Last report wordcount + chapter count/scene count: 27,301 words and ten and a half chapters
Current report WC + CC/ SC: 40,127 words and 16 and a bit more chapters (ha, the last 2300 words were just last night, too, so… If I’d had more writing sessions like that one this month, I’d be further along!)
WIP Issues This Month: I never stalled entirely, but the scenes I’ve been working on this month have been less exciting to me than some of the stuff near the beginning or what’s to come. I’ve struggled to find both the time and the brain power to work. (When I’m too stressed or tired from work writing, it’s hard to get my brain into the fiction writing groove, even if I find the time!) I spent like a week on one scene writing 100 words at a time wondering what on earth was going on (characters were keeping secrets from my main character–and me!) until I finally cracked it.
Four things I learned this month in writing: 1. Even if it’s only small progress, progress is still progress. I may have wanted to get more words done this month, but somehow I at least managed to get this much done despite feeling overwhelmed.
2. Keep pushing through a scene and you’ll eventually crack it somehow.
3. Sometimes you have to write even if you don’t feel like you can because even 100 words a day is better than nothing. Even 100 words a week is better than nothing.
4. It’s not worth stressing myself out on days I can’t get many words done; it just makes me feel unaccomplished.
What distracted me this month while writing: Work, bitter cold temperatures (good for staying inside and writing a lot, though!), snow shoveling, reading, gaming, and everyday life. I’m also strangely into looking up True Detective theories.
Goal for next month: Keep going with this WIP! I want to finish as much more as possible. I need a first draft done within the next few months. I feel like I’m more than halfway there, though. Which potentially means there will be too few words this first draft, but we’ll see. I’m not worried about that yet–just getting through the plot.
Last 200 words: Can’t because it’s a sequel.
Amy McNulty 
Yep, progress is still progress! I find setting a minimum daily word count helps. I’ve been having similar difficulties with scenes getting stuck, it always seems to happen in the middle! But the answer’s always there in the end!
Somehow in November while tackling NaNo I managed to write EVERY day, but I burnt out. I was still going to aim for 5-6 days a week from now on, but that hasn’t always happened! My minimum word count is sometimes just 100 words, ha.
Yup, I’m in the middle now! 😀 And you’re right, the answer came to me!
That’s some great progress in one month! And it’s true that writing 100 words is better than nothing, but sometimes, I’m like if I can only write 100 words, what’s the point of writing at all? So I procrastinate and wait for inspiration.
I love this line: “Keep going with this WIP!”
You can totally do it! Good luck!
Yup, sometimes I wonder if I shouldn’t bother on those 100 word days. I’m really hoping I’ll write a lot more when I sit down, but that doesn’t always happen.
Thank you! You too! 😀
Very much agree that small progress is progress. We all work at our own pace! And you still made great progress. I hope I can do the same word-count-wise next month.
Best of luck!
Better than the months where I get nothing done, for sure! And it doesn’t even feel like I got a lot done, until I take a step back and look at the word count. You’re right, that’s not a bad word count!
Thanks, you too!
Dude, I get ill when my characters hide stuff from me, but it’s such a rush when I finally get through. 🙂
You’re right…there’s no point in beating ourselves up. Progress is progress. And you’re doing pretty well, I think. ^_^
Ha, isn’t that crazy? “How can you be hiding things from me? I made you!” But they want to act strange and I just have to roll with it.
Thanks!
Your lesson number 4 – something I really need to get to grips with. Days when I should be writing and struggle make me incredibly frustrated. Need to be more zen about that and give the Muses their space.
Hope March is an awesome writerly month!
I struggle to come to terms with it. I feel BAD when I don’t write as much as I should, and that’s not good for me as a writer!
Yours too!
Ooo. I love True Detective. What are these theories you speak of? People are trying to guess the end? 😀
I agree that 100 words a day is better than nothing. Whenever I get kinda stuck in a hard spot, I try to make sure I sit down for that 100-500 words. They stack up, and pretty soon there’s a day that gives you 1,000 or 1,500 or 3,000. Forward motion is key.
Hugs to you. Stay warm.
Cat
Yay, another True Detective fan! Yup, everyone’s trying to guess who the real killer is! I’ve read so many theories and still have no clue–most of the arguments are so compelling, I can’t decide!
Yup! Every day I write so little, it feels like I failed myself and them boom, at the end of the month, it all adds up!
You too! 😀