We really have been on the same wavelength lately! Thank you for your encouragement as well! I'd like to think I would have at least continued my daily writing streak through the month of April, but without a word count goal, I wouldn't have pushed myself to write more than a sentence on days when the words weren't flowing or I didn't really feel like it.
I liked tracking my word count and seeing that line slowly climb, so I just went in and set a new goal to write 50,000 words between now and the end of June. I wanted to set a little higher goal, but May is a busy month, so I figure if I'm under 20,000 words this month, I'll be able to make up for it in June when I have more time to write. I'm planning to participate in the next camp in July too. I assume I will still be writing MBK then, but hopefully it will have doubled in length! It's currently sitting at 49,868 words.
Same. Having a goal and not just "keeping track to keep track" did push me to try a little better, though not quite to the extent of the beginning of the novel. I'm here to keep encouraging you! Hopefully we continue the streak.
The line is definitely what I missed when I was just keeping track on my own. There's something really satisfying about watching it ebb close to the par and then pass it. I missed it this past month; I think I aimed way to high, lol.
I have an idea of what I might write, but we'll see when the time comes. I think Snail is at the top of my list post-PNecklace since I kind of pushed it aside for a bit. I hope you double MBK by that time too! I'd be excited for you if you were able to finish it by the end of summer!
I wish I had been able to start a new chapter this morning because that would have made it so much easier to track my total word count on this goal. With the last one, I started Chapter 11 on April 1, so I usually updated my word count by checking the word count from Chapter 11 on. That way if I added anything while editing, it would still count. But today I started in the middle of a paragraph in Chapter 15 LOL. I did put a little red asterisk at my starting point so I can still track it that way if I want to, but I'm gonna try to track my word count per session this time so I can get a more accurate picture of the stats it shows on the site. I only got 124 words written so far today, so it currently says I'm averaging one word per minute. At this rate, I will reach my goal on June 7, 2022 LMAO. So... starting strong! Ha!
That's why I have my little document where I copy and paste it over every day. I hand counted in November when I started and it was excruciating. Copy/pasting and then hitting the word count button was much easier.
I was also thinking of tracking my word count per session to see just how much I really get done rather than guessing the number of hours I wrote. I updated my writing for today and I'm at 576 so far and it says I'll be done in July. Not too bad, but a little later than anticipated, lol. You're starting very strong! I believe in you getting to 50,000, which is only 25,000 per month/a little more than you wrote this month and, like you said, you can make up in June if you need to. You've got this!
Wow, so you're good through most of the summer! That's awesome!
You wrote way more than me in one month, so go with your gut, but 14 chapters sounds like a lot for one month. If it were me, I would make it a two-month goal. Even if you go through June, that's still averaging more than one chapter a week.
I'm very excited about that. Now I can dilly dally for a couple months if I need to, lol. I don't want to, but it's good knowing the option is there.
I did set it for this month, but then I remembered that I have some stuff to do tomorrow and only wrote for an hour so far today, so... Unless I churn out the rest of this chapter and another one today, I don't see it happening. I did some math and I would have to spend two days on each chapter and that just seems like too short of a turn around time, to be honest (especially knowing how long I usually let a non-Nick focused chapter sit and sit). I probably will switch it to June and then if I finish early, I finish early. There's no harm in that.
I definitely feel this way sometimes. I am used to focusing mostly on Nick and/or Brian, and the other three just kinda appear as needed. Do you consider PNecklace to be a group story or a Nick story with the others in supporting roles? Because I think that makes a difference. If I'm writing a true group story, I make more of an effort to give them all moments to shine, but most of my storylines are only meant to focus on one or two of them as main characters. When that's the case, I don't worry about it.
It's weird for me to be writing a story where almost all the focus is on Kevin. That's a first for me. Even though Nick is also a main character, the storyline really revolves around Kevin. AJ and Brian have both gotten some good moments, but Howie is the one who's just kind of... there. Poor Howie LOL. But I have written a Howie novel before, so I don't feel as bad about that anymore. Howie had plenty of time to suffer shine in SAMS. It's Kevin's turn now.
I think PBox Nick considers it a Nick story, lol. I'd call it a "group story with Nick as the most frequent POV character." Or Minako, they switch off most of the time. But PNecklace has definitely shifted more to Nick because he's got more going on to react to or angst about. Couple that with the fact that he's a spotlight hog and a clear author favorite and... well, let's call it a toss up. I do try to switch it up, but Nick has the most to say and do all the time being the doer without regard for consequences that he is, lol.
lol Poor Howie. I still feel for Howie, but like you said, he does end up being "just kind of there" more often than not. I am glad that you're giving Kevin time to suf... (ahem) shine in this new novel. It's good to test that out at some point in your fanfic career.
And, as always, I'm delighted it's going well when Kevin's usually not the focus of your storylines.