Saturday, August 6, 2011

What's So Great About Word Count?

I'm participating in Heather Kelly's Tour de Writing Challenge. I'm making some kick-@** progress on my  WIP, a silly MG fantasy that I'm loving right now. It's amazing how 500 words a day can rack up your total.

So who really cares that I hit 14,000 words this week? Does it matter to anyone? Except maybe my agent (yes, Vickie, I AM working!) or my crit group? No, probably not.

But seriously, I've never had this many words on a project except THE SWEET SPOT (the completed YA novel). And it feels incredible!

I'm a classic procrastinator. Any reason at all to avoid getting down and dirty with the WIP, and I'm there. "Look at the pretty lights..." "Hello, Twitter." But when the words are flowing, and I'm not trying to marathon write 2000 words in an hour, I can be pretty effective. 500 words a day, give or take.

And I plan to have a 20K word rough draft by the end of the month. A very rough draft to which I'll end up adding another 15-20K words.

Tour de Writing Challenge! Huzzah!

8 comments:

Anna Staniszewski said...

Congrats on the progress, Kris! It's amazing how quickly 500 words a day can add up. I've decided to jump into Camp NaNo this month for this very reason: I need a word count challenge to help me get through the first draft of a new project. Good luck to us both! :-)

Laura Pauling said...

Awesome Kris!

MG Higgins said...

500 words a day is terrific; it's the goal I shoot for when I'm writing fiction. 500 is "doable," even with life going on in the background (or foreground), and like you said, it quickly adds up.

Ansha Kotyk said...

I'll be plugging away with you Monday! Cannot wait to read this new wip of yours!

Heather Kelly said...

I love this! I find the Tour to be so motivating--it's so easy to slack off in the summer if there is no reason to write. I'm glad it's been a useful tool for you--I hope you are wearing a jersey at the end!!

LynNerdKelley said...

Hi Kristine. 500 words a day is awesome. You go, girl! I agree that the Tour is a great motivator. I'm actually getting a lot done, too. So, race ya to the finish line! Haha!

Kristine Asselin said...

Thanks everyone! It feels so good to have the support of writer friends. Good luck to you all as well.

Jonathon Arntson said...

You really are making waves! Go you!!