WELCOME TO ALL those plucky writers who are participating today!This is the place to post your check-ins.
If you develop a case of writer’s block—or if you need some extra ideas about what to write—you’ll find all those 10K Day links compiled here.
DON’T FORGET TO HAVE REGULAR BREAKS!
You’ll regret it later (when you get burnt out) if you don’t take regular breaks. Even if you’re on fire with your writing, take your scheduled breaks. Every two hours is recommended. Breaks are also for posting check-ins.
WHAT SHOULD YOU POST FOR YOUR CHECK-INS?
Comment moderation will be turned off for the day so your posts should appear right away.
Keep check-ins fairly brief:
1. You can mention your word count if you want to. If you’d rather not, please provide a general comment about your progress thus far.
2. You can also describe what you’re working on.
3. Feel free to mention how you’re feeling and how the day is going for you.
4. It’s always fun to hear what people are drinking, snacking on or listening to.
5. Check-ins only. Please DO NOT post your writing! (The comment section will become unwieldy if everyone tries to posts their stories.)
6. If you have any special revelations or remarkable experiences, please give the mini-version. All of you will be invited to write about your 10K Day on my blog after it’s over.
Don’t forget to log out of forums, Facebook, Twitter, your email, etc.
Go gettum, Tigers! – Milli
P.S. As a ritual before you start writing, check out this poem from Sharon Kane written especially for my blog: The Gate Keeper. It can be used as a prayer to get in the right frame of mind for your 10K Day—in loving cooperation with the gatekeeper of your imagination instead of in a power struggle :~)
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RULES & TIPS
10K Day: Rules of the Game
Recommended Preparations
Survival Tips, Productivity Tricks
GOT WRITER’S BLOCK? TRY THESE . . .
Use the Whiplash of Your Inner Critic to Make It Across the Drawbridge
Here's an example of doing the above but with a fictional character instead, by Patti Stafford (10K Day participant). Look for the second entry on this page; it's entitled writer's lament.
Four of Milli’s Fertile Material prompts
10 Tips for Using the Fertile Material Writing Prompts
New Writing Prompt: Sparkling Beasts & Glimmering Gods
Milli’s Zodiac Writing Prompts: Aries / Taurus / Gemini
Writing for Spiritual Growth
(Free e-course! When you sign up you’ll get the first lesson right away—but the first lesson contains an audio interview; either save it for later or listen in advance so it doesn't cut into your writing time.)
7 Fun Writing Challenges from Sunflower RanchMOTIVATIONAL ARTICLES
Writing Dialogue: Don’t Freak Yourself Out
How I Am Overcoming My Inner Critic and My Fear of Success by Lois Eighmy
A Writer Kissed by Inspiration (helpful for memoir writers)
10 Things to Celebrate About Being a Writer
Rocky Balboa’s Speech to Writers
104 comments:
Lordy! the sun isn't even up yet and here'sd me at the desk ready to kick off the FOW 10k funlenge (a brand new word for y'all).
G'day, I'm Al and as I live in the Southern hemisphere, my role here is to kick off proceedings, so! Welcome to the funlenge - it's gonna be.
It's 06.27 here in Bathurst, NSW and I guess you lot are at dinner and waiting for your fave prime time TV show. Enjoy! 'cos tomorrow, you'll be having fun putting words on paper - er, the screen.
So! I'm off on my journey. Sleep well and enjoy tomorrow.
Al
It's now 0632 and I'm on my coffee break - well, the first one.
My story and I've just roughly planned it is about of a group of Australian diggers who have been pulled in from the front line and are enjoying the life of WW1 London - with flashbacks to France.
We travel with them from Australia to Europe and share in the Gallipoli landing on April 25, 1915 and subesquently to France.Hey! just looked at the time, your end it's only afternoon.
With your permission - er, blessing I'll break between 11am-1pm to pull in the news for 92.3FM and I'll be back at 1.30.
Here's my last forty minutes worth.
As at 0944 - I've pecked at 1700 words.
Al in Australia is blazing the trail for the rest of us. Go, Al!
Best of Luck Al! You can do it. By the time we get up on this side of the lake you should be done! Woot!
Thanks, Patti
It is now 1519 Oz time and I've hit the magic - almost - 5025. Actually it's amazing how quick it mounts up given that I took some time off.
C'mon you night owls - it's the 18th over the pond. Any starters as yet. I'm heading for 6K. I'd like to be all done by 6 pm - 1800 our time. Now I'm cheating, I've quickly proofed my 5.6k - naughty! Please forgive.
Hey! only 4k to do. Methinks I have the embryo of a novel here.
Whew! Done! Done! Done! 10250 words of, at the moment, waffle - it's gonna be fun editing and proofing it. Now comes the getting it into order side.
I've decided to call the WIP (it is now) Salmagundi 1918.
Thanks, Milli, I'm now out of the closet.
The best of luck to you - it can be done - It becomes fun after the first 5000 - ain't discipline fun? Reminds me of my trainee journo/army days.
The Challenge Became A Funlenge
Go for it fellow scribes
aaaah! a sigh of achievement - the Resident Redhead is about to prepare a chicken casserole yo go with a welcome glass or two (only two) I'm on air tomorrow ( 9am Friday in Oz) www.2mce.org follow the prompts (external) and join me for a nostalgic look at hits of 50 years ago - FOW is going to get a plug.
US/Cdn Times should be: 4pm WST
5pm Mtn
6pm CST 7pm EST
Hopefully, I've allowed for daylight savings
Congrats, Al!!! That must feel awesome to achieve your goal! :)
Me, I'm gonna find it tough to shut off Twitter--so I'm not gonna :P Heheheh, well, I'm shutting off--but on my breaks I'm gonna announce my progress there as well!
All righty then, current time here is 5:42 a.m.--which means I'm 12 min. off my start time (HAD to have some coffee and check emails from publisher--but nothing pressing so I can close that for good now. She'll call if I'm needed ;) )
Good luck to everyone and I'll see y'all around 8 a.m. my time!
Warmly,
Jenny:)
I'm excited just to be in such creative company! It's 7:05 here in Ohio, and I'm kicking off at 7:15. I knew I couldn't get started til the hubby got out of the house! Going to post a note to my Twitter writing partner--we set goals every morning, get a cup of tea and my plot cards and head outside.
Lined up all the events of my plot last night on index cards so I could pick up a few cards, write, take 'em back and get more. THis is a new way of writing for me. Hoping the structure keeps me going. I've got pictures I'll post to my blog...tomorrow :)
I've worked in breaks about every 2 hours so I'll let ya know how it's going...unless I finish all 10K in the first two hours LOL!
Beth
Okay, here I go! :-D
It's 6:31 a.m. here and I'm revving to go. I wasn't going to post my progress to LiveJournal, but I've decided I will (thanks to Jenny's Twitter idea). I may post to my Musings blog, too. It won't take long and I can let my readers / followers know where I'm at throughout the day. :-)
As for what I'm writing, I've been working on a story about a 15 year old boy who gets into trouble and his abusive father takes a job in northern Maine, out in the country (he decides to move himself and his son every time his son gets into major trouble at school), to a town where mostly Mi'kmaq Indians reside. It's a story of Jason Corbet (the fifteen-year-old) coming to terms with who he is deep inside and finding acceptance and friendship with the local natives, learning to trust again and finding a place to belong.
I look forward to today's day long writing session!
Good luck to everyone and congrats to Al! :-D
I'm here deep in the heart of Texas, fuzzy dog at my feet and coffee mug at my elbow. It's a little after 7:00, and I'm starting about twenty minutes later than I'd hoped. But my brain's been working so that should count for something.
Susan
It's almost 7:20 am here (Central time, Missouri). My planned start time is 8:00. My dusty old fiction is on the desktop computer so I'll have to go to our POM (play/office/music room) and use the ole' desktop. I've been on this laptop for so long I'm not sure that keyboard will like me anymore. LOL. Being in there also means no email, twitter, etc. So on breaks I will be back at the lappy to post updates on Twitter, etc. and here.
I'm excited. For me, the numbers don't matter as much as the fact that I'm finally pulling out some fiction again. If I only write one paragraph--it WILL be an accomplishment.
Best of Luck to Everyone!
Congrats Al. You sure set the mark high for the rest of us. Good job! :)
CONGRATS, AL!! 10,250 words. Aussies rule!! And he was rewarded by a home-cooked meal afterwards. Ain't life grand?
Had a wicked night of insomnia so I slept in hoping I wouldn't be too bleary-eyed for the 10K Day. Plan to get started around 9 a.m. EST.
So great to see all the early birds on here eagerly diving in! You all make me proud.
Back for my 8 a.m. check in :)
I've written only 1950 this time around. I hadn't worked on my book for so long, I ended up reading back further than I intended to catch the thread (but I didn't edit!) again. Now it's going great and I've started on an exciting scene that should take me through the rest of what I have in my outline easily.
It's so cool to see everyone joining in! :) I look forward to reading your updates too!!
Warmly,
Jenny:)
It's my "official" start time and I'm taking a break. Don't worry, I've actually written 1k words already. Yay!
I opened my dusty stories, skimmed over them and changed my mind, so I started a new one.
This feels good. Hope everyone else is having fun! That's the main thing, have fun and reignite your passion.
Good luck fellow writers.
I'm here finally. Being out of town, moving my horses in on my lot all day yesterday and getting rid of my husband and stepson this morning, whew! Fortunately, because of Milli's Texas Hill Country Fear of Writing group, I happen to have several Mikey Dog stories that I have been wanting to compile into a book. All is quite now and here I go.
Yay, Marilyn is back in the saddle! So glad you could join us, peachebean.
I'm finding everyone's posts so inspirational. What a great team!
Hello all! Checking in a bit late as I've been avoiding the internet today. Writing-wise I seem to have several projects on the go at the moment and rapidly losing focus generally. Because of this, I thought I would let my writing take me on a journey for a change and use today to simply write stream of consciousness "seat of your pants" style. It's been fun so far and I have clocked up 4476 words in two sessions. So, a way to go yet but the day is far from over!
I hope everyone else is having a positive experience with this?
@ RabbitHole - That's how I'm writing today. I'm not used to staying planted in the seat for more than 30 minutes at a time. I am used to writing around 2k-3k words per day of non-fiction. But today my only word counts that matter are fiction. I may write 10k overall, but today is for fiction. I've already done a major accomplishment, so even if I don't write any more fiction today, I've met MY challenge with success. It feels AWESOME!
I'm a little over 1500 words in an hour. I'm very pleased with that. :)
Hi and welcome to "Down the Rabbit Hole" (great handle).
So glad you could make it. From the comments posted so far I would venture to say everyone is lovin' it. Al from Australia (who started yesterday our time) clocked 10,250 words.
OK, back to the writingstone (that's better than the grindstone :~)
Time for break #1. A little breakfast, a little weight lifting and an update :)
I'm at 2700+ at the moment, and I haven't even started working on the two scenes I want to work on for starters. Just finished up a scene I started Tues. It ended well, so that's a good spark!
This story is a contemporary with strong romantic elements (you can take the writer out of the romance genre, but not the romance out of the writer!). My heroine has just agreed to have her 13 year old niece spend the summer because her nephew is having heart surgery. Right now, it's one big happy family until the big, fat, family secret comes to light.
And I have yet to introduce the younger, roughly handsome, motorcycle-riding hero...
I'm finding much of my writing is straight dialogue. I have to force myself at times to go back and work in prose and narrative. That's OK with me. I "hear" stories more than I "see" them.
Onward and upward. Break at 12:30. Til then!
Only 655 words so far [I'm writing while at work - it's slow-going!!], but my muses are working with me and my 1-hr lunch break is in .... 45 minutes. WOOT! ~ Jimmy Hanson
Welcome, Jimmy! Goodonya for squeezing some writing time into your work day!
Jenny, Beth, Lois, Susan, Patti, Marilyn, Rabbit Hole--so excited to have you all here. Thanks for the thrilling reports!
Sheesh--The first time I posted this at the end of The Gatekeeper poem. I read it before I started writing and didn't bother to get back to this screen before I posted. Sorry, y'all--one-track mind and all that. Just ignore me.
I've been at this about two hours now and don't know how well I'm writing, but I guess that's just part of this particular process. I started out by typing a couple of pages I'd already written (I know that's probably against the rules but it's what I have to do to get started) and then I wrote 1,172 new words. Gotta be exact. The hardest part for me is not editing as I go along and not going back and checking against what I've already written. That and having to kill off a couple of characters.
Susan
I'm on my first break now. It's 9:31 a.m. and I've written 3,578 words. Go, me! :-D I ended up starting around 7:00 a.m. because I needed to eat breakfast first. So I wrote 3,578 words in about two and a half hours. Is that good? :-)
So, Jason has just met some boys...older boys who are high school drop outs...and he's going to be meeting them later. Who knows what kind of trouble he'll get into? :-/ But his new love interest, Maddy, knows all about these boys and she'll be warning him about this gang of boys Jason has befriended. Will he listen to her? ;-)
My current music is Air1 (you can listen online at air1.com if you like Christian rock). I find I usually need music going in the background to act as a barrier against distractions. It helps me get into the zone. :-)
Now that I'm on my break, I'm going to post my progress on LiveJournal and Blogger, fix my mom's breakfast and another hot tea for myself, then get back to work.
I hope everyone else is doing well!
Keep plugging away! :-D
Lois
Susan, so it was you! Hee hee. I was trying to guess who posted over there on The Gatekeeper. I was in the throes of copying over your post when I saw it appear. Good going on the 1,172 words!
I'm getting back to business now but have to share this with everybody. I just unwrapped my reward to myself--a Dove dark chocolate square. This is what the message said: "Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can." Today this means writing, not laundry! I hope the same for all of you.
Susan
Good morning everyone. I'm inspired by all the early birds here today. Sorry to say I'm not one of them. It's a quarter to 11:00am now.
I'm still perusing the articles and tips section. I will just try my best.
Good luck to everyone.
I hope you have a fabulous day.
Susan, Maybe we'll set tomorrow as the great edit day. LOL.
Other than some obvious typos (spelling) I haven't edited anything and I've only skim read it once. I'm just letting the words flow. I came to fix a snack (sugar free jello and cool whip) and had an idea, had to stop my jello attack and go put the words down. I haven't done that in a LONG time!
Glad everyone is having a blast!
Write On!
Maria here,checking in. I'm on my second break as I have to get up and move around every hour or so for my back. I started out at 7:30 but was quickly interrupted by a cat fight. We have a new cat we're trying to integrate into the household. She thinks she's the queen but the other 3 queens don't agree. So my progress is a bit on the slow side today. That being said, I have 888 words at present, which is actually pretty good for me.
My story is about a housewife struggling with reality vs fiction in her life. Living with her husband and 2 young children in the country, she feels extremely isolated and not in control of her children or her ability to write. There may be a mysterious backstory with her children but not sure about that yet.
Well, I'm going to get back to work after downing the last of my Dr. Pepper. Good luck to everyone!
Hey everyone! Great to see so many people here and all the wonderful progress everyone is making :)
Despite having to answer an emergency email (I know its supposed to be turned off, but I thought this might be coming in) I managed to pull in 3241 words this two hour period, bringing me to a grand total of 5191 for the day so far. Yay! :)
I'm also at a very cool part. Kaylee is being confronted by Pastor Jim, who just met her and thinks she's being called to serve God. Very conflicting moment because so far, the only calls she's been getting are on her psychic hotline from dead people.
Okay, back to work for me-I've got gargoyles to deal with in a few pages :)
Warmly,
Jenny:)
Welcome to Bella Vida and Maria! Really excited to have you both here.
Bella Vida, feel free to work to your own body rhythms. I'm not an early bird either :0)
BTW, is everyone remembering to drink some water at regular intervals? It really does help the ol' brain to keep going on a long day.
It's only 10:25 am and I'm checking in. Night owls don't rise early without some hooty protests. Please note I'm casting a jaundiced eye at your perky robins, chirping away about the joys of 7 am, eegods, what an ungodly hour! My fingers are limber, the food is beside me and I'm ready to leave my perch and see what stories lurk in the Great Below.
Good hunting to us all!
Saundra M
My report: started at 9 AM -- 1,296 words so far.
I originally planned to do this 10K Day alone, with the goal of writing tons of blog posts for my two (about to be three) blogs. This is so I'll be more freed up for other kinds of writing. So I can't report any cool breakthroughs re: fiction writing. But I'm happy anyway.
Have written one blog post, plus 10 new Fertile Material writing prompts for Chris Cade ("Writing for Spiritual Growth") plus half an article for Bev Walton-Porter's blog, Elemental Musing. I'm doing a series of writing prompts based on Bev's book, Sun Signs for Writers, and this month is Cancer.
OK, off to invent a prompt for the sign of the Crab :~)
I sort of reached a stand still on the story I was working on when it dawned on me there's a site that takes flash fiction and I've had my eye on it. So the logical thing to do was start my story for that site--since I've been putting it off.
Totals so far:
First story: 2254
Flash fiction: 568 - other than edits and revisions, it's finished. Hence the term, "flash fiction"? LOL.
Now I need to switch gears and work on some deadlines. I always take from 11:00-1:00 off from the computer, fix hubby's lunch, piddle on the house, etc. So I will be sticking to my regular schedule.
And I suppose I will count those non-fiction words towards my total at the end of the day. But as far as my personal challenge goes, I have already met that goal, broken that barrier and had a great time doing it. My challenge was not 10K words, but to actually write fiction today, to get something out no matter the word count. I will give a total at the end of the day. And I will be here to cheer everyone else on!
Hmmmm, do our check in's count? LOL. I could rack those up really quick. :)
Writing, writing, writing
Keep those words a spinnin',
Write On!
Type 'em out, spit 'em out, churn 'em out,
Write On!
(sing to the tune of Rawhide)
Patti
More distractions here, but I am writing. Like Susan said, it's super hard not wanting to edit and re-read and re-work as you go. And of course blowing my nose and whipping my eyes a lot through the memories of my precious Mikey Dog and his little brother Pat the Cat. I am a little behind word wise but I plan on burning it up in the next 2 hours.
YOU GUYS ARE ALL SO GREAT!!!
Welcome Saundra_M! Glad to hear you sounding chirpy and ready to go.
There are now 12 of us logging check-ins.
Patti thanks for the Rawhide writing theme song - LOL!
Bean, my heart goes out to you as you relive your glory days with Mikey Dog.
Okay, third break of the morning and taking time for lunch and to check on the cats. I'm at 1,494 words now. That's really good for me. The old eyes are getting tired, though. Any suggestions for this?
I am remembering to drink water and snack. Not sure what's for lunch though.
My main character, a young mother who is also a writer, is writing about a young mother who wants to be a writer to crawled out her study window to escape her clingy family and responsibility. At the moment, she's in the woods staring at her family inside, remembering how she got to this point. Not too catchy but hopefully with editing (later, of course) I hope this story will work into something I can submit somewhere. Eh, who knows?
Keep up the great work everybody!
Maria
Barb D. - Wonderful comments! Very inspiring! It's 11:30 a.m., and I'm just getting started. And our kitten, Dink, keeps climbing up here thinking he should participate, too. :-)
Thanks for all the motivation and sharing! :-)
I rose at 5am. By 5:30, I’d dressed, started a load of clothes in the washer, made breakfast and booted my computer. I’d poured steamy hot coffee in my mug, which shows a drawing of a woman holding a stack of books. The inner portion of the cup is glazed a bright green with one word printed on it – Knowledge. I thought it an appropriate text for this morning, 10KDay.
I am writing in between my preparations to leave in the morning for my 40th high school reunion. Laundry…packing…gardening but, most of all, writing.
I have my outline handy for my novel, Alone is Where We Begin. It’s a good day to ponder its direction, voice, plot, characterization and creation.
The first line’s the hardest! As of 11am Central Daylight Time, I've written 2200 words. Eye opening things are happening.
Mindy
Such a magical feeling to lose myself in my own little writing world and then come back here and read the funny/heart-warming comments posted by all these gutsy writers.
Welcome, Barb D. and Mindy! That makes 14 of us now (including Aussie Al who already finished and did 10,250 words).
Maria, for your tired eyes you might try lying down with a warm cloth across your eyes. If you have any chamomile tea bags (or one of those lavendar eye pillows), even better.
BTW, Maria, I've been jealous of your story idea as you've been describing it ("I wish I'd thought of that") and it sounds like something I wanna read when you're done. So I was surprised when you labeled part of it "Not too catchy." I think it sounds like an emotional journey!
Just reached 2,241 words! Yay me!
Due to work, my initial goal is probably going to be only 5K at first, and then depending on how well I reach that I'll go for 10K. Writing until the muses fall over on me!!
bwahahaha.....
Milli, thanks for the encouragement! I am my own worst enemy as far as what I think of it. The story is a blend of little parts of myself and friends of mine, with a LOT of fiction thrown in. :)
I will try lying down with the warm towel over the eyes. I read somewhere that we need to give our eyes a certain amount of completely dark time to recouperate, I just don't remember how much it is.
Whew. My back hurts. The words have been flying off my fingers and out of my brain. It's going great. I haven't even checked how many words but I haven't even looked at my Mikey Dog stories. They are all flooding back like crazy as if he were here helping. I have to go to the grocery store and I'm hungry. Milli, remember Super S? Not going there. I like HEB and it's not that much farther. Be back soon with a pillow for my back and ready to rock and roll.
Second check-in & I'm up to 5121. Just where I wanted to be at this point. During the summer, (I'm a teacher), Y&R is my mid-day treat. Today it was a reward :)
Just plugged in the iPod and netbook for recharging and will recharge myself with a bit of lunch & a walk (15 min) with the dog, then back at it shortly. This time, it'll be upstairs since my son invited a bunch of friends over for a pool party (luckily they're bringing their own food! I'd hate to have kids starving at my house because I still have 5000 words to write LOL).
You're all inspirations to me. Keep up the great work!
it's only 1030 on the wet coast of BC and I'm just getting started as I finally pushed my husband out the door. Packed up my laptop and heading to the local coffee shop to peck away. Sounds like everyone is doing great. Hopefully, I'll get caught up.
Cheers
Jackie
Dang, you people are burning it up. I'm checking in after lunch and going out to smell the rain. Since it hasn't rained here in about eight weeks, it was time well spent. The words are coming slow--I'm not even at 3000 yet. Or maybe I am. After all, I'm writer, not a mathematician. I am, however, closer to killing off the sweet old lady. And hubby is going away again for the afternoon, so maybe things will start stirring in my brain a bit faster.
Susan
12:44 - 2495 words. I've slowed down. I am at the library connected to their WiFi and I had to browse the stacks...partially to keep my mind alert and to keep the kinks out of my legs.
I AM back at it, though. I'm struggling a little but will push through.
~ Mindy
Time for 2nd break. Only reached 2,855 words, but after a night of insomnia I'm allowing myself to go at whatever pace works.
Right now feeling a big brain drain. Plus I'm still in my jammies. I might take a longer break, eat lunch, go for a walk in Mill Creek Park (always have to restrain myself from typing "Milli" Creek Park) and then have a shower/get dressed.
That's if I find the energy to do all that. Oh, yeah, finished the zodiac writing prompt and article for Elemental Musings and wrote four posts for my new (nothing-on-it-yet) blog, Milliver's Travels.
I'm at 7,550! *happy dance*
After my previous break, I started up again at 10:00 and wrote straight through 'til 12:30 with only really short breaks to make tea (I'm now back to my usual bottled water).
Jason has hung out with his new "friends" and has gotten high with them. That's very bad for a kid who's trying to figure out where he belongs and who he is. :-(
He's gone on a date with Maddy and it went well, but he's about to run into the gang again...and maybe get into some trouble which just may make his life spiral out of control. ;-)
I'm about to post my progress on Blogger and LiveJournal, then I'm getting back to work.
Sounds like everyone's having fun with this! Keep up the good work, y'all! :-D
Lois
Welcome, Jackie! deMented Mom) from BC. I was just writing about Canada for my new travel blog.
That makes us 16 now. What a great crowd!
BTW, with some of you coming up for third and fourth breaks, don't forget the free stretches e-book for your stiff backs and limbs. You'll find the link for it in the Survival Tips article (scroll up on this looooong post to the links area - it's in the first section).
Okay, lots happened--daughter came home from a sleepover. Pizza hut delivered. Hubby needed help putting together super-easy crock-pot food, and I took an hour break in there to have a half P'zone ;)
So, my total for the last 3hours is: 1255
Which brings my grand total to 6446.
At least I'm almost to the gargoyle scene I've been wanting to write. It's coming up next! :) :)
Warmly,
Jenny:)
I'm about to get back to it, but thought I'd mention that I made an icon especially for this event. I'm so into this! Can you tell? ;-) You can find it in my Blogger blog, in the most recent entry.
2,811! About to take a break and head to a Dr's appt, but hubby's picking up the kiddo so I can stop by the coffee shop for an hour after and plug away. I will do my absolute BEST to make this goal [the 10K, because the 5K looks in the definite works now]!! Even if I have to stay up until midnight! [that *is* allowed, right??]
~ Jimmy
Whew! This is fun. I've been restarting my novel about a boy who runs away from home and have been developing the scenes that lead him to the inescapable conclusion that flying the coup is his only hope. The inciting incident is looming. It's so much easier when I can't allow myself to agonize over how to present the material, develop the plot and sub plot, and make the words pretty.
I'm already over 2,000 words and it keeps spilling out. Bless the 10k originator and you, Milli for throwing out the hook!
Gotta move around before I grow chair roots and develop vining tenacles that wrap me into the computer and I get lost to the miggly world. (Miggly: what people call reality)
Saundra M
Way to go Lois! All that time spent writing since NaNoWriMo has certainly helped you in today's goal.
After an extended break (not of my planing), I'm just now getting back to my story. Deep breath...and heeerree we go!
Ok, back in the saddle. Glad that's over and that didn't really feel like a break but I did rest my brain.
Now, here's the dumb question. I am on Word and for the life of me I can't find a word count. Column, line, paragraph. So anyone have an average number of words per page? I feel really stupid. But I've been blazing out some pages. So I know I'm very productive and waiting for it to get harder. I got over the editing thing and really thinking of it more as pre-first draft.
Marilyn, to get your word count, highlight your block of text and then look in the menu at the top of the screen for Tools. When you click on Tools you'll see Word Count, usually second in the drop-down list. XOXO
OK, guys, I really cheated in the break. I *edited* a blog post and then uploaded it, taking the time to choose two images to go with.
In my own defense, one of my big goals today was to write a bunch of posts for my brand new blog, Milliver's Travels. I've got four so far . . . but I couldn't resist christening the blog by posting the first one.
Here it is for anyone who has a five minutes for some light reading:
Who's Milliver?
I was really, really tired earlier (night of insomnia) but now I feel revived!
I took a longer break than I had planned. I won't reach the 10K, but like I've mentioned it's not so much about the numbers for me. With that said, I've churned out 3426 words--ALL fiction. Which is 3422 words more than I thought I'd get out. LOL I expected to start with, "Once Upon a time", and that be the end of it. But I've got 2 flash fiction and another -something--it's more like a self talk but it does have a story line.
The main thing is I'm having fun and accomplishing something. My total writing time has only been roughly 3 hours, so 3400+ words is Awesome to me.
And I just looked at my portfolio on writing.com, so I should mention that it's been 3 years since I've written ANY fiction at all. So, I'm just extremely pleased.
This has been a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. If this had been a real emergency you'd be in a panic--but at least you'd have writing material. LOL
We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
Wow - everyone seems to be having such a great time - even when plagued with distractions we're all still getting those words out!
I've had another break too as I had to do school runs and then cook supper etc (I know we're supposed to get someone else to do these chores at such a time but I'm not very good at asking for "seemingly" no reason. Hub wouldn't understand so I just got on with it). Anyway... I'm now up to 6328. On a normal day I would have been happy with around 2000 - or even 1000 but this is not a normal day. So I'm going to give it one last blast and see where it gets me lol! Keep going everyone - you can do it!
Milli, I feel like such a dunce. Holly Cow! I've written 6,847!!! Wooohooo!. I don't feel so guilty for going to the store and wasting what I thought was too much time. I think I will take a little quick meditation break for about 30 minutes. Maybe I'll fall asleep.
3700 wqrds. And, more than that, I am getting a grip on this story. it's not well written but I am getting a sense of what I need to do to make it good.
BTW, Milli. Carolyn Howard-Johnson said for me to tell you hello.
~ Mindy
Hi! I have 3,091 words in 2 1/2 hours. Not bad for a start, I guess. :-)
Hope everyone else is having fun! :-):-):-)
Okay, I've seen an inquiry to the place that accepts flash fiction. Another major step. Plus added about 100 more words to a guest blog post I've been working on.
@Down the Rabbit Hole - I've actually been more productive word wise today AND still managed to get my daily home chores done too. It's almost time to start supper. I didn't make it to the store, but surely I can throw something together and still get more writing done.
Having a Blast!
You all Rock! Keep up the good work!
Hmm...our better or other halfs, however you wish to put it, might wonder why it is we can get so much done in one day when we don't normally. I think we should tell them we'll crash and burn in a little while, so don't disturb us then? :D
I've now spent a total of 4 hours on my story and have 1,986 words to show for it. Actually, this is the best I've done ever, with the most at @1,500 for a (coughing) school paper due the next day. Hi, my name is Maria and I'm a procrastinator!
Okay, this time it's really (almost) not my fault :) I only wrote 1887 words. This time, I kept track though, starting a half hour into this last two hour block because it was getting crazy:
1:30—Fight over soda solved
1:43—Solved missing email from Molly to Jimmy and Faye
2:00—Took call from Molly’s friend (where’s hubby?)
2:08—share with Lori how filling Lunch was
2:16—UPS Delivery—Eddie Asks if Chicken Smells Good
2:24—Repeated request for AC turns into giggle fest and finally hubby turns it on
2:26—Rattling and funky smell mean new filter—which hubby doesn’t smell or hear
2:27—Hubby says, “I’ve got another idea.” Uh-oh.
2:28—Good idea hubby—Febreeze works!
2:31—Apparently requests for AC don’t include closing the windows and turning off the fans that are blowing hot air into the house.
2:34—Try to kill myself with the fan cord as I move it to a ‘cooler’ position
2:36—Rescue Molly who has sandwiched herself between the couch and wall—and kicked her brother in the eye as he tried to pull her out.
2:53—Helped Molly get set up with her watercolor painting at the kitchen table
3:02—Eddie’s carefully balanced fan falls and I hurry to pick it up—where’s hubby?
So my total as of right now is: 8333
Okay, off to try and work for another two hours--I think I've had more of a two hour break this time around, all the hopping up and down I've done! :)
Warmly,
Jenny:)
I did it!!!!! :-D I'm at 11,702 words currently, but I plan on reaching 15,000 by the time I stop! :-)
In about an hour and a half, I've written 4,147 words. Woohoo! *happy dance*
Jason hung out with his friends, getting drunk and high, and then they went and stole cigarettes from a convenience store. They were discovered and Jason...ONLY Jason...was caught. His dad was called to pick him up. When they got home, his dad started beating him up, but he fought back. His dad grabbed his hunting rifle and shot at him and poor Jason was shot in the side pretty bad. Now his so-called "friends" want nothing more to do with him! Maddy's mother shut him out and won't help him. He's kind of wandered around, weakly, and found himself at the lake where Zane and Matheu have found him. They've taken him to Zane's house and he's being cared for. He's now unconscious, thankfully!
Next up: Jason and Zane have a good long heart to heart talk where Jason tells him everything that's been going on with him.
By the way, thanks Maria! :-D (That WAS you, wasn't it?) ;-)
Congrats to everyone for putting in the effort, whatever your word counts! You're all winners in my book!
And I'm not done yet. I'll be done when I reach 15,000! :-D
Catastrophe has struck my house and I have to stop. A friend needs a shoulder to cry on, and it looks as if I'm it. Have to leave in ten minutes, and I'm still in my pajamas and my hair's not combed. Pitiful word count for today--4,444 words--but better than I've done in a long time. Keep working everybody, I'll check in tomorrow and feel properly ashamed of myself.
Sorry to hear about that, Maria. You know, you can do this any day you want. It doesn't just have to be today. I'd be willing to do it with you, if you'd like. :-)
Lois
Maria, you did great! And I love the symmetry of your word count: 4,444.
I plan to do a 10K Day twice a month from now on. It doesn't have to be a huge event like this one every time--but now that my blog is set up with the how-to articles, I'll announce each 10K date in a blog post and anyone who wants to can join me.
Milli,
I just read your comment over on my Musings blog. Just wanted to let you know I've made another icon and it'll be up in an hour and a half or so...when I reach 15,000 words. ;-)
Good luck, everyone! Keep plodding (plotting?) away! :-D
So far I'm up to 8030 and very tempted to call it a night now. It's far more than I would normally do in a day and it's been useful too.
Well done to everyone who has made it past the 10K and to anyone who hasn't yet, don't despair; you've already done something pretty awesome and tomorrow (or any other day) is another day. :)
4000 words --
I am sinning. There was something I needed to know for my story and, with a perfectly good 80,000-square-foot library around me, I did a little research.
I can't believe how into this story I am getting. I think this is the beginning of a consistent personal writing practice.
I should be able to speed up now.
~ Mindy
I know I'm not due to chime in for another hour yet--but I decided to take an hour and go for a walk. I needed the extra time today as I was a naughty girl and went to be at 11pm. :)
But I wanted to just say that I am so very, very thrilled to read everyone's progress. I think anything *more* than you would normally write, anything *new* that you learned about yourself, anything you *discovered* about your project(s) that you hadn't before--because you gave yourself persmission to be a writer today--is AWESOME!
That's what this is all about--not word counts--but challenging yourself to fulfill your potential, whatever that may be. If it's being slower at word count, but finding the depths you can reach as a creative writer, then that's what it's for. If it's knowing that you can push yourself to get it on the page, than that's what it's for.
I'm just bursting at the seams right now--so proud of everyone!
Warmly,
Jenny:)
Exactly what I needed to hear, Jenny :~)
Me being the organizer, and having broken the 10K barrier before, I naturally expected to have a productive day today. But I had such a bad night of insomnia last night, I've been struggling all day to keep my brain awake and my word count is pretty low.
But I am excited about all the blog posts and writing prompts I've written today. And I feel serene, so that's a really nice bonus.
Thanks, Milli, for admiring my 4444 word count, but this particular "anonymous" is Susan, your old Chicki's friend, not Maria, who, I'm sure, is a very wonderful person, too. Good news--the friend didn't need a shoulder, just an insurance agent. So I'm good to go for another hour or so and then I have to hang it up for good (for today). Thanks. This was great. I'll let everybody know my final word count when I pry my cold, feel-like-dead fingers off the keyboard.
Susan
Hi, Susan! I apologize for mixing you up with Maria, who is also posting as Anonymous (sorry, Maria!). I'm glad your friend found someone else to help her so you could continue, at least for another hour.
I'm so tired from my night of insomnia I keep threatening to quit. But I'm enjoying it, so I guess I'll keep going until I can no longer function or write coherently ;~D
Hey all, I just came to a natural stopping place in my story and low and behold, I am a proud writer now at 10,174. How about them apples. I think I'll bag it. Last night I made my husband bring something home for dinner and I feel I own him a home cooked meal since we have been out of town all week. I need to feed the dogs and the horses and then it will be time to start dinner.
Milli, thanks so much for being such an inspiration and such a great idea. I never dreamed I would write anything any way near 10k words. I feel proud and I feel I have really got a good start on the beginning of my Mikey Dog book.
Susan Maria, thanks for doing this with me. It really helped to have a local Fearer and we actually kept in touch with separate emails. I will be joining you Milli for the next ones you do and together, with all of you maybe I can actually get a book done.
Cheers to you all it has been so much fun being in touch all around the world! It is still mind boggling. Milli, go to bed.
4,000+!!
Being lazy and not checking the word-count exactly, since I'm adding to a fic I'd already been working on and dropped months ago. =ppp
But I'm very proud and still at it! Even if I stopped now I can proudly say - as my best friend does - "Well, that's 4K more than you'd have written if you hadn't done it, right?"
hehehehe
Oh, and a huge CONGRATS to everyone who's already made the 10K mark!! ^__^
My brain is somewhat mushy at the moment, so individual congrats are being lumped into one big, fat congrats to anyone who made the 10K and everyone who tried.
Yes, the brain is mushy but the words are still coming if I concentrate. It's almost 6pm here and I have 7420 words to show for my day at the laptop. I will make 10K, but I may need to do it in 1K increments. Like jogging a marathon and I'm at about the 23 mile mark (not that I've ever been in a marathon or ever will be LOL)
I have some funny stories from the course of the day to blog about & hope to get those on my blog in the next day or two. I'll be back at least once more tonight to make the official announcement of 10K.
Til then, happy writing everyone :)
Beth
Like Wow! You guys are the greatest - Hey, Mills, you must be so happy that the response to your bid to get a 10k day funlenge was so good.
It's 0802 her in Oz, Friday morning and I guess y'all are still tapping away and - yes, singing the Writehide song. You inspired me to: Get along little Dogie
Get along little keyboard
Get along
Put the letters in the words where they belong.
Just try not to edit
and you can get the credit
When the end of your ten K comes along.
I'm off to labor now, my show today is 1959 (www.2mce.org)
Write on, folks.
Write on.
Hey! break for dinner.
I can't put off walking out the door one more minute. I don't have much of a word count compared to the rest of you--AND I AM SO PROUD OF MY FRIEND, MARILYN, WITH HER 10K+--but I'm 4,878 words closer to the end than I was this time yesterday. I've been wrestling with the trauma of killing off my sweet old lady for the last several months. She's still not dead, well, she is, but nobody realizes it yet, but it took the better part of the last hour just to get to that point. Milli, thanks again. I promise to be a better email correspondent although that might have to wait until this wedding is over. This has been fun and challenging,and since I didn't really anticipate 10,000 words anyway, I'm happy with what I accomplished. Now I have a sore neck and if I don't leave soon, I'm going to be late for my dinner. Love to all.
Susan
I had another nice surprise, I got to chat with a friend online that I haven't talked to in awhile--so my word count is still the same, but I did send a query out and may be able to write some more this evening.
It's been an Awesome Day!
Congrats to everyone who's having FUN! Like it was said earlier, it's not the count---it's the FUN and accomplishment of celebrating being a writer. So if you've had fun, you deserve adoration.
I'll check in again later!
Write On!
Hi Susan, this is Maria. I agree with you, we may not have reached the 10K goal but we are closer than yesterday. I believe I am done for the day at just under 3,000 words. I have to go soon to 'supervise' my guys out in the yard and garden or else chaos may ensue. (Hey wait a minute, I haven't counted my postings. Hmmm, I wonder how many words this makes?)
Anyway, Milli, I'll be keeping an eye on the blog to see when your next 10K day will be. Thanks for the opportunity to get myself in gear and back into writing seriously.
Lois, congratulations for reaching your goal and then some. Also, thanks for the vote of encouragement. Stacey from the writing group at SweetBay also would like to try this, so maybe in between we can talk some of the others into trying it out as well.
To everyone else, it's been a fun day and I look forward to meeting up here again!
5000 words.
I didn't make the full count but this is the most words I have written at one time in years. Although I am stopping to get ready for my trip tomorrow, I am NOT stopping work on my story. My computer is going with me.
Thank you, Milli, SO MUCH for engaging my brain and motivating me to keep my kester in the chair and write. I don't have a single excuse for not continuing now.
~ Mindy
I reached my personal goal and surpassed it with a grand total of 15,410 words for today. Wow! I never, EVER thought I could write so many words in one day! I guess my muse is going strong and I type faster than I think! :-D
Well, in this section, Jason told Zane all about what's been going on in his life since his mother died five years earlier. He's told him about the abuse from his dad and the moving around and such. He told him why his father shot him, too...including the fact that he was drinking and smoking pot with his former "friends." Zane's father has offered to let him stay with them for a while, until they can find some place more permanent for him.
It's Christmas afternoon right now in my story and Jason got to spend some time with Maddy, thanks to Zane calling her mother and talking her into letting Maddy visit for a while. :-)
I don't know if I'll do any writing tomorrow, but if I do, it'll just be a little bit (boy, are my wrists sore!). It was fun and I would LOVE to do this again! :-D
Congrats to everyone who reached the 10K mark. To those who haven't, just have fun and keep pushing forward. If you reach 10K, great. If you don't, you still have the satisfaction of trying and of writing words that never would have been written if you hadn't participated. :-)
Hey, Maria! Glad you came and participated. It was fun to have someone I've met IRL join in. :-) Congrats on the almost 3,000 words you wrote today! It's cool that Stacy wants to participate, too. :-D It would definitely be cool if we could get the rest of the Yetis in on it.
I wish I could keep up with responding to everyone's fabulous news. I extend my most sincere congrats to everyone who has broken the 10K barrier!
I believe the best part about doing that is the way it shows you what you're capable. But I hear that same feeling come from others with lesser word counts. So the feeling is first (parody of a line from an ee cummings poem) and then the details of the achievement.
After a shower and dinner cooked by hubby plus a small glass of red wine, I've finally broken the 5K mark. Boo for insomnia, hooray for persistence and great writing companions!
That's awesome, Milli! :-D
And having the hubby cook dinner is great! I think my guys would starve if they had to cook for themselves! :-P
And on that note, I'm outta here to shower and fix dinner. I won't be online again until tomorrow morning, so I want to say an early congrats to everyone who hasn't reached 10K yet (or their own personal goals)! :-D
5,837 words and Milli I'm right there with you! I'm still going to try to stay up as long as I can tonight just plugging away. Doubting I can make the 10K goal, but still astounded at how well I've done so far.
Thanks go to you Milli and all who posted - reading your updates were pleasant and uplifting, spurring me on even when things slowed down. ^_^
~ Jimmy
Go, Jimmy! 5,837 words is amazing for a writer who had to also work her day job!
I'm about to take my fifth break but I'm on a second wind now so intend to keep going. It looks like I might be able to knock over almost everything I included on my list of writing goals today. I've invented 11 new writing prompts and written 13 blog posts (most of them for my new travel writing blog so I'm very excited about that).
*Waving* at everyone who's still with us this evening.
Hey everyone,
We had a rough night here, but I finally reached my goal just now: 10179 words. Yay!
I only got 1846 words after the last time I checked in, but it's taken me this long to get through it. I'm proud that I did and looking forward to working on my book even more.
Kaylee rescued the "special" girl from an evil grandmother and stood up to the guards, getting beaten and bloody for her efforts. There's worse ahead, including MORE gargoyles, which is really cool :)
Logging off now, to watch The International and process contest entries for WRWA.
Take care everyone, congrats on your successes, and thank you Millikins, for as usual, you have been a wonderful hostess :)
Hugs!
Jenny:)
You'll never believe it...I finally made it! 10,642. Fiction up through 7,770 then nonfiction (blog post) to make up the difference.
Milli--fab idea. You've given me a story to mold and shape!
Everyone...thanks ever so much for coming along for the journey. Sorry this post is so brief--you can read all about my progress at my blog, so I won't repeat myself (I feel like I am!): The Day of 10,000 words
http://tinyurl.com/my5o2k
Keep the faith and keep writing. Stop by my blog and tell me how you did. I'd love to hear all about it :)
Happy writing,
Beth
I thought I was through for the day but sat back down in front of my computer as supper. My story was still open and I just couldn't close it. So now, I have broken the 3K barrier and have a whopping 3,393 words. I think the only time I've written that much in several day's time is at finals when I had 3 papers due the same week.
In my story, the frustrated young mother who wanted to write began a story about another frustrated young mother of two who just climbed out her study window one evening to get away from the stress of her life. The story lady goes on a sort of walkabout through the surrounding coutntryside only to end up in a small meadow several miles away. Since it's so late, she lays down to nap. At this point, the original writer lady wakes up, you guessed it, in a meadow at early morning. She has no idea how she got there or even where there is but eventually finds her way back home. When she gets there, she discovers the whole neighborhood and police are getting ready to look for her. Only she can't figure out what all the fuss is about. Her husband scoots her into the house as the neighbors whisper their best guesses as to why she was gone all night to each other...
The first rough draft is nearly finished (maybe around 4K). Obviously, there are still issues to work out for my main character. But if I can get to that point, it will be the first complete short story I've written. Maybe there's hope for me yet!
Thanks all and good night!
WOWOWOW!! Milli, you and these terrific writers are so impressive!!! What devotion and outstanding work habits!!! Everyone, I am in such awe of you all!! Keep up the great work!! Best wishes to you all for every success with what you've done today!! Congratulations all!! :D
Congratulations to everyone! We all did a smashing good job!
I only got about 3500 words in today, but the number wasn't my goal. My goal was to spend a whole (working) day on fiction, and I did.
Tomorrow is back to deadlines and articles, but now I know I can put in time for fiction and the world won't end. LOL.
Hope everyone had a fabulous day! Yes, we should do this once a month! Maybe the first Thursday of each month so we'd all know ahead of time and could plan. Any thoughts?
I'm calling it a night. Sweet Dreams All, or Good Morning/Afternoon depending on your location.
Had a blast!
Patti, I echo the sentiments. I did what I set out to do in terms of my writing goals. Only wrote 6,319 words but that's OK. It WAS a fabulous day and the camaraderie was incredible.
Jimmy, not sure if you're still out there writing your little heart out. If so, I hate to desert you. But know that I'll be thinking of you as I (hopefully) fall asleep.
G'night!
Once a month sounds great to me. Then we'd have the rest of the month to edit. I need a push to get going! :)
Maria
Once a month sounds great to me, too! I'd participate as often as possible. :-)
Congrats to everyone who tried, whether you reached 10K or not. You put in the effort, which is a lot more than most people would do!
At the risk of plagiarising our Milli: As well. I extend my most sincere congrats to everyone who has broken the 10K barrier! and especiaslly those who took the plunge whether or not you reached 10k - every word is a winner.
As we say in Oz: "Bewdy. Youse mob are fair dinkum writers (add 'eh!' if you're a Queenslander ...or Canayjun)
See y'all next month.
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Thanks for commenting on my blog! ~ Milli