Although last week was not a massive success, it did barely meet what I am trying to do as far as writing productivity, so I felt good about those results… and what might be upcoming. More in a bit on that.
First, let’s get into the numbers for last week.
Writing statistics for the week ending 24 January 2026:
Words: 4,503
Days writing: 5 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 2 of 7 for 90 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 5 of 7 days.
Although the consistency of my production was not quite up to the previous week’s level (6 out of 7 days meeting daily goals), in every other measurement I was keeping busier than before.
My “soft goal” of 230,000 words for 2026 is ambitious, but I think it’s doable considering I wrote only 4,000 or so less words last year and 4,000 words is a subpar week for me nowadays. At some point I’m going to write fewer words than I did the previous year, but the last time it happened was four years ago, and I’ve been on an upward trend since then. Having set a yearly goal ahead of time rather than after the fact has been a benefit for me.
This year, I decided to figure out some monthly and weekly averages I want to reach if I wanted to reach 230,000 words for the year. Figuring the averages, this would mean I’d need to write 630 words daily, 4,423 words weekly, and 19,167 per month. So, any totals over those in the weeks and months to come will be fantastic.
As of right now, I’m at 16,980 words as of the end of last week. Starting the year off with a 20,000-plus word January would be a big boost to start the year.
Speed and productivity are the watchwords for this year. I want to get this project I started this last Halloween I’m calling (for now; I’m so superstitious of working titles) The Land, The River, and The Waste, an environmental horror tale set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa. I said last week To raise the stakes, get a dog involved. I just started the scene a few days ago, and some pet owners might not be happy with me, but I think I had to do it this way.
On that project, I’m now over 27,000 words and think I’ll need at least 50,000 more to give me a decent-sized first-draft novel. If I could have the first draft wrapped up by this Halloween, that might be the fastest turnaround I’ve ever had on a novel.
Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.
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