It’s May 31st, 2015. Week twenty one of writing 1,000 words per day of fiction. It’s time for another update!

Days 144 through 150 have been successes, with a minimum of 1,000 words per day written.

Stats for Days 144 to 150:

Day 144 – 1231 words
Day 145 – 1107 words
Day 146 – 1040 words
Day 147 – 1585 words
Day 148 – 1186 words
Day 149 – 1349 words
Day 150 – 5178 words!

Total count for the year thus far is 200,256 words, putting me 50K above my goal by this point in the year! Average daily word count is 1,335 words.

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT –  Gridfall is at 174,572 words. This is the final word count for Gridfall, because it’s done. The rough draft of my biggest project to date is complete! 100%. 

Obviously I went a little ballistic on Day 150, aka Yesterday. I made the decision earlier in the week that if I felt like I was in the home stretch, truly, I’d sit down on Saturday and knock out as many words as humanly possible to see if I could get myself completed. And somehow I managed it. It’s a weird feeling.

I’ve finished novels before. Some were sprints the whole way, 2,000 to 5,000 words a day until they were done. This one was measured, paced, relatively organized. Crossing the finish line does not feel like the exhausting quagmire as it usually has in the past.

That is not to say that it is not an amazing feeling. I wrote another novel. I don’t think that will ever stop surprising me. I don’t ever want it to. I want to always be mainlining this drug, for as long as I live.

It’s a drug. I’m not gonna argue that. I’m addicted to it, otherwise why would I keep bothering when no one’s paying me much to do it.

So. Uh. Yeah. I wrote them words.

Today has a very specific distinction. It’s distinct because it’s the first day since the beginning of the year that I’m not THINKING about Gridfall. I have gone days without writing on it, sure, but I was always thinking about it. I was always working on it, even if just in my head. Now I have to set it aside. Now I have to work on something else.

What’s next? I have a whole list of things I want to do. There’s a short story I need to finish. There’s a time travel novella to finish. I need to write the sequel to False Idols. I need to work on either of my fantasy epics, neither of which have names. I need to finish my demon story.

I have a lot to work on. I think I’ll finish a couple of small projects before I go diving back into a big one. The sequel to False Idols is probably the next novel. Untitled at this point. I don’t know.

It’s hard to think about the next project just yet. I should be resting, taking some time off. But I have a challenge to complete. I have words to write. And I will fucking write them.

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And remember, writing is a skill. So write the hell on, writers.