Word Count Fiesta--February (a monthly state-of-the-writing address)
Thanks to mini_nanowrimo, I realized that I write better, more regularly, and with more accountability if I write every day and record my word count. So far, the plan is working, and this is my second monthly update...
Well, February was a short month, but also not as productive as I would have liked. However, I still managed to write at least 250 words each day. The lack of productivity was partially due to writer's block, partially due to mental exhaustion from an enormous writing project at work seriously kicking my ass, and partly because I joined eliteofthefleet, which is an awesome, competetive, participatory Star Trek community on LJ. (I spent a lot of free time trying to make "art" for various comm challenges... did I mention I have no talent in graphic arts whatsoever?)
Anyway, there is good news. My entry for the 2010 spn_j2_bigbang is making good progress. As of today (which is taking into account some March writing) I have written 17,885 words for this fic. It's fabulous that I'm almost at the minimum word count this early in the game, but not so great since this fic in final draft form is likely to end up in the 75 to 125K range. But, deadlines are my friends, so I am rather impressed I've had the discipline to get this much written without a deadline breathing down my neck. I also made significant progress on my 2009 BigBang sequel and should have both Dean-centric hurt/comfort fics for the challenge at hoodie_time done by the March 14 deadline.
I've finally tallied up the February word counts and run a nice little statistical analysis. I wish my daily average was higher, but at least I got SOMETHING written! So, without further ado here it are my stats along with a break down of words by fic (which should give you a preview of stories I've got in the works) and some random stats probably only I care about:
February 2010 Total: 27,536
Total by Story:
The Fulcrum of the Force*: 17,480
BigBang 2010**: 5,650
Fic #2 for Dean-centric hurt/comfort challenge***: 2,548
Unprepared****: 1169
Elite of the Fleet Writing Challenge #2*****: 438
Elite of the Fleet Random Contest #2 Writing*****: 250
Mean Words Per Day: 983
Range (low to high): 308 (February 4) to 4314 (February 8)
Median Daily Word Count: 823 [Mean of 787 (February 18) and 859 (February 26)]
Number of Days Under 500: 7 (25.00%)
Number of Days Over 1000: 12 (42.86%)
* Sequel to my 2009 fic for the spn_j2_bigbang " Hunters of the Dark Side." I have about 72,000 words total written for it so far.
** My still as-of-yet untitled entry for the 2010 spn_j2_bigbang Challenge.
*** One of my still as-of-yet untitled entries for the Dean-centric hurt/comfort challenge on hoodie_time. I missed the original deadline of February 14, 2010, but will definitely have both stories completed by the new March 14, 2010, deadline.
**** A Star Trek fic written for a writing challenge on eliteofthefleet. The scoring and grading is done on that challenge, so I have posted the fic here on my journal. (Note: the fic has been edited from its original length of 1168 words to 999 words to comply with the challenge requirements.)
***** Both of these were writing challenges on eliteofthefleet, but they're short and very challenge-specific (and rather cracky), and not my best work, so they aren't getting posted on my LJ. I'm counting them in my word count because they were actual fic and not meta or backstory/outlining/world building (which I don't count).
Well, February was a short month, but also not as productive as I would have liked. However, I still managed to write at least 250 words each day. The lack of productivity was partially due to writer's block, partially due to mental exhaustion from an enormous writing project at work seriously kicking my ass, and partly because I joined eliteofthefleet, which is an awesome, competetive, participatory Star Trek community on LJ. (I spent a lot of free time trying to make "art" for various comm challenges... did I mention I have no talent in graphic arts whatsoever?)
Anyway, there is good news. My entry for the 2010 spn_j2_bigbang is making good progress. As of today (which is taking into account some March writing) I have written 17,885 words for this fic. It's fabulous that I'm almost at the minimum word count this early in the game, but not so great since this fic in final draft form is likely to end up in the 75 to 125K range. But, deadlines are my friends, so I am rather impressed I've had the discipline to get this much written without a deadline breathing down my neck. I also made significant progress on my 2009 BigBang sequel and should have both Dean-centric hurt/comfort fics for the challenge at hoodie_time done by the March 14 deadline.
I've finally tallied up the February word counts and run a nice little statistical analysis. I wish my daily average was higher, but at least I got SOMETHING written! So, without further ado here it are my stats along with a break down of words by fic (which should give you a preview of stories I've got in the works) and some random stats probably only I care about:
February 2010 Total: 27,536
Total by Story:
The Fulcrum of the Force*: 17,480
BigBang 2010**: 5,650
Fic #2 for Dean-centric hurt/comfort challenge***: 2,548
Unprepared****: 1169
Elite of the Fleet Writing Challenge #2*****: 438
Elite of the Fleet Random Contest #2 Writing*****: 250
Mean Words Per Day: 983
Range (low to high): 308 (February 4) to 4314 (February 8)
Median Daily Word Count: 823 [Mean of 787 (February 18) and 859 (February 26)]
Number of Days Under 500: 7 (25.00%)
Number of Days Over 1000: 12 (42.86%)
* Sequel to my 2009 fic for the spn_j2_bigbang " Hunters of the Dark Side." I have about 72,000 words total written for it so far.
** My still as-of-yet untitled entry for the 2010 spn_j2_bigbang Challenge.
*** One of my still as-of-yet untitled entries for the Dean-centric hurt/comfort challenge on hoodie_time. I missed the original deadline of February 14, 2010, but will definitely have both stories completed by the new March 14, 2010, deadline.
**** A Star Trek fic written for a writing challenge on eliteofthefleet. The scoring and grading is done on that challenge, so I have posted the fic here on my journal. (Note: the fic has been edited from its original length of 1168 words to 999 words to comply with the challenge requirements.)
***** Both of these were writing challenges on eliteofthefleet, but they're short and very challenge-specific (and rather cracky), and not my best work, so they aren't getting posted on my LJ. I'm counting them in my word count because they were actual fic and not meta or backstory/outlining/world building (which I don't count).