100 words for 100 days

I missed the end of 100 x 100.  Hell, I missed the last half thanks to my family’s and my own health issues.

But it was a glorious ride.  I wrote a phenomenal amount in the first half, 45,000 words in 50 days.  If I’d managed to finish, I would have been close to 100,000 words.  That, my friends, is an entire novel.

Kerryn and Matt both wrote summaries of their experiences, which I think you will find interesting.

Distractions are my writing kryptonite. Whenever I tried to write, even with a timer, surrounded by other people or the TV I couldn’t sink into the story and the words would be stilted and slow. I tried blocking the distractions out with music and sitting with my back to the TV but still my super-human hearing caught onto the other storyline. I have to physically remove myself from distractions so it’s just me, my story and my timer.

Kerryn Angel – 100 x 100 – Thank you

Before I did this challenge, I was aiming to write every day, but I just couldn’t manage it. This challenge really made me accountable, and I quickly got into the habit of writing every day without fail. If you have trouble writing daily, get a friend to keep you accountable. I found that it only took me a couple of weeks to get into the right habit.

Matthew Dodwell – 100 x 100: Lessons Learnt

Drop in and see what other lessons they have to share.

So, will I run 100 x 100 again?  I’m not sure.  If there’s interest out there I might.  Otherwise I will add it to the list of tools-that-have-helped-me-write, which also includes the Novel Push Initiative (NPI) and 750 Words.

100×100: halfway there

So it’s actually day 52, but I’ve been busy.  We’re in the middle of a mini-marathon (7,500 in 5 days) and I am struggling to get the words out.  But I’m persevering.

Stats so far:

Days Writing	52
Total Words Written So Far	40,881
Avg Words Written Per Day	786
Highest Count	1,923
Days Missed	4
Number of Days Remaining	48

I’ll have written almost a novel’s worth of words by the end.  Which makes me think it’s time to start another novel.  I’m currently writing a novella which wasn’t on my original plan for the year, but popped it’s head up and said “HEY!”  So, at least it will be out of the way by the end of the month.

I’m well and truly back into the writing groove.  Now I just need to sort out some sort of schedule so I can finish all these unfinished stories languishing on my drive, and I might actually feel like I’m making progress.

Yay for 100×100.  It got me out of the post-move inertia and back into writing like I should be writing.  Every day, regular as clockwork.

Hmm, clockwork…

Lifestyle changes

This challenge, by the pure length of it, is more like a lifestyle. You can’t put your life on hold for a third of the year like you can for a month. With all challenges it’s not just a word count or finished story you end up with but writing lessons and life lessons.

via No Excuses. Just Write.: 100 x 100 – Progress Post #3.

Kerryn makes an excellent point here.  The end result of a challenge like 100×100 is not words, it is a better understanding of yourself.

I’ve learned more about how I can fit writing into my new life.  I’ve learned when I am most likely to struggle and, more importantly, I’ve learned how I can overcome it.  I’ve learned that if I just sit down to write 100 words, exhaustion, stress, distractions just fall away.  I get into the moment and before you know it, the words are done.

I’ve also found that it takes me a lot less time than I thought to write 1,000 words.  I’ve been tracking my progress over at 750 Words.  Turns out that 1,000 words takes me about 40 minutes.  Which is nothing in the scope of an entire day.

If I can’t find 40 minutes a day to write, then I might as well stop writing.

There are 4 of us embarking on this challenge at the moment, and it’s been great to see the wordcounts grow from 100 a day to up to 1,000 as people hit their stride.

Want to challenge yourself?  Sign up and join in.

Progress post: 100×100

So 2 weeks into the 100×100 challenge, how am I doing?

Days Writing	14
Total Words Written So Far	5,096
Avg Words Written Per Day	364
Highest Count	1,923
Days Missed	3
Number of Days Remaining	86
Projected Total	31,304

Not bad at all.  Putting the butt in the chair every day (well, almost!) has resulted in 5k words in 2 weeks.

Of course, gone are the days when 5k was a couple of days worth of writing…

Oh well!  We work with the time we have.  My personal goal now is to write at least 500 words a day.  We shall see what the next 2 weeks bring.

How are you going?  What are your numbers like for the past 2 weeks?

Day 1 – 10

Well, first day and I did it.  I was surprised how easily the words came, once I sat down in a mindset to write.  I was not surprised to be interrupted before I’d hit 200 words.  But that’s okay.

Total for the day: 156.

Once upon a time that would have been a bad writing day.  How my life has changed that I am celebrating a measly 156 words!  But today it feels great.  Progress is progress, no matter how small the step.

How about you?  How did your writing go today?

PS!  I edited the post to cover the first 10 days, rather than clutter up my post stream with tiny-tiny posts.  So if you are participating, post your progress in the comments thread below.