Nov 11, 2024
This is the 50th post I have published in the last 50 days, which is a new record for me. That also means that I have been doing a daily challenge for 50 days.
I don’t talk about the blogging element of the challenge very often (nor the journaling part, which is currently at 29 consecutive days) for the simple reason it doesn’t seem that important. I am under no illusion that people are reading this, but it helps me to write it. Blogging every day gives me a sense of accountability which I strongly believe is one of the keys to the success I’ve had so far.
There have been days when I haven’t felt like writing, or have been tempted to give up on a story, but knowing that I will then have to admit as much here, or give up the daily blog posts and have them suddenly stop, has pulled me through.
Sometimes the blog posts have been very short, sometimes a little longer. They have always contained updated statistics on other challenges.
In other news, the first story of the challenge is now for sale on Amazon and free if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited. For now I’m not releasing it elsewhere but if you send me a message I’ll be happy to send you a copy as an ePub.
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Latest release: Sisterhood
Pre-Production
Stories planned (total): 27
Production
Words written today: 1,047
Words written total: 46,428
Plus / Minus target: +3,428
Currently writing: The Lottery
Post-Production
Minutes today: 22
Minutes total: 252
Plus / Minus target: +32
Currently publishing: The Last Outpost
Reading
Short story: Swamp Terror – Truman Capote
Essay: On Killing Charles Dickens – Zadie Smith
Poem: The Emporer of Ice Cream – Wallace Stevens
Nov 10, 2024
This morning I published my first short story of the challenge: Sisterhood. I am just waiting for it to go through the Amazon approval process and then I will share the link here.
It took me 230 minutes to get the editing and publishing process done. The first draft was 8,855 words long, so that means it took me 1.5 seconds per word to publish it. I’m not sure that’s a particularly helpful statistic.
Tomorrow I will add it to the website and then, if there is time, move onto editing The Last Outpost.
The writing is still going well, although it feels a bit like I’m struggling to reach a turning point but can’t quite find my was there. It’s not near the end yet, but it’s moving forwards.
I’m enjoying the reading challenge. I have a pretty good collection of short stories I’m working my way through but I want to mix in some more modern essays and poems, so I found some to download. I think this element of the challenge is going to be very interesting.
And that’s the end of the weekend.
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Pre-Production
Stories planned (total): 26
Production
Words written today: 1,049
Words written total: 45,381
Plus / Minus target: +3,381
Currently writing: The Lottery
Post-Production
Minutes today: 22
Minutes total: 230
Plus / Minus target: +30
Currently publishing: Sisterhood
Reading
Short story: Dip in the Pool – Roald Dahl
Essay: My County Right or Left – George Orwell
Poem: I Saw a Man Pursuing the Horizon – Stephen Crane
Nov 9, 2024
I decided to go for it on the Bradbury Reading challenge. At the bottom of this post I’ve added a section so you can see what I’ve read. It seemed appropriate to go with a Bradbury short story for day one.
Although I have an Enlish degree, I’ve never really gotten into poetry for pleasure. I’m not sure if that’s going to change during the course of this challenge or not, but I think I get something from reading it.
The way I was taught to read a poem is to read it at least five times. Once in your head, followed by three times out loud, then a final time in your head again.
This is not all the reading I will do in a day. I am also listening to the audiobooks of the Expanse series, and reading Unruly by David Mitchell. I don’t expect to read them any less because of this. This reading is extra, the time it takes will come from time I was otherwise spending online.
The writing is still going well. My current story is going to be the longest one so far, but that’s not a problem. On the editing side, I am just working on the product description fo Sisterhood, and will hopefully have that up for order next week.
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Pre-Production
Stories planned (total): 25
Production
Words written today: 1,056
Words written total: 44,332
Plus / Minus target: +3,332
Currently writing: The Lottery
Post-Production
Minutes today: 22
Minutes total: 208
Plus / Minus target: +28
Currently publishing: Sisterhood
Reading
Short story: All Summer in a Day – Ray Bradbury
Essay: Dentists Without Borders – David Sedaris
Poem: Dirge in Woods – George Meredith
Nov 8, 2024
I’m getting into the groove of writing now, but there’s still one piece missing: reading. It’s an important part of the writing process. If you don’t read, you can’t write.
I am reading every day, of course, but not as much as I would like. So, with the ongoing success of this writing challenge, I am thinking of adding a reading challenge.
It could be as simple as setting a daily amount of time for reading, but that doesn’t feel like the way I want to go. What I am currently drawn towards is what I’ll call the Bradbury Challenge.
Every day read one short story, one poem and one essay.
That seems like exactly the kind of challenge that would fit in with my writing challenge. It has the added benefit of being something I can do on a computer or on my phone that would prevent me using the internet so much.
I tried the Bradbury challenge once before and really enjoyed it. It was while I wasn’t working though, so my concern is whether I can find the time to do it now that I have a job. I should be able to. I could certainly stand to take some more time away from Reddit and doomscrolling the news.
I will give it some thought over the next few days and decide whether or not to commit.
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Pre-Production
Stories planned (total): 24
Production
Words written today: 1,013
Words written total: 43,276
Plus / Minus target: +3,276
Currently writing: The Lottery
Post-Production
Minutes today: 24
Minutes total: 186
Plus / Minus target: +26
Currently publishing: Sisterhood
Nov 7, 2024
I finished formatting my first short story this evening so it’s getting closer to the finish line. Tomorrow I will be making the cover. Its been a while since I’ve done one, so I am probably a bit rusty, but looking forward to flexing that muscle again.
One of the things I am having to think about now is how I brand these short stories and whether I do that around the challenge itself, or something else. I wrote a short piece about the challenge to go in the back of the books, but do I want the covers to reflect the challenge as well?
I don’t know is the answer, but will try and figure it out tomorrow. The good thing with stuff like this is that I can always change my mind later. If the other books I’ve published are anything to go by, there will probably be multiple covers over the years and, of course, they will get added to collections as well.
The writing is going well. I haven’t hit the point of feeling like I want to quit yet, which either means the story is a lot longer than I think, or I am getting out of this one without it. That would be the ideal scenario, but I can’t rely on it happening. Even if it does happen this time, each story is its own thing so it will probably happen again.
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Pre-Production
Stories planned (total): 23
Production
Words written today: 1,048
Words written total: 42,263
Plus / Minus target: +3,263
Currently writing: The Lottery
Post-Production
Minutes today: 22
Minutes total: 162
Plus / Minus target: +22
Currently publishing: Sisterhood
