and an hour less playing video games or other such stuff, and I still have time to write.
2. I have a pretty decent first draft developing. That's good.
3. And it's kept me interested throughout. Didn't really have to slog through this one.
Bad:
1. I am easily distracted. I could probably have written 80,000 words in a month if I would stop getting distracted so easily.
2. I am a victim of "New Shiny Project Disease." Millions of writers suffer from this. And this could be why millions aren't published. I have fought off the disease for this month and I'm happy for that. I am determined to finish this book come hell or high water.
3. I have lots of loose ends and editing I have to tie up. Just searching my manuscript randomly, I had over 50 instances of someone "gasping." Ugh. I even had a character I introduced at one point with some heavy handed foreshadowing and then he just disappeared never to be mentioned or seen again. Huh? That's not good.
Anyway, I had a blast this year as always. Share your good (or horror) stories here! I'd love to hear them!
In any case, I wanted this thread to be sort of a "stories from the trenches" sort of thread. What helped motivate you to finish? What tricks did you use that helped you reach the goal? What caused you to not reach your goal? Will you try again next year? Did your inner editor plague you to the ends of the earth?
In my case I found this:
Good:
1. I found out if I set aside about an hour or two after work each day, I can do this. Steadily. As in being part of my daily schedule. As most writers will say "writers write." That means writing. Everyday. Even if it sucks. I managed to do this despite working a normal 40 hour a week job. Granted I don't have kids and I have an understanding wife, so that helped me out a lot. But I did it, even doing regular, everyday stuff. I spend 10 minutes less watching TV, 30 minutes less surfing the internet, and an hour less playing video games or other such stuff, and I still have time to write.
2. I have a pretty decent first draft developing. That's good.
3. And it's kept me interested throughout. Didn't really have to slog through this one.
Bad:
1. I am easily distracted. I could probably have written 80,000 words in a month if I would stop getting distracted so easily.
2. I am a victim of "New Shiny Project Disease." Millions of writers suffer from this. And this could be why millions aren't published. I have fought off the disease for this month and I'm happy for that. I am determined to finish this book come hell or high water.
3. I have lots of loose ends and editing I have to tie up. Just searching my manuscript randomly, I had over 50 instances of someone "gasping." Ugh. I even had a character I introduced at one point with some heavy handed foreshadowing and then he just disappeared never to be mentioned or seen again. Huh? That's not good.
Anyway, I had a blast this year as always. Share your good (or horror) stories here! I'd love to hear them!