This post isn’t really for you. It’s for me. Friends to whom I whine about my lack of progress: you know what to do.
Two years ago today, in my quest to avoid whatever I was working on, I added up what I’ve written over the years. Talking about Ray Bradbury’s million words, it went like this:
295,000 words for Eve
60,000 in Donte’s book
83,000 Taro
113,000 Rafe
64,000 Keen
51,000 Damsel
61,000 Joss
37,000 Xmas
17,000 on miscellaneous stories780,000 words in Eve’s galaxy. Not counting notes or false starts or cut scenes. But don’t be disappointed yet. Flame is 38,000 words. Fidelis is 6,000. Melissa…I dunno, forty some pages not in the computer. And somewhere back there is Natalia (I will find her again!) and Shelly (thankfully buried.) Both at least a hundred pages long (Shelly more probably two hundred…) Manes, complete at sixty pages and so good, but sadly lost…
But let’s forget those. If I don’t have the words in my computer, they don’t count. How about that.
Think that will keep me from my million words? Than let’s go ahead and add in my fanfiction. All 186,000 words of it.
780,000
186,000
038,000
006,0001,010,000
Oddly enough, here I am avoiding work again. So let’s see how many new words I have since then, shall we? Not counting the (zomg endless!) editing yet.
Hiro Book I: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 78,622
Hiro Book II:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 53,651
Embrace the Beast:Â 12,641
Not Gay:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 5,017
Fidelis (minus 6K) :Â 32,295
Barefoot Assassin:Â Â Â Â Â Â 1,853
Ben (new scenes):Â Â Â Â Â 10,961
Various bits:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 6,071
201,111
100,000 words a year? That’s not too bad, especially when you consider that yes, there was a lot of jumping around, but also: I finished (meaning, got to the end of the first draft) four works-in-progress in that two years. That’s two novels begun and finished, one short story, and Fidelis’ wordcount increased 8x to do it. Sure, I could do better–but remember, much of that time I spent editing. In the last two years I’ve edited:
Ben twice
Hiro Book I
Fidelis
Taro
Joss twice
Seven novels. While working full time, raising a kid on my own, and submitting at least a few queries.
Damn. That’s…not too bad?
I’ll just… be over here being awed. *applauds*
I was rather shocked myself. 😀
Wow. I guess it all adds up! 😉
Indeed! Imagine what I could do if I didn’t spend so much time wandering around the internets!
>_>