Word Count Thread

GalwayGuy2 · 14-07-2013 8:49pm #1

I've seen this on a few other sites and I thought it would be a great way to keep the incentive to write.

I was thinking we could post daily/weekly/monthly advances in our novel. Eg: I wrote five thousand words today. (I wish)

So, if this threads okay with the admins, I'll start the ball rolling.

I wrote...

*Drumroll*

600 words.

Sadly, that seems to be the average.

GalwayGuy2 · 15-07-2013 8:02pm

1,898 words today :P

It's oddly fun to write about a situation that resembles a nudist camp. In my opinion, it would be awkwardly intimate seeing that many people naked.

akthung · 16-07-2013 7:48am

LOL! but they're just in your mind, why awkward?

GalwayGuy2 · 16-07-2013 8:25pm

LOL! but they're just in your mind, why awkward?

The character's awkward:P Though it would be funny how "the wobbly bits" would affect the character's actions. Eg: Watching to see what the plates touches when people are setting the table. Having an awkward fight scene with someone because you'd rather not touch anything :P

Tbh, I'll probably just do a weekly word-count from now on. I'd rather not clog up the forum with this thread:P

Branoic · 17-07-2013 1:33pm

Weekly counts are probably a good idea.

6000 in the last week.

I don't think i've posted in this forum before, though I have been a lurker for a while, so I'll take this opportunity to introduce what I'm doing.

I'm in my early 30s now. Between the ages of 15 and 20 I worked on my fantasy masterpiece, an epic to rival Tolkien.

It ended up being, oh, nearly 300K words (hey, I was young and naive, I didn't know publishers wouldn't jump at such a magnum opus).

More problematic was the fact that it also ended up being a rambley, unfocused mess, with whole plot points disappearing without resolution or springing out of thin air, to the extend that the 2nd half of the book almost read like a completely different story!

Cue years of abandonment as I wrestled with the enormity of how to save the book. I was convinced the core of the tale was good, it was just everything else around it was the problem and i had no idea how to unravel it all. It was always at the back of my mind over the last 10 years, and I made one or two false starts at trying to edit it, all the while just smiling and shrugging when family or friends asked when it was going to be finished.

Finally, a couple of months ago, I had a eureka moment (or rather, a series of moments which somehow snowballed into complete clarity). I suddenly saw everything I needed to do to make the story work, and I set about on a complete rewrite from scratch (instead of attempting to edit what's there already).

I've set out this time with a complete plan. I'm aiming for about 120K words (average enough for a fantasy novel, but I'll probably be able to edit down a bit). My chapters will average between 4K and 6K words, and the aim is to write a chapter a week. The way I'm doing it at the moment is I spend Mondays and Tuesdays thinking about what I want out of the next chapter, jotting down a couple of thoughts and sequences of events, letting things kind of form in my head. Then from Wednesday to Sunday I write and write and write. So I have the chapter finished by Sunday night, and I'm back to planning the next one on Monday. I've got about 35K words done and I should be finished the first draft by Christmas.

The final novel will end up very different to the first attempt, but the heart of the story will remain, and I'm really enjoying the process again for the first time in years.

ciaranmac · 18-07-2013 1:42pm

Weekly counts are a great idea alright. I'll have to work out what mine is though.

I'm at 29800 right now for the whole magnum opus. It's a fantasy story I came up with about 15 years ago, wrote some passages on paper and then abandoned. I started a few other projects in the meantime, took a late-Roman era historical story to 14000 words of disconnected scenes before putting it aside. Nothing really sustained except for a sci-fi fanfic story of 9000 words which I finished about eight years ago.

A few months ago I decided to revisit the fantasy story. I didn't even look for my earlier notes, instead deciding to rewrite from scratch. I'm doing about a 5000 word chapter every 2-3 weeks and so far it's keeping me engaged. I started with a prologue and have been writing the whole thing chronologically, which seems to be working better than I though it would. I read an article about Joss Whedon where he said he writes the interesting bits and then joins them up. There are many ways to flay a dragon.

etymon · 22-07-2013 4:55pm

86,000 and aiming to be at my goal of 100,000 by the end of next week. Getting difficult now to tie all the plotlines together - it's becoming a massive jumble as I get to the ending and because I know what the ending is, I have no idea if the clues I am going back to pepper in here and there are too obvious or not. Need the great Mammy to cast her eye on the whole thing for a better view I think.
It's a fiction novel, mystery, set in Dublin though not immediately an 'Irish' book, I don't think.

GalwayGuy2 · 23-07-2013 11:49am

Here's my weekly wordcount. I probably wont be able to write later, so its coming up a bit early

Wednesday: 1,078
Thursday526
Friday:0
Saturday:0 (Had to rewrite)
Sunday: 3, 186
Monday: 1,341

Yeah, I realized on Sunday that I'm a writer that A) Has to sit down and write everyday, and

If I'm not into it, I just have to keep pushing myself to write. Although, after a few paragraphs, everything flows together and it is a real joy to write.

Tbh, Sunday reminded me why I love writing so much. I was struggling through a few scenes and all I could remember was the struggle to write. But on Sunday I remembered the joy of writing a good scene from a character's point of view

Also, I found a few cool websites to look at different styles by countries. And, since I don't have a memory for different types of clothing, it was quite helpful to look at different styles of clothing. A Chinese marriage clothes looks absolutely kickass.

Branoic · 23-07-2013 12:26pm

Wow, good job on Sunday alright!

Not sure what my individual daily output was, but over the last week I completed another chapter coming in at 5330 words (writing from Wednesday to Sunday).

My story has 3 main POV characters, which are all in different locations dealing with different things until they come together in the 3rd act and then its a combined race to the finale.

Previously, I had tried writing in true chronological order, jumping between characters with each new chapter. I think I just found it too easy to get lost, and lose the flow of an individual's story arc.

This time, I've decided to write the entirity of each arc independently, up until I reach the start of that 3rd act where they come together. Once I get to that point with all three threads, I'll stop and go back and slot the various chapters into their proper places before starting the final stretch.

I find this approach is working much better, as I'm able to stay in the characters' mindset throughout their entire journey without trying to switch and remember where I was every time I start a new chapter.

GalwayGuy2 · 23-07-2013 7:29pm

My story has 3 main POV characters, which are all in different locations dealing with different things until they come together in the 3rd act and then its a combined race to the finale.

I love it when a book does that. That is one thing that Rovert Jordan is brilliant at. Eh, George RR Martin less so. :P

ciaranmac · 25-07-2013 1:52pm

33,100 last night, so that's a little over 3k for the week. For me that's a lot

GalwayGuy2 · 30-07-2013 8:35pm

Wednesday: 2, 097
Thursday: 2, 562
Friday: 2, 3018
Saturday:0
Sunday: 530+753
Monday: 239
Tuesday: 1,025

I'm actually reaching the end of my story now. All the groundwork's been laid, and now it's just one non-stop train of kick-sass. P

I had some good days there because it was a take-down of a villain. I wanted it to be an ethereal showdown that almost had the rhythm of a song that rose to a crescendo. Hmmm, didn't work as well as I thought it would, but the groundwork there for the edit.

Then I missed a day of writing and it was like drawing blood from a stone. I'm almost done though, and I'm lookin' forward to writing the last few scenes. Sure, the whole story came from a line that's said at the end

I love music when writing. I love the song that sets the tone for the dynamic between the MC and another villain.

Branoic · 31-07-2013 1:00am

7367 in the last week. Bit of a tough time - had a wedding to go to on Saturday and was feeling decidedly average on Sunday after it, so that was my two usually most productive days gone. Still, I got the chapter finished tonight so two days behind the usual schedule. But I'm on a week's holidays at the moment so should be able to catch up.

GalwayGuy2 · 06-08-2013 9:41am

Wednesay: 1, 200
Thursday: 639+ 1334
Friday: 0
Saturday:0
Sunday: 0
Monday: 0

Finished my first full "Novel"

My word count has pretty much disappeared. I wanted to take a break and write a short story or something before coming back to edit, but I couldn't get my head out of my characters mindset. First time I've ever felt writer's block.

But, my subconscious kind of fused three different story ideas together, and now I can write a short story with one of the side characters in my novel as an MC. Tbh, the characters not very substantial in the novel, so it can only help.

I'm looking forward to editing the novel, and writing the short story for the next while

Das Kitty · 06-08-2013 9:49am

Fair play folks!

ciaranmac · 06-08-2013 1:37pm

39000 as of last night. I had one great day where I wrote about 2000 words of emotionally charged drama. I've driven my characters through hell on a bus (actually, it's a caravel but who's checking facts) and now I'm about to make them get out and walk. Mwahahaha...

GalwayGuy2 · 13-08-2013 8:14pm

About 2, 500 words this week. I decided not to do any revision, because I have managed to get my head out of the story. Wrote all the chapter summaries, and noted some broad revisions (merged two characters, changed the relationship of the various groups, and put a rewrote of the middle sometime in the future), but I'm leaving it there.

The good news is, another few ideas melded in my head, and I now have another (probably) full length novel to write.

This song gave me the idea for it.

GalwayGuy2 · 21-08-2013 7:47pm

Wednesay: 2,967
Thursday: 2, 068
Friday: 366
Saturday: 2, 838
Sunday: ?
Monday: 1,313
Tuesday: 974

Had a goodish week this week

Nero707 · 22-08-2013 4:06am

Thursday: 4, 245
That is pretty good for me. I knew what I was going to write before I even sat down, which always helps. Now, to edit.

GalwayGuy2 · 27-08-2013 8:51pm

Wednesday: 3,219
Thursday: 893
Friday: 1,374
Saturday: 0
Sunday: 0
Monday: 2, 440
Tuesday: 59

Eh, not a great week.

c68zapdsm5i1ru · 03-09-2013 5:34pm

When you give your word count is it 'words you're happy with' count or just whatever you managed to get down on paper and totally unedited?

alfa beta · 08-09-2013 8:08pm

over the 80,000 mark here this weekend

feels good - relatively happy with stuff when I read back over it too - mainly coz I'm starting to see what will need changing when it comes to the first 'big' revision.

another 5k or so structured/plotted out for next week so on target to be finished first draft this side of Christmas.

looks like first draft will run to somewhere between 120,000 and 130,000

ciaranmac · 09-09-2013 1:41pm

1200 in the last month. A million other things got in the way but I started writing again last night and it felt good

damselnat · 03-10-2013 6:35pm

Just because I can't say this anywhere else without sounding like a smug tw*t: just completed my first draft today! 90k since starting on the 8th August, all worked round a full time job, so happy, about to do a little jig around the kitchen then drag some people out for First Draft Drinks....then come back in a few days with my editor hat on and for the real work to begin

oh well, for now, celebrations yay!

alfa beta · 04-10-2013 12:34pm

90000 since august - holy jibbering ****balls - that's a lot of scribbling - fair play to you!

damselnat · 04-10-2013 1:43pm

alfa beta wrote: »

90000 since august - holy jibbering ****balls - that's a lot of scribbling - fair play to you!

Thanks! Yeah, it's been manic....the story just took me and I've been up till up 2am on weekdays and all day weekends. Never had quite that intense of a writing marathon before but it's been...an experience! Time to go an get my social life back now haha

Word Count Thread

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