Novel One: Day Four

A Solid Day…

(As a reminder, the overall monthly challenge is to write four novels and gain distance every week on my step count, starting the first week at 11,000 steps per day.)

The Day Went Like This…

Just as yesterday, I got out the door around 3 p.m. today after a half hour of e-mail. I went down to the WMG offices and north store to cause chaos for a time as I have a want to do, then went out for a walk around 4 p.m.

I had fun walking with my coat and stocking cap through all the freezing tourists in shorts and thin blouses and shirts at the mall. I love witnessing stupidity. This is the Oregon Coast. A warm day is 60 and today the wind was blowing at 30 mph. Cold ocean wind. But they came to the “beach” so by god they are going to wear shorts, flip-flops, and light shirts, no matter how cold it really is.

Back to the office around 5 a.m. and worked there on workshop stuff until 6:30. Groceries and home to do a little more email and some workshop stuff for an hour before taking a nap at 8 p.m. and then cooking dinner. Exactly like yesterday.

Got in here around 10 p.m. to do assignments for the online workshops. We had the windows closed and I had the music up to try to dull the explosions. Why, in this modern world, do we think it is a good idea to sell explosives and let people blow up shit? And because we live in a tourist place where all the tourists think no one actually lives, the explosions are bad.

I feel bad for all the dogs and cats, let alone the war vets. What a stupid holiday practice.

Anyway, got all the assignments done by just before midnight and went to play on the novel.

Writing…

On time on the book start tonight and had a 1,500 word first session before 1 a.m.

I managed 900 words by 1:45 a.m. Took a fifteen minute break to watch a little television.

Started back up at 2 a.m. and got up to speed, doing 1,300 words by 2:45 a,m.

Five minute break, another 1,100 words by 3:30 a.m.

Five minutes to grab some chicken, then another 1,400 words by 4:30 when my mind said enough.

6,200 words of fiction total for the night in five sessions.

Novel is now at 25,600 words.

Every year I am glad when this holiday is over. This year is no exception.

The Day Breakdown

4.5 hours writing… 6,200 words
1.5 hours exercise plus normal movement… 11,200 steps
5 hours of work for workshops and meetings and such.

The rest television, cooking dinner, and so on. Plus 7 hours of sleep and a short nap.

THE WEEK SO FAR…

Days over 6,000 words… 4 of 4
Days over 11,000 steps… 4 of 4
22 hours of regular job work so far for the week

—————

Tracking Word Counts… July 4th, 2017
Writing in Public blog streak… Day 1,384

— Daily Fiction: 6,200 original words. Fiction month-to-date: 25,600 words
— Nonfiction: 00 new words. Nonfiction month-to-date total: 00 words
— Blog Posts: 400 new words. Blog month-to-date word count: 1,600 words
— E-mail: 36 e-mails. Approx. 2,100 original words. E-mails month-to date: 135 e-mails. Approx. 7,700 words

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JULY ONLINE WORKSHOPS

All have openings at the moment. Information at

www.wmgpublishingworkshops.com

Any questions at all, feel free to write me. And if you are confused as to which workshop to take first, we have a full curriculum posted on its own page.

Class #1… July 11th … Depth #3: Research
Class #2… July 11th … Author Voice
Class #3… July 11th … Business
Class #4… July 11th … Endings
Class #5… July 11th … Writing Fiction Sales Copy
Class #6… July 11th … Writing and Selling Short Stories
Class #7… July 12th … Depth in Writing
Class #8… July 12th … Advanced Character and Dialog
Class #9… July 12th … Cliffhangers
Class #10… July 12th … Pacing Your Novel
Class #11… July 12th … How to Edit Your Own Work
Class #12… July 12th … Writing Fantasy

Depth #3: Research and Writing Fantasy are both new this month and will fill quickly.

——————–

Dark Crimes Bundle… ONLY ONE DAY LEFT!!!

I want to remind everyone that I am in a fantastic bundle called Dark Crimes on Storybundle.com/mystery.

Dark Crimes Bundle has two anthologies and eight crime novels.

And don’t forget to support AbleGamers.com when you grab this one.

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You can support this ongoing blog at Patreon on a monthly basis. Not per post. Just click on the Patreon image. Thanks for your support.

6 Comments

Lee Dennis

July 5, 2017 at 7:34 am

“I feel bad for all the dogs and cats, let alone the war vets. What a stupid holiday practice.”

“Enjoy” isn’t quite the right word for this, since there’s a lot of truth in The Onion’s send-up:
http://www.theonion.com/article/us-flag-recalled-after-causing-143-million-deaths-17248

robert bucchianeri

July 5, 2017 at 9:01 am

I feel exactly the way you do about this holiday. People all around me having their own private home fireworks shows at night for days. I don’t get the thrill…I mean I get it if you’re an eight-year-old boy but otherwise, it’s just a big loud annoyance. And my dog more than agrees with me.

B

July 5, 2017 at 9:23 am

Dean,

This is sorta off topic and not. Because I sat down for close to 7 hours yesterday and wrote 10k in a day. I’m even ready to get back to writing more words today when I’d expected to be completely burned out and have no creative thoughts. Deadlines are a serious motivator.

Also, I know you advocate having a dedicated writing computer/spot and I have to say you’re 100% correct about that. I resurrected an old laptop of mine and it’s been the best thing for my writing. However, now it’s getting to that writing spot and laptop that’s the issue.

dwsmith

July 5, 2017 at 2:12 pm

B, the key is to keep the writing fun. That way the spot becomes a fun place to go play. An exciting place. Never call your writing work which helps as well. Everything around the writing is work but your writing is fun.

Also what causes resistance to sitting down is fear. When you make writing fun and nothing to be afraid of, that fear has less to grasp at. So have fun. (grin)

Chong Go

July 5, 2017 at 10:31 pm

Sorry to hear about the usual festival of knuckleheads and fireworks. I imagine it must induce some flashbacks of life as a bartender!

Does it ever get warm out there?! You aren’t joking about it being cold. I was up the coast from you, near the Olympics a couple of weeks ago, and thought I was going to freeze to death. I actually had to go buy a wool hat. (“Um, check the clearance rack. I think there might be some left…” Lol!) Fortunately, we caught that hot spell that came through and were able to enjoy the last few days while in Victoria. (Definitely one of my favorite cities.)

Steve

July 6, 2017 at 10:02 am

Your writing output and wisdom are always inspiring, but I must disagree about the fireworks – I love them!

Maybe I am a child at heart (what’s wrong with that?), and even though it’s just sparklers and fountains these days, there’s nothing like getting together with family, having a BBQ, a swim in the pool, and having a dazzling light show for 30 minutes after the sun goes down. I save some fireworks for New Year’s Eve, too (or I try to).

Now I have to get back to writing, too 🙂

Lee Dennis

July 5, 2017 at 7:34 am

“I feel bad for all the dogs and cats, let alone the war vets. What a stupid holiday practice.”

“Enjoy” isn’t quite the right word for this, since there’s a lot of truth in The Onion’s send-up:
http://www.theonion.com/article/us-flag-recalled-after-causing-143-million-deaths-17248
robert bucchianeri

July 5, 2017 at 9:01 am

I feel exactly the way you do about this holiday. People all around me having their own private home fireworks shows at night for days. I don’t get the thrill…I mean I get it if you’re an eight-year-old boy but otherwise, it’s just a big loud annoyance. And my dog more than agrees with me.
B

July 5, 2017 at 9:23 am

Dean,

This is sorta off topic and not. Because I sat down for close to 7 hours yesterday and wrote 10k in a day. I’m even ready to get back to writing more words today when I’d expected to be completely burned out and have no creative thoughts. Deadlines are a serious motivator.

Also, I know you advocate having a dedicated writing computer/spot and I have to say you’re 100% correct about that. I resurrected an old laptop of mine and it’s been the best thing for my writing. However, now it’s getting to that writing spot and laptop that’s the issue.
- dwsmith
  
  July 5, 2017 at 2:12 pm
  
  B, the key is to keep the writing fun. That way the spot becomes a fun place to go play. An exciting place. Never call your writing work which helps as well. Everything around the writing is work but your writing is fun.
  
  Also what causes resistance to sitting down is fear. When you make writing fun and nothing to be afraid of, that fear has less to grasp at. So have fun. (grin)
Chong Go

July 5, 2017 at 10:31 pm

Sorry to hear about the usual festival of knuckleheads and fireworks. I imagine it must induce some flashbacks of life as a bartender!

Does it ever get warm out there?! You aren’t joking about it being cold. I was up the coast from you, near the Olympics a couple of weeks ago, and thought I was going to freeze to death. I actually had to go buy a wool hat. (“Um, check the clearance rack. I think there might be some left…” Lol!) Fortunately, we caught that hot spell that came through and were able to enjoy the last few days while in Victoria. (Definitely one of my favorite cities.)
Steve

July 6, 2017 at 10:02 am

Your writing output and wisdom are always inspiring, but I must disagree about the fireworks – I love them!

Maybe I am a child at heart (what’s wrong with that?), and even though it’s just sparklers and fountains these days, there’s nothing like getting together with family, having a BBQ, a swim in the pool, and having a dazzling light show for 30 minutes after the sun goes down. I save some fireworks for New Year’s Eve, too (or I try to).

Now I have to get back to writing, too 🙂