Stephanie Gunn

Thought and Memory

New words: 2,161

Total words: 82,942

Listening/watching: Doctor Who soundtrack

Total words for the year: 255,082

Back to writing after a two week holiday. I was both looking forward to and dreading getting back to it. Worried that the words wouldn’t come, that it would all suddenly seem like utter crap.

I needn’t have worried. I had some stuff left in first draft from before the holiday, and set down to work on that. With a few hiccups, the words flowed. And they seemed good.

*sigh of relief*

Now I keep on moving to the end of this draft, which shouldn’t be too far away. And then I set this aside for a while. I suspect that it will need another full draft before I’m ready to have it read by anyone. This is becoming the most-drafted thing I’ve ever written, which I hope isn’t a starting trend. I had a few brainwaves while on holiday about what I need to change. One of which is something that I’ve already changed – I think it needs to be changed back. Sigh. Such is the writing life.

Thought and Memory

New words: 2,080

Total words: 82,861

Listening/watching: Tori Amos

Total words for the year: 252,921

Draft. It’s just a draft, and I can go back and fix it later. Or so I have to keep on telling myself. Yeah, day of kind of crappy words. I’m getting a head cold, so that’s my excuse.

Thought and Memory

New words: 2,132

Total words: 80,781

Listening/watching: Tori Amos

Total words for the year: 250,841

Two hundred and fifty thousand words for the year so far. That kind of freaks me out, even as I cringe in shame a bit at seeing just how many useful words I’ve ended up with. That’s a lot of drafting, folks.

Not a lot of actual forward motion today, since most of the words were rewriting yesterday’s stuff. And doing a bit of plotting as well, mainly in the form of things that I need to go back and put in.

I have a stack of review work to catch up on (as always), so I need to spend some time on them as well today. So, despite the fact that I want to keep pushing on with the novel, I need to spend some neurons elsewhere.

Thought and Memory

New words: 2,263

Total words: 80,201

Listening/watching: Nothing

Total words for the year: 248,709

…and we’re over the 80k mark. You can all cheer now

It’s been raining on and off all day, though I did manage to get out for a walk this morning. Unfortunately, it was because I needed to buy some stuff to unclog the kitchen sink. Which didn’t work. So I’ve been waiting for the plumber instead. Who isn’t here yet. Fun times.

I’m actually going to be on holiday next week, technically speaking. I’m bringing the laptop with me, though, and I may still be working. I’m just going to see how I feel. I worry that I’m too close to the end of this book to take time off right now. Momentum is an important thing.

Thought and Memory

New words: 2,148

Total words: 78,525

Listening/watching: Tori Amos

Total words for the year: 246,446

Weird day. The first 1.4k of that word count came easily and quickly. The rest was like pulling teeth. I’ll never understand it, to be honest. The act of writing varies so much from day to day.

Thought and Memory

New words: 2,506

Total words: 77,555

Listening/watching: Tori Amos, Rob Dougan

Total words for the year: 244,298

A surprisingly good writing day. The story took a turn that I hadn’t planned, but one that works well. I suspect this draft is actually going to be shorter than the projected 100k, but that’s okay. I need to go back and add some bits and pieces, so there will be room for that without making it overlong.

Today, I am pleased with this novel. As you all know by now, that may well change by this time tomorrow. The more I write, the more I realise I need to do some serious rewriting. The whole thing just feels flawed and clunky to me right now. I suspect that there may be a need for at least one or two beta readers before I can go back and rework this one.

Thought and Memory

New words: 2,048

Total words: 77,087

Listening/watching: Tori Amos

Total words for the year: 241,792

Right about now, I’m getting very sick of feeling sub-par. But there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’m just sticking to routine. It’s gotten me through this week. And right about now, I’m very glad that it’s almost the weekend.

Thought and Memory

New words: 2,124

Total words: 75,100

Listening/watching: Tori Amos

Total words for the year: 239,744

Another day where routine saved me. I’m still feeling pretty under the weather, and I wasted the first half of my usual writing time meandering about online and generally not feeling inspired at all.

I had lunch and sat down with the intention to just get a thousand words down. No matter if they were crap. And I started writing, and next thing I knew I was at two thousand. Huh.

I’d still really love to be pushing into higher word counts, but it’s just not happening right now. I should complain about the word counts I’m getting, mind, but sometimes it just doesn’t feel like enough. I want to be able to write like a regular job – sit down for eight hours a day. It’s a weird ideal that I’m never going to live up to. Not only do I have a house to look after, I also have the unpredicatbility of illness to deal with. So basically, I’m thankful to get the few good hours I do for writing.

Thought and Memory

New words: 2,090

Total words: 73,924

Listening/watching: Tori Amos

Total words for the year: 237,620

Sick again today, so every one of those words is a bonus. Routine for the win.

Thought and Memory

New words: 2,096

Total words: 72,950

Listening/watching: Tori Amos

Total words for the year: 235,530

Another sub-par day, mainly due to be still being under the weather. I’m trying not to push myself too much, so those words took about twice as long as they usually do. Add to that some gentle exercise, since my body was starting to complain about inactivity, and I’m exhausted now.

I’m still dying for the end of this manuscript. Actually, right now I’m dying more for the mental power and concentration to actually *get* to the end of the manuscript. I know what I need to write, I just don’t seem to have the will to sit down and make a concerted effort to get it written. Still, I’m moving forward. I need to keep on reminding myself of that.