Writing Updates: April 2008

May already? I feel like I just posted one of these. Sorry for the lack of other content around here, but I’ve been pretty much spending any and all time I carved out to write on the novel. How did I do on the “write every day” front? Well, I missed two days in April: my eldest daughter’s birthday, and my wife’s birthday. I’m happy to excuse myself in those cases ((thereby avoiding the feeling I let myself down, which can derail things if I let it.)).

I cranked out 12,926 words, making April an improvement on last month. While I did miss two days I was more consistent in my output I’m pretty sure this comes down to having a daily goal of 550 words, which I didn’t always make, but it seemed to work better than “some words”. Read on for the breakdown

WIP Novel

[progpress title=”First Draft” goal=”98000″ current=”86446″ previous=”74521″ label=”words”]

I added 11,925 words to the novel, but if anyone is paying close attention you’ll notice that the goal number shot from 90,000 to 98,000 words. This is a result of the restructuring I did last month ((Yes I know I said I didn’t think it would change the total word count on the project. I was wrong.)). I’m happy with the progress, which exceeds my total words for last month, but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be done by May 4th.

Future Plans

The first draft of the novel should be finished before the end of the month. I’ve got a lot of things rolling around on the edge of my mind as to next steps, but for now I’m actively pushing them away so they can’t distract me from finishing up. I’ve got a few things I’d like to post about here that are somewhat related, so hopefully I’ll manage to squeeze those in.

How about you?

Any other writers who read this and post regular status updates?. Last week the ever fascinating duo of Chris Miller and Kris Johnson posted about meeting up daily to write ((They aren’t writing together on the same project, but are physically in the same location.)). I hope the experiment continues, as it provides a unique insight into the usually solitary act of writing. Anyone else want to share? Leave a comment.