As I mentioned in a previous post, one of my writing goals for 2013 is to write 200,000 words of fiction. While that sounds like a lot, it's actually only 550 words a day. Quite doable.
Despite it being doable I only just passed the halfway mark last week. Yesterday I counted and found I'd done 101,330 words. Of course we're more than halfway through the year but my pace is picking up. Part of this is, sadly, because I have less work at Gadling. A change in editorial direction means they will be publishing much less travel writing.
So what have I been working on? A book set in the same world as A Fine Likeness, some short stories, some other work I don't want to talk about yet, and of course my Tangier novel. That last one made up for a whopping 26,000 words of my total, written in an intense ten-day retreat.
Back to work, only 98,670 words to go!
Home to author Sean McLachlan and the House Divided series of Civil War horror novels. A Fine Likeness, the first in the series, is available now. This blog is dedicated to the Trans-Mississippi Civil War and historical fiction, and occasionally veers off into adventure travel when I go somewhere interesting.
Looking for more from Sean McLachlan? He also hangs out on the Midlist Writer blog, where he talks about writing, adventure travel, caving, and everything else he gets up to. He also reproduces all the posts from Civil War Horror, so drop on by!
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Halfway to my goal of writing 200,000 words of fiction in 2013
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Congratulations. Keep up the great work
ReplyDeleteCongrats on reaching a mid-point, I'm impressed. Yes, 500 or so words a day is something I do (James Scott Bell recommends at least that every day, too). I try.
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad about Gadling doing less travel posts, I enjoyed reading your posts on Iraq and some others. Any reason given?
There's been a shift in editorial and they've suspended feature writing (which is what I mostly did) until further notice. Also they've reduced the number of newsy stories per day. Right now Gadling's future is very uncertain.
DeleteSorry Gadling isn't using you as much, but now's a good time to take advantage of the free time. Keep writing!
ReplyDeleteThis is great news, and my hat's off to you, Sean.
ReplyDeleteI must admit, I'm having serious motivational issues this summer, despite taking almost half of it off from work. A combination of factors has just had me in the writing doldrums, although I'm hoping for a bit of a breeze in my sails this August. Once I finish my current project, I've got quite the laundry list of ideas I'd like to take a crack at before the end of the year.
Here's to writing a little bit every day, all the way through 2013!
200,000 words??!! OMG. I've written about 5k in the past month and that's the first time I've written in a year. (Long story. Don't ask.) I'm glad you're pressing on with such an ambitious goal, and wish you tons of luck (and coffee and inspiration). :-)
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