Tag: Session logs

Posts with writing session details: time, words, progress, etc.

Reached five hour goal today

Lynn

I find it funny that the moment I stop a challenge, I immediately find it easier to focus on what needs to be done.

I reached my five hour writing goal today, although I admit, I’m nowhere near my word count goal.

Hours Words Session WPH
1 318 318 318
1 618 300 300
1 1161 543 543
1 1382 221 221
1 1847 465 465

Total: 5 hours, 1,847 words, for an average of 369 wph.

On the other hand, even though I haven’t reached my word count goal, I am now officially past the material I needed to fix and I had just started to write some new stuff at the end of my last session.

I’m thinking of writing some more tonight, but we’ll have to see how I feel after a break, because I absolutely want to get to bed early tonight. I feel like I’m at my most creative and productive when I get more sleep and I want to give myself plenty of opportunity for that after several nights of less than optimal bedtimes.

This writer does not subsist on coffee and tea; she needs her sleep! :)

ETA: I did write a bit more, although not as much as I’d hoped to.

0.46667 2220 373 799.286

So new total: 2,220 words, 5.47 hours

But look at that! A major improvement in my pace now that I’m writing new material again! ;D Whew! I’m excited about tomorrow. Finally, some momentum again!

Now, must get some sleep so I feel good tomorrow and can write nice and fast.

And as an aside, my A/C is still broken and it’s starting to get hot around here. :o I’m getting worried that the part I need won’t arrive before it gets really hot. And I hate leaving my windows open: I just found a bug floating in my glass of water. Yuck. I’m too delicate for this crap. ;)

New “finish the book” challenge: day 5

Lynn

I should be nearing the end of this book I’m trying to finish. Alas, I’m not any closer than I was when I started, except that, really, I kind of am. I’m about to start into new territory and I do expect the writing to go much faster now.

I’m trying for at least 8 hours today and hoping to see some really great words per hour after the first hour or so. Let’s how far I can take this thing. ;)

I’ve been desperate to get back to writing on my other stories and increase my daily word count, but I’m almost there. Just half a book to go! :o

Hours Words Session WPH
1 25 25 25
1 847 822 822

This does seem to prove that I’ll speed up once I can focus on all new material. I have one more bit to go and then all previously written material will be behind me. :)

On the other hand, I stayed up too late last night, got up late this morning, had to take aspirin for a pulled muscle next to my spine between my shoulder blades that’s been bothering me for several days, took a nap to make up for some of last night’s lost sleep, and am only at 2 hours total for the day even though it’s already 1:30. So…back to it quickly now. At least lunch is over with!

Hours Words Session WPH
1 25 25 25
1 847 822 822
1 1183 336 336

Total: 1,299 words

Hmm. I can explain. Unfortunately, the explanation doesn’t really do anything but make it clear that me and lack of sleep don’t work well together. I just never had the energy for my story I should’ve had yesterday, and I do blame lack of sleep.

New “finish the book” challenge: day 3

Lynn

I should just give up on this challenge. I’ve written for 2 hours this morning and accumulated 861 new words. I’ve written 26,979 words of this book and I’m stuck around the 14,000 word mark trying to make it all fit together. I really just don’t know what happened with this book. I’m making my way through it, though, and it’s going to be okay. And I’m not giving up, because I don’t want to, even if common sense is telling me there’s no way I’m going to make this deadline.

Here’s my progress so far today. (I should also say that I definitely have limited time today and won’t be able to write for at least 3 hours this afternoon. So, back to it before I waste any more time.

Hours Words Session WPH
1 674 674 674
1 861 187 187
1 1029 168 168
0.16667 1121 92 552
1 1307 186 186
0.53333 1511 204 382.5

Well. I might get my hours in today but it sure doesn’t look like I’m going to get my words in!

Totals: 4.7 hours, 1,511 words

Honestly, no idea how I ended up so short on time.

On another note, I had to face the fact that I need a new plan for getting this book I’m trying to finish finished. I think I came up with one that’ll work, but I’m going to see how tomorrow goes first before I commit.

I did not get all the way through the draft fixing things today. I’m at about 20,756 words into the total of 27,626. All those 1,511 words for today are additions I made (net of the deletions). I’ll be honest. I bet I wrote a LOT more than 1,511 words today. Those deletions killed my numbers.

Anyway, on to tomorrow, and I just bet, once I get past this fix it thing, this book will take off again. I remain hopeful. :)

New “finish the book” challenge: day 1

Lynn

Last week was terrible for my experiment.

  1. I didn’t really write on multiple stories at all
  2. I’m seriously behind on the one book I MUST get out this month
  3. End of the school year is here and it’s killing my routine—one more week to go before I can settle into a new one
  4. I had enormous resistance to writing, and so I spent a lot of time reading, which I shouldn’t have, but it’s a given that when I start to feel overwhelmed, I self-medicate with distractions—thank God I’m not a drinker

I’m still going to try to meet my deadline. Consider it a challenge. The latest I can finish the book in question and reasonably expect to publish it when I need to publish it is the 26th. I’ll have to have my best week of writing ever to do it. But I haven’t missed a hard deadline before and I don’t plan to miss this one.

Today I’ll be writing for 8 hours, word count irrelevant. 8 hours is the goal.

Of course, I’d like to keep my speed up and have a record-breaking day of writing, but that might not happen. It’s okay if it doesn’t. I estimate I’ll need a minimum of 43 hours of writing this week at a much slower pace to finish on time. That means 8 hours a day until it’s done. And yes, 8 hours of writing a day is actually a lot more time than it sounds like because those 8 hours don’t include even one pee break. :o

So, I’m off to start writing. This is going to be one crazy week.

Challenge: 8 hours a day of writing until the book in question is done, starting today.

Progress

Hour 1: 391 words

I’m in a terrible hole in this book that I just can’t seem to dig out of. I’m definitely hoping for some easier writing soon, but I’m afraid that’s going to be an unfulfilled wish today. I have a long way to go to merge the new stuff with the old stuff.

Hour 2: 610 words | 1,042 cumulative

The numbers don’t add up, I know, but somehow I got distracted by the story and wrote for 10 minutes during the break between hours. That’s where the extra 41 words come from.

It’s also already much later in the day than I need it to be, so I’m going to have to really focus on getting these sessions done before it’s too late to actually get them done and still get to bed at a reasonable time tonight. Sleep absolutely has to come first. Not getting enough of it is probably the number one reason I fail to meet goals.

Total: 1,201 words

I didn’t even come close to the 8 hours of writing I wanted. Will have to try again.

Having another go at the record today

Lynn

Yes, I’m having another go at the record today, after an unfortunately bad night of sleep again, so no promises that I won’t make it half the day and conk out.

But, for the moment, I feel like I could do this today. 6,000 words is the number I’m taking aim at, although I only have to get past 5,758 to break my current one-day record. In the vein of “more words, less time,” I’m hoping to do it in 7 hours or less. See ya when I have some numbers to report.

Update: TOTAL BUST. Okay, not a total bust. But I’ve been so, so tired today. I’ve spent one hour writing, and I’m hoping to get another two before I stop for the night, but there’s no chance I’ll break any records today, except (maybe) my monthly best record.

Final numbers.

Hours Words Session WPH
1 858 858 858
1 1725 867 867
0.5 2260 535 1070

Trying again to break my record

Lynn

Yesterday I failed to break my one-day word count record. Since today is another day like yesterday, where there’s no real reason why I shouldn’t be able to devote most of my day to writing, I’m trying again.

Bonus? I’m only 6,253 words away from April becoming my highest word count month since I started in 2012.

Session logs:

Hours Words Session WPH
1 944 944 944
1 1966 1022 1022
1 3004 1038 1038
1 3736 732 732

I didn’t make it again today, mostly because I just felt bad. I had a headache off and on all day, and I’m frankly amazed that I wrote as many words as I did!

And now I’m only 2,516 words shy of my current record for my best month.

This “writing only what I’m interested in writing” thing is starting to look like the best method I’ve ever come up with.

I think I might try to break my one-day record again tomorrow. The only thing I can see stopping me is another headache, but I’ll wait to commit to the idea of the challenge until tomorrow. Good night!

Major push today for record

Lynn

I’m going to use my 1 hour sessions and cycle through my stories in progress today to try to beat my one-day word count record and break through the 6,000 word ceiling I seem to have.

I might fail, but today seems to be a good day for trying, so I’m going to. :)

I’m about to start hour #1 and I’ll be working on Story Gf. It’s the one I’ve been most interested in the last couple of days and I think it’ll get me warmed up for the rest.

Even if it’s going really well, I think I’m going to make myself switch to Story O for hour 2. That’s the one I’m supposed to finish as quickly as I can. I really haven’t been devoting the amount of time to it as I need if I want to finish it as soon as I’d like, but it is what it is. I like the book, but it’s just not as interesting to me at the moment as Story Gf.

I’d like to avoid getting sucked into working on just one book for the moment. And although Gf is really attractive to me right now, I’m afraid I’ll slip back into bad habits if I stay on one book for all my sessions for too many days in a row, even if I’m driven to it by interest the first few days. I’m hoping to spread out my interest today and make a little progress on all my stories. :)

Finally, I am hoping to perk up my interest in Story O, and if that does happen, I’m going to try to slip in an extra hour or two for it between my other sessions.

So we’ll see how today goes. I’d like to write for 7–8 hours today and that’s asking a lot from myself! So I’d better get to work. :)

Hour 1: 929 words
Hour 2: 972 words | 1,901 cumulative 1
Hour 3: 967 words | 2,868 cumulative
Hour 4: 1,096 words | 3,964 cumulative
Hour 5: 894 words | 4,858 cumulative 2

1 Things are going slow. By this time, I’d hoped to be starting my 5th session, instead I’m about to start my 3rd. 6 more hours of writing tonight doesn’t seem likely. I’m not giving up yet though. :) If I can keep up my high wph, I could break through 6,000 with as few as 6 sessions (meaning only 4 more hours). If I can increase it, I could be done in as few as 3 more sessions. That’s asking a lot from myself, but it’s definitely something to aim for!

2 Well, I didn’t make it as far as I’d hoped today. I’m happy with what I got, of course, but I just ran out of steam earlier in the day and took too long to get back to writing, so I ran out of time. It’s bedtime, so maybe I’ll try this again tomorrow. Also, I’m a little disappointed that I ended up writing all those words on one book! And not the book I needed to write them for. So, bummer. But yay, too. Because 4,858 is a lot of words and I just can’t believe how it’s starting to feel normal for me to reach these kinds of numbers.

I think I might break my record today

Lynn

No pressure, and I’m definitely not saying I will but I feel good, the writing is going well, and I’m going to have some significant free time tonight, so the possibility is there.

This morning’s tally so far makes me optimistic. I’ve never written 6,000 words in one day and I’d love it if I did it today. :)

Hours Words Session WPH
1 1103 1103 1103

And YAY! I just discovered that the paste from Excel is working the way it used it and my table stayed together. The recent WordPress update must have fixed it. :)

And even better, those words in hour 1 were for my stalled out book. :)

Update: I ran out of steam at 4,798 words, so no record breaking day for me. That was 5 hours at 960 wph. I can’t say I minded. I’m enjoying writing too much to care. ;)

Not a word count success today, but closer than usual

Lynn

Here’s my progress. Getting closer to that 3,933 a day goal.

Story Hours Words Session WPH
R 1 1165 1165 1165
O 1 1624 459 459
G 1 2015 391 391
Gf 1 2780 765 765
O 1 3146 366 366
R 0.25 3335 189 756

Wish it wasn’t quite so late, because I’d keep writing. I know I could reach my goal. But I need my sleep if I want to feel like trying again tomorrow, and it’s already past my bedtime if I want 8 hours of sleep tonight.

Tomorrow I need to focus on not letting so much time slip past early in the day. I want to be able to write for 3–4 hours before lunch, and another 2–3 hours before late afternoon.

Making progress; accountability for yesterday’s and today’s writing

Lynn

Considering the day I had yesterday, I’m happy to say I wrote 1009 words yesterday. Most of that was in one session yesterday morning from about 7–8 am, on story R.

Today, I’m working to make up some word count, hoping I’ll get in 8 hours of writing. I’m sticking with what’s working. I’ll do 1 hour for each story: O, R, G, Gf, T, W, plus 2 extra sessions for story O. W is the book I’ve been struggling to finish, but it’ll happen when it happens. I rarely do so many hours of writing in a day, so it’s not a given, but I’m going to try. There’s also a chance I’ll have to be gone for a 4 hour stretch today and if that happens, the 8 hours is going to be really difficult. But I’ll worry about that if it happens. :D

For now, back to writing. I’ve been at it about 25 minutes, but an interruption threw me off a bit and I decided to write this post before I restarted.

Hour: words
1 (story T)
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

I’ll update as I work, because that’s how I like to do it. :)

Today’s progress report

Lynn

Hour #1 (Story O*): 218 words (notes below)
Hour #2 (Story R): 853 words
Hour #3 (Story G): 996 words (notes below)
Hour #4 (Story Gf): 587 words (notes below)
20 minutes extra on Gf: 349 words

Cumulative words: 3003
Cumulative wph: 693

Hour 1 notes

One hour down. Lots to go.

And unfortunately, I’ve been away from most of these stories so long that if the first one is any indication, my word count is going to be much lower today than I’d hoped.

*Stories I plan to work on today are: O, R, G, Gf, T, W. The letters are as good as any other label, so I’m using it. If it were to try something like story 1, story 2, I’d just get even more confused. At least this way, I can figure out what I’m talking about. By the way, W is the book I’ve been struggling to finish, and O is the book I need to finish this month.

I spent a lot of time just trying to get back up to speed and make some adjustments in the first 5000ish words I had already written.

(I discovered I had screwed up is what happened. I had edited the story the last time I worked on it, and when I read the opening today, it sucked. I pulled the oldest backup I had, and re-did the opening of the story the way it was the first time I wrote it. In my last writing session with this story, I’d gone way beyond fixing typos and making corrections. I don’t have anything against making changes to a story in progress when changes are needed, but changing what happens in a story isn’t the same as changing how I describe what happens. I’d gone in with a heavy hand and attempted to do the latter, and I should have known better. It never works out well for the flow.)

Hour 3 notes

My average words per hour is recovering a bit from that rough first hour. Also, apparently that first book has issues unrelated to getting back into the story, because I’m doing great with the others so far and I’ve had to get back into those too. But it’s now time to switch again. So, back to work! Here’s hoping the increase in speed holds out for the rest of my sessions. :)

Hour 4 notes

Hour 4 turned out to be my last hour. I just ran out of time. I definitely didn’t run out of interest. But I have a busy day tomorrow and I don’t know exactly how much writing I’ll get done so I can’t stay up later. One thing I know though is that I MUST do a better job of managing my use of time. Somehow I let loads of it slip past and ended up struggling (and staying up later than I wanted) just to get in 4 hours.

Less time, more words_v2

Lynn

Today’s plan is 8 hours of writing. 4 are my normal daily 4 hours. The other 4 are extra that I’d like to do to make up for some of the time I didn’t write this past week and because I’m just getting so close to finishing this book, I’d like to get on with it! Also, I’m dying without my tv. (I can’t crack on that rule and I won’t; it’s a practice in self-discipline. I said I wouldn’t watch tv until the book was done and I meant it.)

Sessions Log:
Hour 1: 443
Hour 2
Hour 3
Hour 4
Hour 5
Hour 6 (extra) (Seriously unlikely to happen at this point)
Hour 7 (extra)
Hour 8 (extra)

I want a minimum of 4,526 in 5 hours today.

If I write for 8, I could hit 6,464 words. That would be might highest one-day word count on one of my books in a day. It’s probably not going to happen but there’s absolutely no reason I can’t try. :D

Both goals will require writing more and writing faster.

Now, time to get to it. :) Will update as I have progress to report.

Update: final numbers were 788 words, 1.46 hours.

Less time, more words; goal today is 4,526 words in 5 hours

Lynn

Today’s goal

5 hours / 4,526 words / 905 WPH (still practicing: less time, more words) (I should make that my new mantra: less time, more words)

Hour 1: 800
Hour 2: 538 (Uh oh. That’s way too slow to reach my goal.)
Hour 3: 1,025 (That’s more like it!)
Hour 4: DNF (explanation below)
Hour 5: DNF (explanation below)
Extra hour?:

I have proven to myself several times over the last few successful days of writing that the caffeine was probably not the reason why I was hitting +1,000 WPH on this book a few weeks ago (before I decided to quit caffeine again). Whew. Gotta say I was a bit worried about that.

Well, I’m sorry to say I took a break after that last session, started reading a book as a way to clear my head a bit before I got back to work, and then just kept reading. It’s now 10:39 and there’s no time to get back to writing because I was supposed to get to bed 39 minutes ago (can’t get up at 6 every day if I don’t go to bed early enough to get my 8 hours!). On the other hand, I finished the book. The one I was reading, that is. :D I only wish I’d finished the one I am writing.

I tried to feel guilty for today’s disappointing results, but eh, I need to read more fiction right now anyway. It helps me enjoy writing more.

I could use some of that right now. :)

But that’s it for me. Tomorrow I’ll try again to do better with the schedule and with the words.

Here are the numbers.

Saturday’s session log

Minutes Words Session WPH
60 800 800 800
60 1,338 538 538
60 2,363 1,025 1,025

 

Not enough writing; obsessing over covers

Lynn

Yesterday I did too much obsessing over covers and not enough writing.

I tried to come up with a new style for my series that I’m having a cover designed for (really nervous about the possible outcome of that—I thought it would be a much more hands-off experience, but other than the art itself, I don’t love the cover I’ve seen—I haven’t liked the typography at all so far and I’m disappointed about that). I wish I could say I have faith in the designer, but the truth is, I’m just not sure. I like the designer’s portfolio but after a quick review last night to remind myself of that, I started to notice a distinct pattern to typography placement that does not fit what I have in mind for my series. In the end, I didn’t succeed in coming up with an alternate design I liked, and considering how hard it’s been for me to make these particular covers, it’s probably unrealistic to expect myself to do so without an excessive amount of obsessing over them.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally in the mood to obsess over my covers right now, but I also have a book that is getting really close to the end and I need it done three months ago. :D

So today I will write, at least for the morning hours.

Yesterday, I finished only two 40 minute sessions.

Yesterday’s session log

Block #1
Scheduled: 7:30–8:55 (40m, 40m)
Actual: 9:49–10:29 (40m)

Block #2
Scheduled: 10:30–11:55 (40m, 40m)
Actual: 10:30–11:34 (40m)

Block #3
Scheduled: 1:30–2:55 (40m, 40m)
Actual: none

I didn’t keep my table of word counts for some reason, so all I can say is I wrote 823 words in 80 minutes total for a pace of 617 WPH yesterday.

I also started reading another book—not one of my own. :)

Which brings up a point. I’m a bit worried about that. I usually love reading my own books and I’ve done anything I can lately to avoid them. :o And especially the first in the series of the one I’m writing now, and I really need to read that book again! I’m sure I’ve got stuff that I’m going to have to fix because I put it off and this book has taken so long to write that I’ve forgotten so much about the world.

I just don’t know what’s going on. :(

First 3,000+ words day in a while; schedule tracking

Lynn

I thought I’d track my schedule today, to see just how far from my planned schedule I end up, but it really didn’t work out. I forgot to record more half the data. :o

Block #1

  • Scheduled: 7:30–8:55 (40m, 40m)
  • Actual: 8:30–10:07 (40m, 40m)

Block #2

  • Scheduled: 10:30–11:55 (40m, 40m)
  • Actual: 12:07–

Block #3

  • Scheduled: 1:30–2:55 (40m, 40m)
  • Actual:

Still NO TV until I’ve finished my book. That’s been really hard on me, by the way. I miss TV something fierce. I have, however, read more fiction since the ban started. I’m really hoping to end this book this weekend so I can binge watch the latest season of Grimm. I’m hearing some good things about it, and since I put off watching because I was afraid it was going to be terrible, but I really do love the show, I’m really looking forward to this binge as a reward for finishing this book. If I don’t finish by at least midday Sunday, there’s no way I’ll have time to binge watch anything. I have another book to start right away that I can’t put off!

Today’s session log

Minutes Words Session WPH
40 502 502 753
40 1,207 705 1,058
2 1,248 41 1,230
40 1,871 623 935
40 2,368 497 746
40 2,868 500 750
11 3,051 183 998
213 Total minutes
3,051 Total words
859 Total WPH

Yay! for being over 3k today. It was my first since February.

Boo for not sticking it out and getting my full 4 hours. (Came in at 3.55 hours.)

I came up 27 minutes short. Those minutes would certainly have been enough to put me over my goal of 3,233 words, but it’s bedtime and I put it off too long. I shouldn’t even be writing this post. So… goodnight! I need my sleep after that 2 hour night the night before last!

About yesterday, book covers, a sleepless night, and work

Lynn

I started working on some book cover practice yesterday and got sucked in so I missed my last writing block.

I did a lot of thinking yesterday about some decisions I needed to make about covers. I’ve hired out the latest cover for one of my series. I’m so ambivalent about having done that that it’s driving me crazy. I committed, though, and I’m going to see it through.

The plan was to get the one cover, decide if I was ready to use it, then order the entire series redesigned. But the cover didn’t fit the book. It did, however, seem well-suited to the next one. So I had to decide if I wanted to commit to double the cost for two covers. In the end, I decided to go ahead. So I’ve actually commissioned two covers in that series at this point.

I probably shouldn’t have, because I’m still not sure I’m actually going to use the covers. But I want to use them. And how does that make sense, huh?

I think it’s because: (1) I like being in complete control of my publishing schedule. I can’t quite do that if I have someone else responsible for the covers; (2) I have certain expectations for how all of my covers work together and getting something from the designer means either I have to be very specific about my wants (maybe too specific to be easy to work with) or I’ll have to redo all my other covers to consolidate the branding. I’ve already run into a few issues, changed my mind about something, and now am not sure the designer is going to deliver something I’m going to be satisfied with.

In the end, I’ll just consider it a learning expense if that happens and I’ll use my own covers. (Let me be clear: the cover draft I’ve seen from the designer is great. That’s not the kind of satisfaction I’m talking about above.)

Just last night I was reminded of something I’ve said I believed (but maybe didn’t really believe, because I actually found myself surprised). I asked for and received some feedback on a few of my own covers (all variations for the same book) and surprise, surprise, it wasn’t the one that looked the most professional to me that got called the most eye-catching. That surprised me, to be honest. I thought one cover in particular was much stronger than the others, and one was much weaker, and yet the comments didn’t bear out my expectations.

And then I asked myself: why not?

I’ve said several times that once you get a certain level of decent with a cover, it doesn’t usually pay to keep trying to make it better, because it won’t really make much of a difference. I mean, yes, I do believe there are certain covers that just have something special that can attract a large quantity of people, but those are kind of like books: they happen by chance, they have a certain spark that can’t really be analyzed and recreated except on superficial levels. Then you hope for the best.

The only thing important after reaching “good enough to catch someone’s eye” is to signal to the right readers what’s waiting for them in the book.

So now I need to remember that—and use it to get past this horrible perfectionism that still ties me up when I’m working on a cover.

Finally, yes, I’m still off coffee and tea. But something’s got my brain working overtime, because I woke up at 2 am and couldn’t go back to sleep because of too much brain activity. Or maybe it’s the time change still screwing with me. Who knows? The end result is that I’m exhausted today and have a headache from a sleepless night, and I don’t really care why. I was miserable from 2 to 6.

Tuesday’s session log

Minutes Words Session WPH
40 515 515 773
40 766 251 377
40 1,157 391 587
40 1,654 497 746
160 Total minutes
1,654 Total words
620 Total WPH

My pace was down and I can’t really explain why, but I’m hoping I’ll do a bit better today. It’s 12:04 pm, though, and I haven’t even looked at my book this morning, so we’ll see.

Believe it or not, I’m making fewer typos than usual, despite the lack of sleep, and my words are flowing nice and fast.

It might be a good day to write, in spite of everything. :D

Today’s plan and a new schedule

Lynn

Here’s today’s plan. It also lays out the new schedule I’m giving a try. There’s a planned 5 minute break between each 40 minute session. (Updates in parentheses.)

NO WIFI until I’ve finished my first writing sessions. (Did that.)
NO WIFI during any writing sessions. (So far, so good.)

7:30–8:55
40m (40m, 536 words)*
40m (40m, 535 words)*
(Total so far: 1,071 words)

10:30–11:55
40m (40m, 561 words)*
40m (40m, 537 words)*
(Total so far: 2,169 words)

1:30–2:55
40m (40m, 470 words)**
40m (40m, 255 words)**
(Total words today: 2,894 words)

And yes, still NO TV until I’ve finished this book!

*I’m looking at my 2 blocks this morning and thinking wow. That consistency in output is startling for me. Also, my average words per hour is 813 at the moment, and it’s a caffeine-free number! :D

As long as I don’t bog down in the last block of writing sessions, I should make my 3,233 word goal today. I’m really hoping I can speed up a bit and write a few extra words too. :)

**Alright. I finished the day with less than my goal of 3,233, but those last two sessions were hard. I started much later than I’d planned, at nearly 4 pm and I was tired, and it shows in my word counts. The plan is to possibly do another writing session of indeterminate length later tonight if I feel like it to make up the difference between my word count and 3,233 (339 words). I just hate to end the day that close to true success. :D

I had intentions today

Lynn

I had intentions today, but apparently it wasn’t meant to be. Or maybe it was and I just found a way around it. :D

The fact is, I made a plan last night (will detail it tomorrow), and then tried this morning to work it, but, GAH!, the time change really messed me up this morning. I was off my routine from the moment I woke up and couldn’t get back to it. But I procrastinated well today and got a lot done. (No TV probably helped that!)

Only 27 minutes and 288 words of that was writing related. Well, except for going over an email from a cover designer and trying to decide if the cover made sense for one of my upcoming (unfinished!) books. I haven’t decided.

I actually think the cover would work well for a different upcoming book in the series, but suggesting that would pretty much commit me to the new look for the series, while just today I was doing my own mock-up practice cover for the book (oh, yeah, forgot about that being writing related work today too!) and trying to figure out why I still want to make my own cover despite having already committed to having one designed by someone else!

But—I do have a session log!

Minutes Words Session WPH
27 288 288 640

Too little writing but still better than average

Lynn

Yesterday I found myself, again, with fewer hours of writing than I had planned or hoped for. I wrote for 2 hours and spent most of the rest of the day working on getting ready to do my taxes. :D

Yes, I had quite a bit of clean up of my accounting to take care of so I could reconcile my accounts and compare my numbers to the 1099s I received. As far as all of that goes, I tend to put it off until I have about 3 months to catch up and then I catch it all up at once. I don’t want this to be my method, but it’s definitely turned out that way. I took the time to schedule time into my calendar for this every month, so we’ll see how that goes in the next few months. :D Maybe well—I can certainly hope!

Today, I still need to reconcile the bank statements for those last few months of the year and then I can move on to actually starting the tax return. Yay. (That’s sarcasm, just so you know.) :D

As far as yesterday’s writing goes, here are the session logs I recorded.

Minutes Words Session WPH
44 540 540 736
65 1,602 1,062 980
11 1,885 283 1,544
120 Total minutes
1,885 Total words
943 Total WPH

I can blame some of this slow down on the fact that my kids have been home for a long weekend. They’re still here today, but I’m hoping to overcome that and get my 4 hours in anyway. :)

Well, it’s 8:08 and I don’t want to start any later than it already is, so I’ll be back later!*

*I’ve noticed on short days I tend to keep hoping I’ll make up the time and hit my goal and update then, but on days I finish, I update right away. That’s what I’m going for today. :)

Not quite there but better than average

Lynn

I wrote 2,285 words yesterday in 3 hours. So although I came up short on my time and my quota for word count, I still did much better than my current all-time average daily word count of 665.

If I keep beating my average, my average will go up. ;)

Anyway, I’m getting a late start today and I have no excuse for that at all (and can’t actually understand how it happened either!) so I have to get started if I don’t want to fall even further behind with the day’s writing. I’d still like to finish at about 3 pm today!

Yesterday’s session log:

Minutes Words Session WPH
33 391 391 711
47 982 591 754
60 1,794 812 812
40 2,285 491 737
180 Total minutes
2,285 Total words
762 Total WPH