2-12-2020

December 2, 2020December 2, 2020 Peter Germany Life, Lifestyle, Nanowrimo, Planning, Preparation, Writing Goals, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, Life, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life, Writing Space

Good evening, folks!

Yesterday I wrote 269 on Black Blood (NaNo 2020 project) before I got the bad news. Today I have managed to write 406 despite forgetting I had a two hour appointment tonight that I also hadn’t prepped for. So very little time to write, which was my own fault!

I have figured out my goals for the month and I need to start thinking about what I want to have done by this time next year. It’s something I need to really think about.

Something else I’m going to try and start doing is writing these blog posts from my desk. It’s the same as writing, when I’ve got my arse in the chair I write better. I think I’ll write deeper and more insightful blog posts doing the same. I might even start proof reading them before hitting publish!

Each night I’m going to try and do a list of jobs for the next day as well. I’ve tried this before, but I’m going to give it a real go this time around.

A lot of this revolves around me getting my arse in the chair, with the aim of an hour a day. So come on folks, don’t feel shy in calling me out if I report that I haven’t done it. I know there will be times due to work that’ll it’ll be difficult, but then I need to find ways of being productive during my lunch break again. On days with long work shifts even half an hour is going to be of use.

I’ve also got to learn how to look ahead with my work schedule and adjust targets in accordance with that. For example; if I’ve had a lot of hours one week I know I’ll start getting worn out by the end of that working week, so why not give myself a lighter writing load to compensate for that?

I know I can do all of this, I’ve just got to execute it.

1st Of December 2020

December 2, 2020 Peter Germany Editing, Life, Mental Health, Nanowrimo, Planning, Preparation, Writing editing, Goals, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, Life, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Scrivener, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

I had some bad news today which took the wind out of my sails a little.

I had got some words written but I have tallied them up, and when I do I know it’s not going to be many.

I’m not going into details, it’s that one part of my life I don’t discuss in public spaces.

Back to the writing side of things. I did manage to set my goals for the month and put them on my dry/erase board. I’m thinking a lot about my NaNo story and the little details that’ll need adding in for the second draft. I’m probably going to finish this draft and then transfer it to Scrivener and back it down to scenes (haven’t got chapters sorted yet), and then I can rewrite the ones I know I need to and add and take anything else that it might require.

As with any NaNo project (well, of mine anyway!), I’ve got a lot of work to do on it to bring it up to an acceptable standard. The system I’m trying to refine is a four draft system: 1st draft, digital edit, paper edit, final draft. I’m not sure that’ll be how I end up working but that’s an aim at the moment. With a NaNo storey though, that first draft is going to be a lot tougher than a normal first draft. I’ve left maybe three quarters of the grammar and spelling mistakes and there’s a problems like characters being forgotten about, sub plots being left unresolved when I wasn’t intending for that to happen.

But, it’s NaNoWriMo. I know that’s the case. I know there’s a big cleanup coming and, honestly, I’m quite looking forward to it.

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Thirty- Lets Do THIS!!!

November 30, 2020 Peter Germany Life, Nanowrimo, Writing Indie Writer, Indie Writers, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Comunity, Writing Journal, Writing Life

Here we are, the last day of NaNoWriMo for 2020. I need almost 7000 words to hit 50k and get nearer to wrapping this draft up.

I know I’m not the only person in this situation and I’m not going to break myself to hit the magical 50k but I’m going to give it a good go.

It’s not quite 9:30am and I’m looking to be closing my laptop at 6pm at the latest as I have an early work shift tomorrow.

So let’s fucking do this!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twenty-Nine

November 29, 2020November 29, 2020 Peter Germany Cat, Nanowrimo, Writing Cat, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

Good evening. Only 209 tonight, but then I wasn’t expecting to get much more. My aim was simply to pass the 43000 word mark which I did. Tomorrow I’m aiming for a big day of words, but will not push myself to exhaustion. When I hit the wall, I hit the wall. What I’m not going to do is try to push through because that rarely works out for me.

Looking at it now, I’ll be happy with another 2000 words.

I won’t stop writing come Tuesday. This story still needs to be finished, I still have other projects to work on. So I’ll be cracking on, but I will maybe look at other types of targets to hit.

Right, that’s me done for the night.

Good night all, and don’t forget to be awesome!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twenty-Eight

November 29, 2020 Peter Germany Cat, Life, Nanowrimo, Writing Cat, Goals, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, Life, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

I really don’t want to give you folks a summery of yesterday’s word count, because it was rubbish! But here it is….171 words for the day.

I know, that’s more than I had at the start at the day, but I’m disappointed in myself. I know I was tired, but I had times when I could have got a few more words down. I really need to sit down and plot out my days better. When I’ve got a busy week I need to pick out when I can write and make the most of the time I’ve got. I know I’ve said that before, I just need to pull my head out of the sand and do it.

The cats in harmony, which lasted a few minutes but better than nothing!

To hit 50,000 words for the month I need to write 7,204 by midnight tomorrow. This is not me being pessimistic, but I’m not going to hit the 50k. I have written that in a day, but I don’t want to be comatose afterwards. I’ve got tomorrow off, and I’m going to give it a good go, but I’m not going to burn myself out over it.

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twenty-Seven

November 27, 2020November 27, 2020 Peter Germany Dog, Life, Lifestyle, Nanowrimo, Writing Dog, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, Life, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

1103 today. I was aiming for 2000 but I hit the wall and I’m trying to listen to my body more and instead of pushing that bit further I called it a day.

I have to understand my limitations better, understand just how much I can push myself and when I do need to back off.

I need about 8000 words by midnight on Monday. Can I do it? Honestly, I don’t know but I’m going to try!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twenty-Six

November 26, 2020 Peter Germany Cat, Writing Indie Writer, Indie Writers, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

A very tired human being here. I wrote a little under eight hundred words tonight.

I kind of sacrificed today. As I was wiped out when I finished work I got my head down and slept this afternoon. I’m going to have a hard push tomorrow and then I won’t get much done over the weekend and then have a super push on Monday.

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twenty-Five

November 25, 2020 Peter Germany Movies, Nanowrimo, Writing Indie Writer, Indie Writers, Life, Movies, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Spirited Away, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

Just 470 words today. Im under target properly for the first time this month.

After work I got home and was hit with a nasty headache which wiped me out for most the afternoon. So I watched Spirited Away, then had an appointment and then wrote a pep talk for NaNo and then, finally got some words out.

I set myself a couple of small additional goals for NaNo this year, one of them was writing everyday. So far, I’ve kept that up.

I’m going to wrap up here. I’ve still got a touch of that headache, although it’s slowly eased off as the afternoon and evening have progressed. But I’m also falling asleep as I type this.

So good night all, and rock on!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twenty-Four

November 24, 2020November 24, 2020 Peter Germany Nanowrimo, Writing Goals, Horror, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

Right! A super quick post so I can declare my intentions for todays writing. I’ve spent this afternoon working on things that needed doing but it has left me feeling wiped out, but I still need my words. So, I’m going to do three sprints with my local NaNo group and get the 1639 words the NaNo site says I need.

I’ve got five minutes till the first sprint begins. I will check back in later tonight and let you all know how I’ve done.

Good or bad!

NaNoWriMo 2020: Day Twenty-Three

November 23, 2020November 23, 2020 Peter Germany Books, Horror, Horror Writer, Life, Nanowrimo, Short Fiction, Uncategorized, Vampires, Writing Horror, Horror Anthology, Horror Book, Indie Writer, Indie Writers, It Came From The Darkness, Max The Brave Fund, NaNo, NaNo Kent, Nanowrimo, NaNoWriMo 2020, Red Cape Publishing, short fiction, Short Stories, Word counts, Writer, Writer Life, Writers, Writers Community, Writers Journal, Writers Life, Writing, Writing Community, Writing Journal, Writing Life

So, today was a good day. I finished up with 3724 words for the day, which puts me a little above where I need to be. So yeah, I’m back ahead but that doesn’t mean anything come tomorrow when I need to be hitting a good 2000 words again.

I also spoke to an editor I know and we’ve agreed a date for her to edit the novella I’m working on. And I’ve had an update from the gentleman who’s doing the cover for it, and seen it so far and I am stoked!

I’m working through till next Monday, with some long hours over the weekend, so I’m not counting on getting any words done then. I am off on Monday, but I’d like to be ahead of the game before then. So that means a solid few days writing between now and Saturday. I also have an appointment Wednesday night, which’ll be a couple of hours. That’ll also require a couple of hours of preparation tomorrow. So I’ve a lot to do, not including everyday stuff away from those things.

Can I do it? Yes, I bloody well can!

This is the final piece of my work that has been printed. My story ‘Dark’ in the ‘It came from the darkness‘ anthology was one I was invited to submit to and I was very proud to have been. It is a collection of drabbles and poetry from many big names and I was very humble when I saw who I was alongside in it and hoped my story didnt let the anthology down. Like many of my published pieces it is in an anthology that is raising money for charity, and I really don’t want to put up a piece which isn’t my best work. This got accepted, which tells me I did a good job (the publishers, Red Cape Publishing have published one of my stories and rejected another one. So I know they don’t take something they either don’t like or isn’t good enough). I can’t really say too much about the story, seeing as it’s a drabble which is a hundred word story, there’s not much I could say that wouldn’t spoil it.

Right, I’m off to bed. I hope everyone is doing well and keep cracking on, folks!

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My Journey In Life And The World Of Writing

NaNoWriMo 2020