The chronicles word counter!

Huh. Slacker.

You know, I once did 40k in two weeks and thought I was the shizzle, as we say in the hood, but this is something else.

Can I borrow your brain, strictly for research purposes? You can have mine - it mostly works okay as long as you ignore the marshmallow cravings.

*eats marshmallows*

(Seriously, though, good going!)
 
Thanks @Wruter.

It is tough. Takes a good amount of discipline, and a lot of prior planning on my part, depending on genre and story it ranges from a good amount to a truck load (also it was brought to my attention last year sometime that my plans might be closer to first drafts than not).o_O
But worst of all is the toll it takes on my back and knees haha. Sitting in the same ish position for 7-8 hours a day on my couch. Last year i genuinly needed knee braces by the end of it... granted I probably don't have the best posture, but I'm not even 30 yet!:eek:

Lastly, I'm afraid my brain is still on the clock, though after February feel free, I'll be cerebrally hijacked by my playstation for a while :whistle:
 
LittleStar said:
Title: All About Alys
Genre: Romance
Current Wordcount: 39,953
Projected Wordcount: 40-45k
Start Date: 1st Jan 2017
End Date : 8th Jan 2017

All About Alys - 1st-8th Jan.

Status: Day Six

Done. All About Alys is completed. First draft at least, and darn it all if I didn't come under my wordcount by 47 words! Mabe I should go add a few more in eh? Was a bit more than half a day to finish the last few scenes, but I got it done on time. Six days good (not flawless) discipline and I'm happy with it.

I do still think that framing it might give an extra punch to the story, but that will come in a redraft later this year sometime (or later in Feb if all other redrafts and edits go massively better than planned).

Now a break for the rest of the day I think, and a victory bourbon (the biscuit, not the drink), then tomorrow I'm back on the road to first draft city, Autonomous.

(y)
Click to expand...

Congrats! Finishing a draft is always exciting. I am quite impressed with how fast you turned out 40k words. (If only I wrote as fast... Le sigh.) Hahaha. Super happy for you!
 
Title: Autonomous
Genre: Gothic-ish Fantasy
Current Wordcount: 7,327
Projected Wordcount: 20k
Start Date: 11th Jan 2017
Projected End Date 13th Jan 2017

Status: Day One-ish

So not project two of my own little writer's retreat. I'd planned to star this on Monday, but life (damn passport office!) stole my morning and left me very much not in the mood to write for the afternoon, but I did managed to get down about 800 words, just to make a start.

Today however I was back to normal and had a full day of writing on it. Getting me up to somewhere close to halfway, it's only a long short/short novella story so will be drafted quickly. I do have reservations about it though, cheifly concerning it being 1st person (not my prefference) and the MC being largely emotionally detached. So it's difficult to get the nesecarys into the POV.
This will need a good about of work in edits/redrafts, and may not even work then. A shame because I quite like the story, but everything i write can't work out can it as well as I hope I guess.

But it'll be another story released from my brain, giving the others a chance to spread and evolve.


(y)
 
LittleStar said:
Title: Autonomous
Genre: Gothic-ish Fantasy
Current Wordcount: 7,327
Projected Wordcount: 20k
Start Date: 11th Jan 2017
Projected End Date 13th Jan 2017

Status: Day One-ish
Click to expand...


Genre: Gothic-ish Fantasy
Current Wordcount: 16,960
Projected Wordcount: 20k
Start Date: 11th Jan 2017
End Date 13th Jan 2017

All About Alys - 1st-8th Jan
Autonomous - 11th-13th Jan

Status: Day three

The end of project two of my retreat came on time though a little shorter than planned... Though there is still a great deal that needs to be done with this one before its ready for anything but my enjoyment (if indeed it gets chosen to be taken to any further stage). and even if it doesn't then the upside of my working so quickly n these mo thesis that it's n,y a few days used up :whistle:

I managed up to the 12k mark yesterday, and rounded the last few chapters off today bringing the total wordcount up to just shy of 17k. Despite its shortcomings, I'm relatively happy with it (I live the names of the characters, so if this goes no further I will most definately recycle them (names or perhaps even characters if the story fits)).

Now for a day of rest (day job) tomorrow and back to umm... 'Resting' on my couch with computer in hand on Sunday. This time it's a reworking of last Aprils 300 worder (the one with the bird skeleton) into a children's book. So a very different change of pace, but hopefully it won't be too difficult to get into.

On a side note: that's something I did find when writing All Aout Alys and then Autonomous, as opposed to my four book series last year. The act of switching books, genres and characters is so much harder than I expected, rather than following the same characters/plot through a four book series. Partly why my wordcount is less this year, I suppose, is because of the quick switching of focus and therefore my slow-to-follow interest. I wasn't quite expecting it.


(y)
 
Title: Come With Me
Genre: Uh... picture book
Wordcount: 764

All About Alys - 1st-8th Jan
Autonomous - 11th-13th Jan
Come With Me - 15th-16 Jan

Status: Day Two

Come With Me is complete.
It was so different from my past projects, aside from my a few pieces of poetry from a few years ago (I find rhyming poetry a little forced) I don't write in verse, but stopping to think about each word, sometimes for ten or twenty minutes at a time, really brought it back how fun writing poetry can be. I may start that again sometime in the spring.

As for this project, the writing came quickly, and then the pouring over the sentences took the long time. But I finished it with time in my day to spare on the 15th, with my partner beta reading it today, and a redraft being put out soon afterwards. So it is complete. As complete as I'm going to get it.
I will maybe look to the Writer's Group here on the Chrons, in a few days t see if there is anyone willing to give a quick beta for a sub 1k piece, and then I'll be looking to submit after comments :eek:

My next project isn't hoping back nt the realm of adult fiction just yet, and im staying with picture books, a four book series ths time... though there are certainly darker and more adult themes, I have been wondering if there is a class of adult picture books. (n)
I suspect they won't be as verse-y as Come With Me, maybe more along the ones of prose with a few rhymes thrown in for funsies, and a little longer, maybe 1-2k each... Though these projects are still quite up in the air as far as how they will turn out. Maybe full verse, maybe half, maybe none, maybe long, maybe short! Wo knows?
So I will decide on the day job tomorrow and begin on Wednesday :)

(y)
 
Title: Where Do You Go?
Genre: Picture book again?
Wordcount: 5204

All About Alys - 1st-8th Jan
Autonomous - 11th-13th Jan
Come With Me - 15th-16 Jan

Status: Day One

So another children's book, though a series this time (though currently all are called Where Do You Go?:confused:) There are four in the series, and I just polished off the first draft of book three now. They went pretty quickly, being an hour, two at most, for each draft. They sit at 1918, 1801, and 1485 respectively. Book 4 shall be drafted tomorrow, probably around the same word count, I'd imagine.

And these might have gone to the top of my redraft list in February, partly because they are short enough to make it a less daunting task, but also, despite teething problems with how exactly I was going to write them, (verse, prose, rhymed prose etc.) which was sorted out but he start of book 2, I felt they had the heart and power that I wanted to get into the stories.

This is what I strive to get in anything I write, though more often than not I fall short. So I'm glad that the bones of it are there, now I just need to excavate around them to bring the heart out.
So all in all, I'm pretty happy with my days work!

(y)
 
LittleStar said:
Title: Where Do You Go?
Genre: Picture book again?
Wordcount: 5204

All About Alys - 1st-8th Jan
Autonomous - 11th-13th Jan
Come With Me - 15th-16 Jan

Status: Day One
Click to expand...

Title: Where Do You Go?
Genre: Picture book again?
Wordcount: 6616

All About Alys - 1st-8th Jan
Autonomous - 11th-13th Jan
Come With Me - 15th-16 Jan
Where Do You Go? - 18th-19th Jan

Status: Day Two

Just a little bit of writing to get done today to finish the last book in the series. Another 1500 words or so, and the series was done. I'm really looking forward to making these ones shine as much as I can. And maybe they aren't the picture books I first imagined, but they certainly have what I was looking for in them. Tempted to call them adult picture books and have done with it.

But that's another project draft complete, and I'm onto the next on Sunday (couple of days break because of work and life). This will be another 15-20k project, a SF, as yet untitled.
It's the last of my writing planned out for this two months, after it comes the dreaded redrafts and edits of last years series... The first of which my partner has just finished critiquing. So at least I'll go into it with some very good, detailed notes for improvement.

(y)
 
LittleStar said:
Title: Where Do You Go?
Genre: Picture book again?
Wordcount: 6616

All About Alys - 1st-8th Jan
Autonomous - 11th-13th Jan
Come With Me - 15th-16 Jan
Where Do You Go? - 18th-19th Jan

Status: Day Two
Click to expand...


Title: Untitled (literally saved as 'Clone Maker Guy')
Genre: Sci-Fi
Wordcount: 11,942
Start Date: 22nd Jan 2017

All About Alys - 1st-8th Jan
Autonomous - 11th-13th Jan
Come With Me - 15th-16 Jan
Where Do You Go? - 18th-19th Jan

Status: Day Two

Day two of my sci-Fi novella, and it's turned into a short story. My writing is slowing up, coming to he end of the projects, with just shy of 6k on day one, and the same today. I had thought this was going to be around 20k or so, but with just maybe 3-4k to write, it'll come in short of that.

With editing I'm ight be able to get this one down to sub 10k. And if I think it's good enough try peg it online as a short. The writing is going much better for this one than it did for Autonomous a couple of weeks ago, the plot and characters seem to be easier to handle and coming in their own with less forcing. Which is a good sign.

This will be finished on Wednesday this week, and I'll be then on to editing Beneath Imagined Skies from last year.


(y)
 
LittleStar said:
Title: Untitled (literally saved as 'Clone Maker Guy')
Genre: Sci-Fi
Wordcount: 11,942
Start Date: 22nd Jan 2017

All About Alys - 1st-8th Jan
Autonomous - 11th-13th Jan
Come With Me - 15th-16 Jan
Where Do You Go?(Books 1-4) - 18th-19th Jan

Status: Day Two
Click to expand...

Title: Untitled (literally saved as 'Clone Maker Guy')
Genre: Sci-Fi
Wordcount: 15,970
Start Date: 22nd Jan 2017

All About Alys - 1st-8th Jan
Autonomous - 11th-13th Jan
Come With Me - 15th-16 Jan
Where Do You Go?(Books 1-4) - 18th-19th Jan
Untitled - 22nd-25th Jan

Status: Day Three

The last time I'll hijack the thread... Until next year. Promise :whistle:

So that's another project wrapiped up:cool: and all of my first drafts done for my 'writers retreat' (hermitage in my living room):alien:

The project was a pretty good one I think, and there is definately potential for editing and taking forwards. And as I said in the last post I might try trim it down under 10k (as if my editing skills extend to deleting words!:ROFLMAO:) But either way it's not at the top of my list for now.

This month has been a lot easier than last year's, not least because i haven't pushed myself as hard. By this time last year I'd written somewhere around the 140k mark I think, whereas I'm probably sitting at 80-90 now. Extra breaks, not as slave-drivery and generally not forcing myself as hard (as I didnt need to prove to myself I can do it) but still a very productive month for me.

Now it is on to beta notes for Beneath Imagined Skies tomorrow and into edit mode. This is the unknown waters for me. I might get one project done over feb, or maybe the absolute top aim of 1 full redraft and 5 tidies enough for my partner to read through.
But that is waaay pushing it. Right?:whistle:


(y)
 
Sequel to Origin Stories, titled Secret Identities, has just hit 78,634 words.

Some of those words won't stay in Book 2, since they're part of the Grand Finale, which won't happen until Book 3 or possibly 4.

Doesn't matter. Words are good.
 
Untitled (I'm crap at titles) Dark Lord WiP currently at 41,886 words and just under two thirds done - I think.

Now just to wrap up the last third after a tricky plot hump of how to get a Medusa to kiss a peach stone - don't ask it does make sense in the long hail.

I hope :)

Note: @Jo Zebedee - I'd give it a read but I'm taking a trip through post alien invaded Belfast at the moment to someplace called Inish Carraig.
 
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Novel: Israel Falls
Pitch/logline/hook: When Israel Falls Nursing Home, is struck by an anti-aging bomb, LAPD Detective Henry Wilson becomes an unwilling participant in a cosmic battle between two distraught time travelers.
Genre: Time Travel/Fantasy
Word Count: 10,082

Status: 1/8 done. Keeping pretty close to the original outline I've had for this story since starting a few months ago but it's based off a ten year old idea I've had. It's the work that I'm the most proud of. My passion project. That one novel I have in me to write, finish, and publish. Yes, I've been working on this world for ten years. Usually when I get to this point I run out of ideas, but the character development and mythology is coming together nicely. I tied all four character intros together quite nicely. It's making as much sense as I want it to and still has legs. The good thing is I have tons of notes to pull from, from other story-lines and false starts.

I just finished chapter 3. It was very trippy. Described time travel for the first time, ever. I plan to post that up when I get to 1000K posts here for a critique. I look forward to sharing it with everyone.
 
Last edited:
Luiglin said:
Untitled (I'm crap at titles) Dark Lord WiP currently at 41,886 words and just under two thirds done - I think.

Now just to wrap up the last third after a tricky plot hump of how to get a Medusa to kiss a peach stone - don't ask it does make sense in the long hail.

I hope :)

Note: @Jo Zebedee - I'd give it a read but I'm taking a trip through post alien invaded Belfast at the moment to someplace called Inish Carraig.
Click to expand...


Oooh, I hope you enjoy it - esp since you know the city a little!
 
How many words should a chapter be? How many words should a Sci-Fi novel be?

I ask because what I'm working on now began as a prologue but is becoming kind of a short Novel or long Novella and will probably clock in around 50,000 words over 6 chapters.
 
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