Talking Shop: Eric's Writing Challenge Update 5

I just realized that I forgot to do my weekly update yesterday. 

So, here is where things stand with the writing challenge. To date, I've written approximately 27,900 words. That puts me around 32% of the way toward the ultimate goal of 87,500. I've written approximately 7300 words since the last update. Broken down across 8 days, that works out to just over 900 words a day. 

Now for Rinn's Run:

Total words: 36,200 words

Chapters completed: 21

Percentage Complete (theoretical): 36%

While I worked in days off as part of the model for this writing challenge, I really do find it works best if I write every day. A novel, especially one that you're writing organically that way I'm writing this one, develops a kind of momentum and life of its own. Any time I take a day off, I lose some of that momentum. Sometimes, I get it right back when I start writing again. Sometimes, it takes a day or two of writing to reclaim that momentum. I don't like losing momentum, so I've pretty much taken to writing daily. Like most writing advice, your mileage may vary. 

Writing every day is what's working for me. It may not work for you. You may discover that writing 700 words a day, five days a week, is what works for you. For my money, though, I wouldn't recommend taking off more than two days in a row or even two days in a week. The more time you spend away from your novel in progress, the more likely it is that you'll start losing the connective threads of the narrative.

Categories: talking shop, writing advice, Writing Challenge