Tonight I'm going to aim to churn out 1,000 words. This isn't a way to make up for the last half-month -- although it would be very nice if I could -- but tonight what I really want is to feel like I'm making some progress again.

Before I go to bed I'll update on how much I wrote.

*UPDATE* I got distracted with a song I've been working on, so I'm phasing the challenge over to tomorrow.

Ah, the first of January. I guess it's sad, but I've never been one for new year's resolutions. Maybe that's because I've always had trouble achieving my goals. There's nothing quite like setting yourself a goal and then not achieving it. I know that too well.

But right now, I want to write. And that feels good after some weeks' hiatus from focused writing. Thankfully, I have already started the next scene, so it will hopefully be easier to continue.

I think the best thing I can do for my writing this year is to write every day.

A large number of words a day would be great, but what's the point if it makes me hesitant to write at all. It defeats the whole purpose.

Another possibility could be to write with the intention of finishing a scene instead of a certain number of words.

But regardless of all the possibilities as far as method, if I can write every day and keep my foward momentum, maybe soon enough I'll be nearing the end of this journey.

Carpe diem.

Right.

So let's just say I've got a busy life. Just say.

I didn't write 2,000 words.

But who cares?

I wrote a good 500,
and I think I can write another good 500 tomorrow.

I'm altering my challenge.

I shall write 500 words a day until I am up to date,
and then I shall write something every day until the end of the month.

If I can do that and get to 5,000 this month,
I should easily be able to reach 40,000 by the end of the year.

Or, otherwise be well set-up for any PerNoWriMo challenge I decide on.

Suffices to say, I am well off-track from reaching 5,000 words by the end of this month. After having written today, I am on but 1,557 this month. Truly shameful, but again, you can't expect much amidst the pressure of exams.

However, I do have the next four days off, and I shall make good use of this time.

Tomorrow, I am giving myself a new challenge. An implausable challenge considering my level of perseverance, yet very, very possible.

Rules
Upon waking up tomorrow (except for in accordance with the follwing set of rules) I shall not use:
- The internet
- Any electronic device, or
- Any instrument, whether digital or acoustic

Upon waking up tomorrow I shall use:
- Either a laptop, a computer or both
- Raymond E. Feist's Magician and
- Write or Die

Upon reaching 2,000 words, all rules above shall be terminated.

So there, that's my challenge. Reading will be what I use to get my mind moving whenever I'm not writing. When I stop reading, what else will I be able to do than write (and eat) with the above rules in place? It may be a slow day. But I have three afterwards. Hopefully I won't be too burnt out. After tomorrow, I will be pleased with myself if I can just keep writing that something each day.

I don't believe this will put me back on track for the 5,000 words unless I can keep writing consistently afterwards. However, currently being on 31,300 words (*grins*), it should put me well on my way to 40,000 words by the end of December and 2010.

I didn't reach 2,000 words today. I made an informed decision to stop at 1,024 words.

Regardless, that put my monthly word count up to a cozy 4,272.

I plan to write my 500 tomorrow to start off my month.

To productivity!

Yep.

This one's a no-breaking-allowed rule. 500 words every single day for the next "forever until I've finished the first draft". That's massive. Can you imagine? A 90,000 word novel every six months!

I'd been mulling the idea over in my head for a while, but it wasn't until this morning (about 3:00) that I spontaneously wrote out these plans for possible ways to tackle it.
____________________

The first one was very simple.

Holidays Plan
- No internet until 500 words.
- 500 words -> First thing in the morning.

The second, for when school was in, was relatively complex.

Extreme School-Time Plan

Night  [ 9:30pm: Mini-outline for morning.
before [ 10:00pm: Sleep.
- 6:40am: Wake up -> Load up laptop -> Coffee
- 6:50am: Write or Die, 300 words -> 5min break
- 7:25am: Write or Die, 200 words
- 7:45am: Prepare for school
- 4:00pm:
Editing morning's work
Homework
Leisure/Other

- 9:30pm: Mini-outline for morning.
- 10:00pm: Sleep.

Fridays and Saturdays are free-rein.

[I made a note reminding myself that I was thereby sacrificing "late TV shows".]

The alternative came to me a sleepless hour later.

Not-So-Extreme School-Time Plan [Note to self: Very easy to adapt to.]

- Home from school: NO INTERNET until 500 words done.
- 4:00pm: 300 words Write or Die -> 10min break
- 4:40pm: 200 words Write or Die
- 5:00pm onwards:
Homework
Editing
Chores
Rehearsals
Leisure
etc.

Weekends: NO INTERNET until 500 words done. Writing first thing before leisure.

Note to self: No sacrifice, plenty of leisure and homework time.
Note to self: 15,000 words per month = 90,000 words every 6 months.
____________________

So you can probably guess that, at this point, I've chosen the second option.

As far as the holidays go, last night I wrote 600 words. Today I plan to write 1,000. We'll see how this goes. If I can make a daily routine out of this...

...then I believe I will deserve at least three pats on the back.

I wonder how many of you noticed I posted a 2,500 word challenge the other day, which is now gone, deleted. That's because my failure was too much for me to bear. I have some interesting goals for August that would help me immensely with my life in general.

1. Reach 5,000 words for this month.

2. Write every day.

3. Make some effort to put my homework/writing/leisure schedule to actual use.

If I were to follow this diligently, it would sort out everything, from my late nights to my uncompleted homework, to my failure to reach the goals I set for myself.

It's quite sad, I think, all the disappointment I face when I find I'm not reaching my goals, or I have to tell two or three teachers a day that, no, I haven't done the homework.

On top of that it's a subconscious knock to the confidence I have in myself, and to my sense of freedom. At least if I did the homework my complaints about having so much would actually be warranted.

I finished writing tonight (Sunday) at about 10:30 with 2,110 words for the 48 hours since Friday night. That's right. Just an average weekend with school on both sides, and I did it. This is my biggest writing achievement ever.

I have semi-begun Chapter Five, having written the first paragraph, but need to finish Chapter Four before I continue with it. When Chapter Four is finished it will be somewhere just over 3,000 words.

I'm still working on getting Chapter Three onto CC, so please look forward to that.

It is currently 10:50pm on Saturday night. I have written just over 1,100 words since I began last night.

Since the challenge is called "Two Thousand in Two Days", and I was only able to start last night due to school, it is only fair that the challenge is extended to Sunday night. That's 48 hours since I began.

So I am fairly on track. Within the next 24 hours I will post on the outcome.

Thank you so much for your support.

Starting now and ending tomorrow night, I challenge myself to write 2,000 words. Whether I sleep or not is irrelevant. I will be taking many breaks throughout, splitting the challenge into sections so I don't go insane. Or should I say insaner than I already am?

Yes, I said I would come back regardless of the outcome, and I nearly ran away, but I am true to my word. Although I didn't reach my goal today, I did write 350 or so words. For tomorrow, I'm going to give myself some space, considering I did write a good few thousand in the past when I didn't have to. Tomorrow I'll aim for 900, and then allow myself to fall back into my 200+ routine.

This is why I try to stick to my 200 words; when I don't it leads to disappointment. The longer I put it off, the more it builds, until I just stop writing because I can't motivate myself to write so many words. But I know I can do 200.

I haven't written for almost a full week now, and I blame it on homework even though I've had plenty of time to do that and write. Yesterday I planned to write 1,000 words. I wrote zero.

Today I aim to write 1,200+ words. That's 200+ words for every day I missed this week. I am posting this to keep me accountable. Whether or not I reach my goal by the time I go to bed, I will let you know the result.

I actually wrote 1,000 words on my birthday. In fact, I wrote 1,033 words. What a great gift! (If I do say so myself.) I almost decided to give up on the challenge, but I pushed through.

I thought I would have trouble making chapter two the length I wanted, which was somewhere between 3,000 and 3,500 words (I was giving myself a reachable goal). Well... it's not quite finished and it's on 3,704 words already.

Shh, Eoin's sleeping. He just had a dream that Saera destroyed their village. He's about to wake up to a burning cart and... something else that I won't spoil, but you probably know it anyway.
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Word Count Stats:

- Tonight: 1,033 words.

- This month: 4,350 words.

- Total: 7,050 words.

I'm turning seventeen, and to put some extra icing on the birthday cake, I hereby challenge myself to write another 1,000 words, following the success of my Special Easter Challenge.

I have already written my words for today, so no staying up late. I should do at least part of the challenge in the morning. I will do some while watching my new Lord of the Rings Special Extended Edition Boxset. And I will definitely have Chapter Two done by the end, and will be a ways into Chapter Three.

I have successfully* written more than 1,000 words for Easter Sunday. My finished total for the day is 1,109 words, and I am the same number of words into Chapter Two. Eoin and Saera are at the Tarne gates, and the travelling carts are about to leave.

This month I have written in total 1,760 words. Nearly 2,000 already.

The novel's word count now sits on 4,450 words, but that count will change a bit soon as I have some revising to do.


*I probably would not have made the 1,000 before 12am if I hadn't had my friend to keep me on track, so some thanks go to him.

Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you enjoyed a day of indulgence.

I set myself a special Easter challenge to write 1,000 words on Aundes Aura today. I'll update you when my challenge is complete.