Milwordy: August Wrap-Up

Stats

Average Daily Wordcount (Week 52 Only): 1,215

Week 52 Total Wordcount: 8,504 (plus 294 for the last day in August)

Average Daily Wordcount (August): 1,623

August Total Wordcount: 50,298

Year Total Wordcount: 1,000,298 (wow, that is a big number!)

Words to go:

Not a single one!

Previous Milwordy Wrap Ups: September. October. November. December. January. February March. April. May. June, July

I’m going to have a full Milwordy wrap-up soon, but I want to take a little time to reflect on the whole experience before I let out my thoughts on the challenge as a whole.

For now, it’s enough to say…

I did it!

One million words in a year—in 361 days to be precise, since I actually wrote those last words a few days ago.

I have to say, August felt a little anticlimactic to me. Maybe it’s because I had fewer words to write this month than in other months, but I don’t know…I thought finishing would feel bigger. Instead I’m left with a feeling of incompletion. I know I finished Milwordy. I got all the words. Yet, it doesn’t feel like it’s over somehow.

Maybe I just need time for the truth to sink in. Or maybe I don’t feel done because I’m not. I’m not done writing. I didn’t finish the Sleeping Beauty retelling I was working on, so I still have that to do. Plus I have a mountain of first drafts now that I can sort through and figure out what to do with.

And, of course, new ideas will be just around the corner soon. This is only the end of a writing challenge, not the end of my writing.

So, Milwordy went out with not a bang nor a whimper but rather a kind of “Huh?” I don’t know exactly where my writing journey will take me next, but I have some ideas. I hope that you’ll stick with me on the way.

And stay tuned for my big Milwordy wrap-up where I will tell you just what I think about this crazy challenge now that I’m finally done with it.

Milwordy: Week 51 Thoughts

Stats

Week 50 Average Daily Wordcount: 3,938

Week 50 Total Wordcount: 27,566

August Total Wordcount: 41,794

Year Total Wordcount: 991,794

Words to go:

August: 8,206

Year: 8,206

It’s almost over. I can’t believe it.

This year has both trudged on at the pace of a funeral march and has sped by in double-time. Thinking back on everything, I really don’t know how I got this far.

But this isn’t my Milwordy wrap-up yet. I still have more words to write. So, let’s talk about my penultimate week, shall we?

I moved on to a new project this week. I’ve been on a fairy tale retelling kick as of late, partially, I think because it makes the outlining a bit easier on me. I mean, there’s already a plot ready to go, I just have to make it my own. This is something that has been pretty important in the latter half of my Milwordy journey as I was not entirely prepared with what I would write for the whole year.

So, right now I’m working on a Sleeping Beauty retelling (with vampires!). Sleeping Beauty was never one of my favorites, so I can’t believe that I’m working on a retelling, but it’s been fun so far. Sometimes things that you don’t think you’ll enjoy turn out to be a blast. Who knew?

I guess that’s been one of the positives to Milwordy, I’ve worked on ideas that I would have discarded before and found myself pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. I’m hoping to take this attitude toward trying different things into the post-Milwordy world.

Which is very nearly here!

Next week will be my last Milwordy update. After that I will be doing a full Milwordy wrap-up where I will try to decide whether this whole challenge has been worth it or not. After that, I’m not quite sure what this blog will become. I want to keep writing of course, but after such a year, I will need a bit of a break. But then what? Another challenge? Or do I try to find a writing routine that is a bit more steady? I’m not sure of my direction yet, but I’m excited for what the future holds.

So, next time we meet I will have either triumphantly completed Milwordy or will have inexplicably failed, despite how close I got. Stay tuned!

If you’ve been enjoying my blog please like, follow, and share it. Questions and comments are always appreciated. Thanks for reading!

Milwordy: Week 50 Thoughts

Stats

Week 50 Average Daily Wordcount: 211

Week 50 Total Wordcount: 1,474

August Total Wordcount: 14,228

Year Total Wordcount: 964,228

Words to go:

August: 35,772

Year: 35,772

I had no idea how little I wrote this week until I sat down to write this update. That weekly total is…not good.

You would think that with how close I am to finishing, I would be more focused than ever. Instead, I have a case of senioritis. Now is no time to drop the ball though! I don’t have wiggle room anymore.

Most of the words I wrote this week were done with pen and paper, which has become pretty rare during this challenge. I can type or dictate much, much faster than I can handwrite and so it’s just not practical most of the time.

Still, there’s something really pleasant about writing in a notebook, particularly when I am brainstorming. Despite not having a big word count to show for it, I feel like this week was a very good week for writing. I did a good amount of brainstorming for the story I’m going to write after this challenge is all over.

But I can’t afford to lollygag here, so next week, I’m going to buckle down and get a lot of writing done.

Only two weeks left! Ah!

If you’ve been enjoying my blog please like, follow, and share it. Questions and comments are always welcome. Thanks for reading!

Milwordy: Week 49 Thoughts

Stats

Week 49 Average Daily Wordcount: 1,307

Week 49 Total Wordcount: 9,150

August Total Wordcount: 12,516

Year Total Wordcount: 962,516

Words to go:

August: 37,484

Year: 37,484

Yep, I’m behind on my updates again. No, I have not yet completed the challenge, but I’m getting there. Anyway, this was supposed to go up weeks ago, so it’s a snapshot of where I was then, more than it is for where I’m at now. More to come soon!

I also want to note that there is a slight correction in my word count because 238 words that I wrote didn’t get counted last week. My spreadsheet game is a little off. Anyway, on to the actual update!

The total for this week doesn’t look great, I know, but remember that I don’t need as many words a week as I have for the rest of this challenge.

I’m under 40k away from finishing Milwordy. I think if I absolutely had to, I could finish that in a day. Like, I’ve never actually written that much in a day, but I’m pretty sure I could if I needed to.

That’s probably not a great thing for me and my procrastination-brain to be thinking right now…but it’s hard not to. It’s hard not to consider that there’s almost no way that I can lose this. That even if it came down to the very last day of August, I could probably still make this work. I’ve never been in that place with this challenge before. No matter how much I wrote on any given day, I would still have more to write the next day.

Oh, and don’t think I haven’t thought about just finishing this in one huge caffeine-induced spurt. Because I definitely have. As of yet though, that has not materialized as an appealing option. I will keep it in my back pocket though, just in case.

Anyway, the challenge is going well. I’m behind on the month, but ahead on the year—as has been true for just about every month during this whole challenge. What else is new, right?

That’s about it for this week. Wish me luck as I head into my last 3 weeks!

Thanks for reading! If you’re enjoying my blog please like, follow, and share it. Comments and questions are always welcome!

Milwordy: July Wrap-Up

Stats

Average Daily Wordcount (Week 48 Only): 4,932

Week 48 Total Wordcount: 34,552

Average Daily Wordcount (July): 2,813

July Total Wordcount: 87,190

Year Total Wordcount: 953,366

Words to go:

Year: 46,634

Previous Milwordy Wrap Ups: September. October. November. December. January. February March. April. May. June

If I’m being honest, I’m surprised to still be standing in this challenge. July was probably my toughest month yet. I just wasn’t as invested in continuing Milwordy.

You would think that I would be more invested, given the fact that I’m so very close to finishing. Yet, I could barely get myself to care about that million-word mark.

But as you can see, I did catch up on my July word count. I more than caught up in fact. I added to my lead. If you were strictly looking at the stats, July was actually my 3rd most productive month after September and October. So…I guess it wasn’t so bad after all?

Out of the 87,190 words I wrote in July, 85,814 of those words came in a single project. And yet…I still didn’t finish that project. Which means I didn’t meet my Camp NaNoWriMo goal.

I lost every single NaNoWriMo during this Milwordy challenge, which is a phenomenon that I cannot explain to you. It doesn’t make sense.

Since we’re on the subject of NaNo, the word count that I need for August is 50k words exactly.

Yes, I did that on purpose. No, it wasn’t something I had planned all along, but once I stumbled into July and realized that hitting my July goal would put me close to 50k left for the year, something about it just felt right. Felt poetic. I may not actually be doing this last 50k during a NaNo month, but it still feels that way.

So, my daily word count goal for this month is roughly 1,614 words. That feels laughably easy compared to what I’ve been doing the last 11 months.

Then again, last month I only hit that target 14 out of a possible 31 days so…anything can happen. But we’re already a couple days into August and I’m sailing along pretty smoothly so far.

At this point, it’s difficult for me to imagine not finishing Milwordy. I mean it’s a month. A single month. How can I not finish? Yet, I know that if I don’t stay on my game, that’s something that could happen. I’ve got to be the tortoise, not the hare. No resting on laurels here.

I did consider trying to keep my monthly goal at the 83,334 words that it’s been for every other month of this challenge, even though that would be overkill. There’s a part of me that doesn’t like the unevenness of not trying for that same goal for a 12th time. But I think that I want to finish this challenge on a high note and I don’t think that includes continuing to push myself to my absolute limit. I think it means having fun and maybe taking it a little easy.

“Taking it easy.” Ha! I remember a time when 50k in a month felt impossible. What a weird, perspective-annihilating year this has been!

Anyway, I hope that you’re still with me on this journey. I know my blog has become sporadic and full of lamentations over my inability to keep up the pace, but we’re in the home stretch here. I might just finish this thing! You don’t want to miss that, do you?

If you’re enjoying my blog please like, follow, and share it. It would mean the world to me. Questions and comments are always welcome!

Milwordy: Week 47 Thoughts

Stats

Week 47 Average Daily Wordcount: 5,177

Week 47 Total Wordcount: 36,238

July Total Wordcount: 56,004

Year Total Wordcount: 918,814

Words to go:

July: 27,330

Year: 81,186

Note: Yep, still posting blogs that are behind the times. But after this one I can resume my normal schedule…if I even remember what that looks like.

Obviously, this was a big week for catching up. Aaaaand…I’m still behind for July. That’s how far behind I was. Still, I’m on track for the year. And if I somehow manage to make up those 27,330 words in the next 5 days, I will only have to write a little over 50k words in August to finish this challenge. Basically, a NaNoWriMo.

Oh! Speaking of NaNo…I might actually, almost by accident, win Camp NaNo this month. Almost all of my words for July have come from the same project. Whether or not I will finish that project in July is another matter, but it’s not impossible.

Another important thing to mention this week is that I crossed that very important 900k line. I have less than 100k words to write in order to reach the one million mark! It seems like it should be so easy!

It’s not.

But I’m going to do it anyway. I feel like that should be the motto for this challenge. It’s not easy; Do it anyway.

That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!

If you’re enjoying my blog, please like, follow, and share it. Questions and comments are always welcome!

Milwordy: Week 46 Thoughts

Stats

Week 46 Average Daily Wordcount: 2,750

Week 46 Total Wordcount: 19,252

July Total Wordcount: 19,766

Year Total Wordcount: 882,576

Words to go:

July: 63,568

Year: 117,424

Note: This post is a little out of date, but I wanted to publish it anyway, just to keep my record of this year without holes. It will still give you an idea of where I was mentally…you know…two weeks ago

Ha! Back on track!

This week I was almost exactly on par, which means I’m still behind for July. But, I’m on track for the year, which is the most important thing.

Milwordy is a rollercoaster of emotions and this week feels like I’m climbing the big hill before the drop. I haven’t got much of this challenge left to go and it feels like if I can just stay on track through July, then I’m home free.

I had one hiccup this week that almost made me quit. I lost probably a thousand words of work. That’s right, all that talk about backing up your work earlier in this blog, and I didn’t listen to my own advice.

Mostly it’s okay. I was working on some backstory stuff anyway, so losing that work wasn’t such a big deal, except…I don’t know exactly how many words I lost. Which means I didn’t count any of them at all.

I considered just estimating the word count, but in the end, I decided that it would never stop bothering me to not know for sure that I had written all the words that I said I did. So, I just didn’t count any of them. That’s a particularly heartbreaking loss when I’m struggling so hard to get words as it is.

But I’m still here. I didn’t quit. And I’m on track. That’s all that matters right?

That’s all for this week. I hope that you’re enjoying July and that your own writing is going better than mine!

If you’re enjoying my blog, please like, follow and share it. Questions and comments are always welcome!

Milwordy: Week 45 Thoughts

Stats

Week 45 Average Daily Wordcount: 66

Week 45 Total Wordcount: 462

July Total Wordcount: 514

Year Total Wordcount: 863,324

Words to go:

July: 82,820

Year: 136,676

I mean you can see the stats. You know it’s not good.

I don’t have much to say about this week, mostly because this update was supposed to come out a few weeks ago and it’s no longer relevant. But I wanted to keep a steady record of my stats, so here it is—Week 45 in all its glory.

I didn’t write. Like hardly at all. This must have been my worst week during this challenge and I really don’t have any excuses for it.

I don’t have much more to say so I’m going to make this a small-word-count post for a small-word-count week.

I’ll be posting again real soon to catch up because, boy, am I behind on blog posts or what?

See you again soon!

Milwordy: Week 44 Thoughts

Stats

Week 44 Average Daily Wordcount: 997

Week 44 Total Wordcount: 6978

July Total Wordcount: 52

Year Total Wordcount: 862,862

Words to go:

July: 83,282

Year: 137,138

Yeah…those numbers aren’t looking good. Are we surprised?

If you’ve been following this blog for a bit, you’ll know that I’ve been struggling…for several months. That has not gotten better in July. Of course, during this particular week I was on vacation. That vacation was only actually 3 days long, but still…

Vacations are very distracting.

Not only are things not getting better, they’re getting actively worse. You may have noticed that it’s been a long time since my last blog post. That’s because I haven’t been even so much as turning on my computer most days.

I don’t understand why this is so hard. I can look back at so many moments where sitting down to write was easy. The actual writing may not have been easy, but committing to do it was simple. Now it feels impossible.

I have the uncomfortable feeling that this challenge may have taken a sharp turn from motivational into detrimental to my writing. It’s uncomfortable because I know that, if true, it means I need to step away from it for a while. Give myself a break to rejuvenate my love for it.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

And what would it matter? Writing is not my job. There are no outside expectations here. This is just a personal challenge. It’s just me who I’m disappointing.

But how on earth can I stop when I only have 51 days left to go? If I don’t finish now, what exactly have I been doing with my time for the last year?

I don’t think I would ever forgive myself if I quit now. But how do I go on? I can’t seem to get my butt in the chair and hands on the keys most days. How am I supposed to fix that?

Oh, also, I think I can pretty much kiss winning Camp NaNo goodbye. I guess Milwordy and NaNo really don’t mix after all. Who would have figured?

Anyway, I don’t mean to be such a downer, but I guess that’s the danger in jumping into a difficult challenge like this publicly. You can’t really hide your stumbles. And boy, am I stumbling.

I hope that your own ambitions are going better than mine. Let me know down in the comments what you’re working on. I can live vicariously through writers who are actually writing. 😀

If you’re enjoying my blog, please like, follow and share it! Thanks for reading!

Milwordy: June Wrap-Up

Stats

Average Daily Wordcount (Week 43 Only): 6,270

Week 43 Total Wordcount: 43,888

Average Daily Wordcount (June): 2,786

June Total Wordcount: 83,566

Year Total Wordcount: 862,810

Words to go:

Year: 137,190

Previous Milwordy Wrap Ups: September. October. November. December. January. February March. April. May.

This is the month I almost gave up.

It seems foolish, I know. I mean, I had come so far. Nine months of this challenge and only 3 left to go…why give up?

I was feeling burnt out for one. This challenge is hard. And it’s only gotten harder over time. When I started this thing back in September, things were going so well, I thought I might even be able to finish this challenge early. I wrote 100k words that month! No problem!

It seems like if you can do something for one month, then you should be able to do it again for the next eleven, right?

I’ve never hit that 100k in a month again. Even in my good months, I just can’t get there. Because the excitement of beginning was a more powerful fuel than I realized upon starting this challenge.

It’s not only burn out though. My attention can be a wandering thing. It’s not that writing has none of my attention anymore (obviously) but it is currently taking up way fewer neurons than it did back in September. I haven’t spoken about this on the blog yet, but I’ve thrown myself head first into relearning the piano, which I have been away from for years.

Was it wise to start a new hobby while I’m still trying to do this challenge? Um, no. But I have found over my 34 years on this planet that fighting my interests rarely leads to the best outcome. Sometimes it’s better for me to ride that wave of attention and let it take its course.

Does that mean I’m done with writing? No. Again, it’s not that I’ve abandoned writing, it’s just not central in my mind. This is the way my brain has always worked. And despite many varied interests over time, I’ve always come back to writing.

And who knows, maybe this is my brain’s way of taking a break from something that had been taking a lot of its energy. Maybe this is its way of renewing itself.

This is not, I promise, me telling you that I’m quitting Milwordy. I only have two months to go! I can’t quit now! And if I manage to hit my July goal of 83,334 words—which I plan to!—August should be an easier month. It will basically be a NaNoWriMo month instead of a Milwordy month because I will only need a little over 50k.

Because 50k is so little, right? *cue hysterical laughter.

Speaking of NaNoWriMo…you guys…Camp NaNo is in July.

If you’ve been following along with this blog, you may have noticed that the NaNoWriMos have not been particularly successful for me. You’d think it’d be easy right? I’m writing 83,334 words a month and NaNo is only 50k, I should win by default.

Except I keep setting this extra goal that I need 50k of my 83k to be dedicated to a single project. And I keep failing. And I told myself after my failed Camp NaNo attempt in April that I wasn’t going to do this again…

But like…third time’s a charm?

You can’t say I’m not persistent!

So same rules as last time: 50 of my 83k words have to be in a single project to win NaNo. You guys, I have to win one NaNo during Milwordy. I have to.

I considered making my goal for this Camp NaNo to write 138k (in multiple projects) so that I could finish Milwordy off with a bang. Then I decided that would be a spectacular way to fail my 3rd NaNo of the year and chose a more sensible goal. It would have been pretty awesome though.

So, I have my assignment for July and I’m feeling pretty…okay…about it. Really, pretty okay. Hopefully, the next time we meet, I will have a good progress report for you all!

Who’s on the Camp NaNo bus with me? What are your goals for the month of July?

If you’re enjoying my blog, please like, follow, and share it. Questions and comments are always appreciated!