It’s been so long since I had a really great writing week I wasn’t sure I was seeing what I was seeing across the screen from me. However, last week was one for the ages.
For the first time ever, I believe, since I started keeping records on my writing, I wrote more than 10,000 words in a single week.
The raw numbers:
Writing statistics for the week ending 15 June 2024:
10,882 words written.
Days writing: 7 of 7.
Days revising/planning: 3 of 7 for 150 total minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 7 of 7 days.
Get in, indeed.
To put this in perspective, I have been averaging somewhere around 15,000 to 16,000 words per month for the past three months or so. And to be honest, I was under-performing during those past three months because of all the traveling and commuting I’ve had to do during then. I’ve talked about it more than once recently, so that’s all I’ll go into it here.
What changed? First, of course I’ve been off on summer vacation for a couple weeks now. Also, it was the first time in I don’t know how many weeks I didn’t have some activity or trip that took me either to Des Moines or Chicago or one thing or another. To be fair, I enjoyed those trips, but I’ve learned writing while traveling can be a hit or miss experience. As I’ve mentioned before, having a regular dedicated writing space where you can get work done in peace, undisturbed, is so underrated at times.
And being on vacation in my own home, not someplace in a hotel or whatever, has been a big positive for me and my mental outlook. I never could understand writers or other creative types who claimed to need to be in a bad or depressive mood to be productive. On those days, if I can get showered and shaved and clean up the dishes, I’m ahead of the game.
Finally, I was determined to tray and get myself out of a long writing slump this week. I had plenty to write about online and made at least an extra blog post or two. I’ve also got a lot of work done on my next work in progress, the second book in The Yank Striker series, and I would even get some work done on another work in progress, a pro wrestling-based family drama.
Again, I am looking to complete at least 200,000 words written by the end of this calendar year and meeting my minimum daily goals at least 75 percent of the time. I was pretty far behind that pace for the past few months. However, if I manage to get some more weeks where I write even 6,000-7,000 words per week, I have a feeling I could get back on track pretty rapidly.
It’s easier said than done – the past couple of day of this week weren’t as productive as some – but I’m feeling more confident I can take the next several weeks and make it the most productive summer of my writing career so far.
Wish me luck.
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