1k-a-day Final Word Counts and Thoughts

Day 31 word count: 588
SS final word count: 63 187
LI final word count: n/a
WS final word count: n/a
Untitled 1: 1551
Untitled 2: 2002
Skin of My Teeth: 1343

Tracy's 1k-a-day overall word count: I wrote 27 772 words for SS and the other untitled stories and bit for SOMT brought me up to 32 668. I'm glad that overall I made the word count, but if you factor in my cocky expectations (was going for 3k - 1k per project) I didn't do well. I'm not going to dwell on it though, I did write 30k in a month. Nice! I have a few weeks left before it's back to school, hopefully I'll continue to plug away at 1k.

It's bizarre - all the stuff life throws at you when you're doing a timed goal activity like this - our cat getting ill, power outages, gardening adventures, etc. But it's all part of the writing gig - finding a balance between the real world and the worlds we create.

I hope everyone was inspired by our challenge! Enjoy the giveaways. ;)


Day 31 word count: 2,670

Parlor final word count: 37,033

WD final word count:
Dream final word count: 2,212

Tami's 1k-a-day overall word count: 39,245

I have to say, this was my most successful 1k-a-day! I had a great time this month writing with everyone, and I hope you did, too. Thanks for participating and I hope those who won books (or will) enjoy them! I'll be sending out the batch of books/prizes this coming week.

I took this 1k-a-day from a different standpoint then I did the previous. Before, I was working with new ideas, writing 1st drafts which I love. This past month, I was in 2nd draft mode which isn't a favorite of mine. I struggle with the second draft because it's all about trying to see what you did wrong in the first. By the time you're done with the 2nd or 3rd draft, it's down to polishing and taking crit partners' comments to heart. I don't mind that, but the 2nd draft....ew. 1k-a-day helped me plod through. Trust me, I'm grateful for the guilt I felt when I didn't write or hit the 1,000 mark each day. It was great motivation to see all of your word counts, even on the days that you struggled along with me. It's amazing what a little push publishing your word count on a blog each day can do for you. I'm also amazing what writing each day can do for creativity. I was able to work through a few plot points that I didn't know how to solve and came up with my next book idea. I definitely can't complain.

Just because the month of July has now passed us by, that doesn't mean you can't continue to try and achieve 1,000 words each day. Even if you don't hit 1k, sitting down and writing even a sentence can do wonders for a story. It maybe the best or worst sentence you have ever written, but it's words to the end goal.

My favorite art teacher told me many times, You must keep going, even if your drawings are crappy because for every 100 drawings, you will produce one amazing piece of art. All the pain of the 100 is worth it for the one. I think the same thing can be said for writing. You have to get the crappy words/paragraphs/pages/drafts out before finding the gem.

So, join me in continuing the adventure of 1k-a-day. I will not be publishing my word count every day for the month of August, but trust me, I will be writing every day to hit my end goal.

I also want to thank my partner in crime, Tracy, for slogging through the month. I know we both had our ups and downs, but have a lot to show for it. I look forward to the month of August, more writing and starting to critique again.

For those of you not familiar with our normal blog format, please come back and check it out. We have new posts every Monday and Friday (sometimes Wednesdays as well) where we talk about all things writing and teen fiction.