Stats
Average Daily Wordcount (Week 4): 3,366
Week 4 Total Wordcount: 23,564
Average Daily Wordcount (Month 1): 3,336
Month 1 Total Wordcount: 100,070
Words to go:
Month: — (I’m over my goal by 16,736)
Year: 899,930
I made it to 100k!
Can you believe it’s been a month already? In that time, I’ve written 3 novellas, published 14 blog posts including this one, and begun prepping for my NaNoWriMo novel. It feels like just yesterday that I was stumbling my way through WordPress to trying and get this blog up before Milwordy started. What do they say? Time flies when you’re having fun!
And it has been fun, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I’m starting to feel fatigue set in. I am spending a lot of my time doing this for, well, not a ton of reward.
Yes, I am getting a lot of words on the page, which is awesome. However, I know that a lot of those words aren’t my best. This both is and isn’t the fault of Milwordy. I don’t think it’s so much a function of writing fast as it is writing without enough preparation beforehand, which honestly is what happens when you decide to jump into a challenge like this with less than a month of warning. You don’t decide to run a marathon the night before the race.
If I had all of my outlines sorted out, I know that things would be going much better. That’s what I’m going to try and remedy going forward, but honestly it’s very hard to outline when I know I need those words. Fussing over an outline isn’t generally going to get me to that word count.
So that’s the downside.
On the upside, while it hasn’t all been sunshine and puppy-dogs, much of it has been a ton of fun. It’s easy to forget how much I do actually love writing when I’m in a writing slump. My slumps are usually caused by putting too much pressure on myself to write something great. But when the focus is on the word count, I can just relax and let myself suck if I need to.
And it’s funny, I don’t always suck when I do this. In fact, when I look back at the things that I’ve written under the pressure of challenges like NaNoWriMo or Milwordy, I often find I like them better than the things I have tried to write slowly. I think that when I allow myself the freedom to fail, that is when I am most creative. Plus, when I’m having fun, I really do think my work gets better.
Moreover, I’ve been pushing myself to do things that scare me. Things like, writing this blog and talking to people on social media and discord. I can sometimes collapse in on myself and not talk to anyone about the things that I’m most passionate about, so this has been an excellent way to get myself to open up and share what I’m spending so much of my time on.
I’m also enjoying the feeling of accomplishment that comes with reaching my word count daily. I haven’t felt that in a while.
I also think that all this writing is helping me to clear my mind, which is good because honestly, it’s a mess up there most of the time.
The question I want to ask myself at the end of each month is, is this challenge worth it? I’m not sure that my answer will stay the same for the whole year, and I’m not sure what I will do if the answer is ever negative, but for now at least, my answer is yes, it’s definitely worth it. I’m glad I started this challenge. I am happy to be continuing on.
All right October, I’m ready. Let’s do this!
If you’re participating in Milwordy, how has the challenge been going for you? Are you happy you took up the gauntlet?
If you’re not participating, what are your thoughts on this crazy challenge? Do you think that you would enjoy it? Do you think it’s a waste of time? Right now, are you saying, “Glad it’s her and not me?”
I’d love to hear from you!
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-Robin
Rambling Robin 