365K in a Year: Update #3

September 29, 2016September 29, 2016 byjehunter3 Comments

So, it’s almost an entire month in, and I’m sure you’ve all been wondering how the crazy lady with the 365K words in a year goal is doing. Well, I’m great. Busy. Crazy, and have just fought of a cold, but I’m great. I am totally in love with fall right now, and plan on finishing reading Empire of Storms tonight. Things are looking up!

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But I haven’t been writing my 1K words a day. Instead, I’ve been rewriting. I’ve been finding it pretty difficult to split my focus between rewriting something and writing something new, so I’ve dropped drafting for the moment. I should finish up the rewriting today, which means I’ll be getting back at drafting 1K words a day. Overall, I’m still ahead of my goal, mostly thanks to one killer weekend. I’m planning a second one of those weekends, as there are two things I would like to finish drafting and rewriting before NaNoWriMo begins in November. Both of those projects are around 40-50% drafted, so this a goal that is highly achievable, especially since I’ve planned to have more dedicated writing time in October. Come November, things are going to get more difficult as I’m picking up more hours at my day job.

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When it comes to the other 3 goals, I have to admit I’ve gotten sidetracked (worked on more than the 5 pre-determined projects), I haven’t gone to gym even once (feeling horrible), but I am checking in on a Thursday, so that has to be worth something! One thing the check-ins are doing is making me very conscious of what I’ve been doing with my writing time. Next weeks chart should look a lot different, primarily because I’ve scheduled time to write in the upcoming week. So hopefully when you check back in, you’ll see how much farther I’ve come.

Till next week,

JEH

The 365K Words A Year Goal: Update#1 (Week 2)

September 16, 2016September 21, 2016 byjehunterLeave a comment

I said I would update on Wednesday. Last week I didn’t update and this week I’m doing it on Thursday. Maybe updates will move to Thursday? We’ll have to see moving forward. But the GREAT news is that I’ve been working so hard getting my 1K words a day written, that I’m up over 35K words! That’s almost 10%. I’m killin’ it. Mind you, I did the 3 day novel writing contest, which kicked my word count out of the park right off the bat, then I promptly had three 0 word count days in a row, but now I seem to be back on a steady pace. Here’s a glimpse at my tracker chart, where you can see how jumpy my days are.

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Today is going to be a minimal word count day, as I’m switching into rewriting mode as I move Doomed Seas one step closer to release. My 1,000 words are right now focused on finishing up Twisted Currents and writing another short Black Depths Novella, called Deep Heart. This fall is going to a mammoth of Black Depths Releases, and then I’m going to have a new project for you, which I will call TH, but first it will be NaNoWriMo, and a project I’m going to call MF, for now.

TH is drafted, but needs a rewrite. That project doesn’t count toward my 365K goal. DH and the remainder of TC do, however, which makes me think that I should be pulling up about even by the end of October, just in time to surge ahead again in November.

I would love to finish this goal over my target word count. And if I stick to my 1K a day writing goal, then I’ll currently finish 20K over target. Maybe NaNo will push that even further. I don’t know. What I do know is that it feels great at the end of the day when I’ve done my words. it also feels amazing to look at that spreadsheet and see my WCs way up there. It puts a big smile on my face. And I love smiling.

How’s your writing going these days?

Blogging · Self-Publishing · Writing Goals

My September New Year Goals and Challenges

August 30, 2016September 21, 2016 byjehunterLeave a comment

I haven’t been a student for a long time, but September has continued to feel much more like a New Year to me than the much more celebrated date in January. Maybe it has something to do with the season change come September, or all the new school supplies I still buy (hello, notebooks!), but I just love this time of year. Fall always brings with it a new start, and this year I’ve decided to set some new goals. I’ve been talking about it for a few weeks now, and as it’s almost the end of August, I’m finally going to tell you just what it is I’m planning.

Here’s my cat sitting on my goal book. Is he trying to deter me? I won’t let it happen!

I’ve been getting busier and busier. I’m getting ready to wrap up the Black Depths Universe (for now, at any rate), and have new drafts that need rewriting. I also have a storm of ideas in my head that need writing. This all adds up to one thing: I need to get to work!

So here’s what I’m going to do:

I’m pledging to myself that I will write 1,000 words everyday, for a total of 365,000 words from September 1, 2016, to September 4th, 2016. Why September 4th, you ask? Because that will be the end of the 3-Day Novel Writing Contest 2017, which—just in case I fall behind on this massively huge goal—will give me the chance to make a mad dash to the end. But, I’m truly hoping that pledging to write a modest 1,000 words a day will become habit, and therefore highly achievable.
I will use that 365,000 words to finish 5 pre-determined projects which have been banging around my space in various stages of completion for the past couple years. I’m not coming up with anything new in the next twelve months. Or rather, I’m going to keep new ideas to simple jot-notes and very vague detailing. I’m not going to get sidetracked *firmly crosses-arms*. I’m going to stay ON TASK.
I will go to the gym once a week (or run). Yeah, this has nothing to do with writing. But I’m putting it down here anyway because it’s important. And I’m only pledging once a week because I do have 1,000 words to write a day. Also, going from 0 to 1 seems like a pretty big jump, I’ll have to see how I handle it.
I will check in on my blog once a week to update my goal progress (I’m shooting for Thursdays—we’ll see how that works).

Alright, those are my goals. As I’ve said, i’ll update here once a week to make sure I stay on track. If you feel crazy enough to join me in any or all of the above goals, comment on the post, and after each weekly post you can check in, too.

Next week, after a massive start doing the 2016 3-Day Novel Writing Contest, I’m going to update about one of those 5 pre-determined projects. Now, Ready, Set, Write!

JEH

J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Broken Tide, the first two books of the series can be found on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016, after Dead Water and Doomed Seas, two Novellas featuring Caesar.

Blogging · Writing Goals

Heading for 3-Day Novel Craziness

August 25, 2016September 21, 2016 byjehunterLeave a comment

Well, here I go again. Ten years ago I participated in my first ever 3-Day Novel writing contest. I wrote, I hiked Lake Louise, I stayed up all hours of the night, and I got something done. I loved it. But it was a crazy and insane three day week. So I’ve decided to do it again.

Yep, you heard right, and it all has to do with my September New Year plan that I’ll be revealing next week. And also to get out this little idea I’m calling The Crazy Lady and The Crow, or maybe, The Crooked Lady and the Owl, or possible, The Twisted Hag and the Spin of Fate…. So many possibilities.

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Want to share about of the craziness, have an idea you want to get out? Check out the 3-Day Novel Writing contest Website and all it has to offer. My favorite is the survival guide.

Then go get yourself some supplies, you want it.

JEH

J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. The first three books of the series: Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, Broken Tide, and Dark Shores can be found on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016, after Dead Water and Doomed Seas, two Novellas featuring Caesar.