Category: Journal

Writing Journal 18 January 2023: Massive writing burst this week, but…

I managed to write more than 7,000 words last week. Considering that last year I would consider anything over 4,000 words a week to be a good pace to meet my writing goals, getting about 42 percent more than my typical word count is a cause for celebration.

There is a “but” that should be added to that statement, somewhere. Maybe it’s a sense of maturity and modesty, or maybe it’s a sense that I can just as easily have a bad week of writing as a good week.

Much of my output this week – not all of it by any means – is fanfiction. I have explained/defended my writing of fanfiction before, and I do think that it is a valid form of creative expression. I spent a lot of time pondering issues of “Work” vs. “Fun” writing. In setting my goals for this year, I wanted to try and increase the percentage of my work writing more than before. For example, for at least one or two of my most recent years, I spent the majority of my creative productivity on fanfiction.

Again, not that I think simply “fun” writing has no place – far from it – but I also want to take the other types of writing seriously, as well.

Setting some yearly goals last year wound up being a good success, so I figured that doing so this year might be a good idea. Since I ran that story, I’ve begun to consider a plan for how I would achieve some of those goals. I think I’m going to write a follow-up on my goals this weekend for this blog and the Substack page, which in itself might fit in with one of those goals in particular. So, you have that to look forward to. I will also admit that some of the goals may be fluid in nature, which means I might change them some of them as I go through the year.

Anyway, here’s the stats for last week, followed by my obligatory plugs for my Substack page where you can get on my email list. See you around.

Writing statistics for the week ending 14 January 2022:
+7,004 words written.
Days writing: 7 of 7.
Days revising/planning: 2 of 7 for 60 total minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 7 of 7 days.

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. I will eventually be opening some special contests, offers, and first looks at original fiction, poems, and other items. Just click the button below.

Writing Journal 4 January 2023: Limping to the end of the year

[AUTHOR’S NOTE: Thanks to constant reader Pat for recognizing the typos here – my equivalent of signing checks using last year’s date. Oh, well.]

I’ll keep this short, since I will be posting an end-of year review of the numbers… in two days, maybe? We’ll have to see. (Nervous chuckling ensues.)

December was officially the worst month I had writing for this year, although I had enough already written to make this a record-breaking year, once I finish adding up all the totals.

At least this week’s numbers were better than last week’s, so I have that working for me, at least. They’re nowhere near where I should be at (over 4,000 a week), but they were at least better numbers, if more inconsistent numbers, than the past two weeks.

Writing statistics for the week ending 31 December 2022:
2,958 words written.
Days writing: 4 of 7.
Days revising/planning: 0 of 7 for 0 total minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 2 of 7 days.

Writing statistics for December 2022:
Words: 9,630
Revise/Plan: 270 minutes
Daily Writing Goals Met: 57%

As you can see, my consistency of meeting my writing quota was garbage this month, but at least it wasn’t bad enough to screw with my goal of meeting my daily goals at least 70 percent of the time. I’ll have those totals as well later.

For now, I’m going to think hard about the type of goals I need to have this year to keep my forward progress going. I have the feeling that it might involve more than just simple stats.

I’ll go ahead and post that on the Substack page as well and let them get in on the fun. Speaking of getting in on the fun, I’ve got my plug for the Substack page below. Please sign up if you haven’t done so. I’m going to get some contests started up in this new year, and those with subscriptions are going to be the ones eligible for winning prizes.

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. I will eventually be opening some special contests, offers, and first looks at original fiction, poems, and other items. Just click the button below.

Writing Journal 21 December 2022: Over the line and into extra time (mixing my sporting metaphors LOL)

I had the crazy idea earlier this year that I might want to write at least 200,000 words this year. I was motivated to do that after I had a slump of writing a lot less than that and realizing I wanted to have standards for myself for once. I had managed to equal that output in 2020, writing an all-time record of 208,919 during that year. I had the feeling I could do it again.

According to my estimates, I finally got over the line to break my official record sometime on 13 December 2022 (Tuesday). I then wrote another 404 words the next day and then my new productivity fell off a cliff, as you will see from last week’s numbers. As of the end of 17 December 2022 (Saturday), I’m now sitting at 209,611 words for this year. Yay, me.

Anyway, here’s last week’s totals:

Writing statistics for the week ending 17 December 2022:
1,711 words written.
Days writing: 4 of 7.
Days revising/planning: 3 of 7 for 120 total minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 4 of 7 days.


To paraphrase a saying from longtime Manchester City fans, that’s typical Liegois for you – get right over that finish line (or sometime close to it) and I mentally just bug out. I think the fact that we had the last bit of the World Cup going on this week and it is getting close to the winter break for my school and both students and teachers alike are eying the exits.

However, one of the things that I swore to myself is that while self-analysis can be good, and it has helped me better understand my mental blocks and foibles when it comes to writing, there is a time when you can over rely on it.

I have seen parallels between how I see writing and how many of my students see writing. In their case, many of them don’t have the desire to be good writers. Part of that is because they aren’t interested in the craft (just like I wasn’t interested in algebra and geometry thirty years ago), but part of that is because they have convinced themselves that they can’t get any better as writers. Do I think that I can help develop people with little to no writing abilities into fantastic, top class writers? No, that’s not realistic, and I admit as much to them. But do I think it is possible for anyone to improve how they write? I absolutely do.

It was 10 years ago or so when I realized that I was talking to myself about being a writer rather than actually writing, and I started thinking about how I would change that. It was five years ago when I started this blog and decided that I would start to chronicle that development process, as well as any insights and advice that I had managed to pick up along the way. I managed to stick to writing online, even when I struggled to post anything online other than just random writing thoughts or a record of how many words I wrote the previous week.

Then I started writing more. Then I managed to actually get a book published (and it looks like another one is on the way) a couple of years ago. Then the yearly totals started to grow… and they shrank from the previous year and that made me irritated beyond measure, even though I had gone for years in the past without writing a single creative word.

I’m looking at what I accomplished this year, how I started a new Substack page, how I’m more productive than ever… and it’s not enough now. I want to do more, keep pushing myself to higher levels. I want to keep publishing, I want to grow my Substack and this blog, and I want to accomplish more. It has not been or will it be an easy or smooth process. But I’m finally starting to see the gains that I have been making over the past several years, and I want more of it.

So, here’s my typical plea to sign up for my Substack page. Enjoy.

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. I will eventually be opening some special contests, offers, and first looks at original fiction, poems, and other items. Just click the button below.

Writing Journal 14 December 2022: Juuust shy of my all-time official word count record

As of Sunday (11 December 2022), I am juuust 1,920 words away from beating my all-time official yearly word count of 208,919, set back in the quarantine year of 2020.

Although there is an outside chance that I might have equaled that count by the time this journal posts online, I am all but certain to match it by the time this week is done. All I can say is now I have a vague idea of what it might be like playing in a World Cup final up 4-0 in the 85th minute of regulation. All I’m looking to see is how much I can run up the score before all is said and done.

To update everyone on how things are going generally, which includes an upcoming project, I think that I’ll wait to do that this upcoming weekend. For now, I’m just going to list last week’s totals and the obligatory plea to join my mailing list and Substack page. Take care, everyone.

Writing statistics for the week ending 10 December 2022:
+3,145 words written.
Days writing: 5 of 7.
Days revising/planning: 4 of 7 for 150 total minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 7 of 7 days.

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. I will eventually be opening some special contests, offers, and first looks at original fiction, poems, and other items. Just click the button below.

Writing Journal 7 December 2022: Added Time

In soccer, each game is split into two 90-minute halves. However, each of those halves in practice almost never lasts for exactly 90 minutes. There are always pauses in the action of the game to prepare for things like free kicks or corner kicks, book players for rough play, taking care of injured players, and other items.

Unlike in other time-regulated sports, however, the clock does not stop counting down during this time. The referee simply makes note of the stoppage, and at the end of the regulation 90 minutes, he announces how much additional “added time” is to be played before he blows his whistle to end the half and/or the game. It’s a time when all the players know the action is going to stop, and they have to do everything they can to make a difference in the game. Sometimes, they actually manage to do it.

Now that I met my writing goal, I get the feeling that I’m in added time for the rest of 2022. Here’s the stats for last week and the month of November.

Writing statistics for the week ending 4 December 2022:
+5,249 words written.
Days writing: 5 of 7.
Days revising/planning: 2 of 7 for 90 total minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 6 of 7 days.

Writing statistics for November 2022:
Words: 20,830
Revisions/Planning: 210 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met: 74%

So, last week’s numbers I would be happy with nearly any time I would see them. My monthly totals were the best that I have seen since July of this year and officially represent my second most productive month of 2022.

My all-time official record for words in a year is 208,919. As of the end of Saturday, I’m within 4,164 words of matching that total.

My all-time record for meeting my daily quota is a 78 percent success rate. I’m doubtful that I’ll be able to match that this year, but I’m all but assured of meeting the goal I set this year of meeting my daily writing quota 70 percent of the time.

Anyway, I hope all the writers out there meet their goals or whatever their dreams are, and I hope everyone out there is staying safe. Now, here’s the part of the program where I beg you to sign up for my newsletter and mailing list. The info is below.

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. I will eventually be opening some special contests, offers, and first looks at original fiction, poems, and other items. Just click the button below.

Writing Journal 30 November 2022: Cruising into the rest of the year

Feeling really good about this last week, even though the production was modest. Other than nine extra words, this week was no different statistically than the previous week. Given that this past week included my Thanksgiving break and that involved a bit of hectic activity and traveling, that’s decent news for me.

You may not have heard that I managed to meet my word count goal for the year. I’m still taking a bit of a victory lap regarding that milestone. However, I’m not resting for the rest of the year, not by a long shot. As of right now, my official highest yearly total was 208,919 words back in 2020. With slightly more than a month to work with, that mark can very easily fall. From the pace that I’ve been maintaining, if that doesn’t fall in three weeks, I’ll be very surprised.

I’m certainly not going to keep things modest next year. I have a book that will be coming out in the near future, and you’ll hear about when it’s coming out here first. And there’s more that I want to learn about

What I’ve come to realize is that I’m going to have to continually push myself when it comes to my writing productivity. I look back at some of my posts over the past few years and it truly amazes me how I’ve developed so far and how far I have to go. I remember a quote, which I’ll attempt to paraphrase, from the Russian world chess champion of the 1930’s and 1940’s, Alexander Alekhine. I remember hearing of a radio interview that he gave near the end of his life. At one point the interviewer said to Alekhine that it must have been gratifying to have lived such a long life and learned everything that there was to know about chess. Alekhine replied by insisting that an entire lifetime was not enough time to learn everything there was to learn about chess.

That’s the same way that I look at writing. Because of that, the whole experience is always challenging and never gets boring.

As always, here’s the numbers from last week.

Writing statistics for the week ending 26 November 2022:
+3,780 words written.
Days writing: 5 of 7.
Days revising/planning: 1 of 7 for 30 total minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 5 of 7 days.

Anyway, all you writers keep writing and everyone keep safe. The following is my obligatory plug to sign up for my Substack mailing list. I’m going to be attaching it to every post I make, so get used to it. 🙂

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. I will eventually be opening some special contests, offers, and first looks at original fiction, poems, and other items. Just click the button below.

Writing Journal 24 November 2022: Plodding toward the finish (and Thanksgiving break)

Hi, everyone. Hope all is going well with as we ease into the Thanksgiving week. I have a full five straight days of vacation and I definitely need them, I think.

There’s been a bit of a refreshing and a redesign that I’m doing a “soft launch” on this week. I think I’ll get into it in more detail on the next blog post I write, which I’ll post Saturday, I think. Essentially, it’s a bit of an update to get some of my new links up and some old items I don’t use down.

It’s still been a slow writing period for me. I did slightly better than last week. There was a part of me that considered that I might have actually reached my 200,000-word goal for this year by Thanksgiving, but it might be tight. As of last Saturday, I have about 4,200 words left to get to that mark. That’s an average week for me, so maybe by next week I will be able to pop the proverbial champagne cork in celebration. We’ll see.

Here’s the stats for last week.

Writing statistics for the week ending 20 November 2022:
+3,771 words written
Days writing: 5 of 7.
Days revising/planning: 1 of 7 for 30 total minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 5 of 7 days.

And this is the point in every one of my posts where I’ll ask you to subscribe to my mailing list for my Substack blog, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois. I’m trying to build up a strong email list so that I can keep in contact with people to let them know what’s going on with me, to talk about opportunities to talk with me about writing or writing advice, and, oh yeah, maybe sell a book or two. It’s free to do and trust me, I’m not even thinking about a paid subscription just yet. Just click on the button below to get yourself sorted.

Sign up for my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois

Anyway, that’s it for now. Writers keep writing and the rest of you stay safe.

Writing Journal 16 November 2022: This week was maybe par at best

[PHOTO NOTE: I rearranged my bookshelves and also got a couple of new items. The Son by Philip Meyer is turning into a nice little read.]

Meeting my word count goal of 200,000 for the year 2022 is getting closer by the day. I’m just about to reach it. I’m just under 10,000 words to the goal. If I wrote out of my mind for the next 10 days I just might be able to actually reach it by Thanksgiving.

But given my writing rates recently, that might be a bridge too far. The numbers for last week are not horrific but not inspiring either.

Writing statistics for the week ending 12 November 2022:
+3,364 words written.
Days writing: 5 of 7.
Days revising/planning: 1 of 7 for 60 total minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 5 of 7 days.

Again, if this was a younger me who seemed to struggle for any sort of consistency writing, those wouldn’t be bad numbers. But then again, I’m not settling for okay numbers, I want good numbers and consistent numbers.

Even if I’m working full-time at another job like I am now, I still should be over 4,000 words per week. If I just meet my daily writing quote of 500 words a day, that would add up to 3,500 words. Just good isn’t enough, though.

Oh, I’m also trying to experiment with Mailchimp to see if I can build an email community that might be interested in what I have to write, but I’m trying to keep up with the writing at the same time. Maybe I start looking at it in December once I met my goal, hehe.

Anyway, all you other writers keep writing and everyone keep safe.

Writing Journal 9 November 2022: I’m close to the finish line of my yearly writing goals

I’m not at the finish line for my yearly goals, but I’m definitely getting close to them.

When I started this year, for the first time ever I decided to set two yearly goals for myself. Given my writing performance over the past four years (I’ve tracked my word count for a few years before that, but 2018 was the first year that I used my current system), I believed 200,000 words was an attainable goal. Also, given that past performance, I believed that setting an overall goal of meeting my daily writing quotas at least 70 percent of the time was also attainable.

As we continue through November and some other writers are blitzing their way through National Novel Writers Month, I’m going at a bit slower pace than them (again, a minimum of 500 words per day as opposed to 1,667 per day that you would need to successfully complete NaNoWriMo), but I’m putting up some solid numbers last week and recently.

As of right now, I estimate that including last week’s total, I’m less than 14,000 words away from reaching my goal. I could very easily reach that by the end of the month, never mind the year. After that, my current official personal word count record is 208,919, set back in 2020. With about eight weeks left in the year, that record is absolutely within reach.

My current record of daily writing quota met (either 500 words a day or 30 minutes of revisions/planning) stands at 78 percent set in 2019. It would take a near miracle for me to match that mathematically this year, but as of right now I am averaging 75 percent success. I haven’t gotten over 70 percent for a year since 2019, so that’s good news for me.

Anyway, here’s the numbers for last week – a pretty solid one for me. Hope all of you writers out there are having good weeks too. Take care.

Writing statistics for the week ending 5 November 2022:
+4,666 words written.
Days writing: 6 of 7.
Days revising/planning: 0 of 7 for 0 total minutes.
Daily writing goals met (500 words a day and/or 30 minutes of revisions/planning: 5 of 7 days.

Writing Journal 2 November 2022: A dry patch kind of week, but the words are still adding up

I haven’t had such a slow writing period for a while, not exactly like this for a while.

I have to say I’m not really sure about why that is. There is plenty of stuff that I can be writing, and I did produce some good stuff this week, including a decent review of the Anchor podcasting platform that came out here. However, there were some long stretches of last week where I didn’t write anything.

Writing statistics for the week ending 30 October 2022:
+2,045 words written.
Days writing: 2 of 7.
Days revising/planning: 1 of 7 for 30 total minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 3 of 7 days.

By no means was this the worst writing week that I ever had – there was that infamous last week of May where my word count didn’t break four figures – but it was down there. Even with that week, however, the month of October overall was not bad.

Writing statistics for October 2022:
Words: 18,321
Revising/Planning: 210 minutes
Daily Writing Goals Met: 82%

This was definitely a decent month that would have been better if I had a good last week, but oh, well.

I think part of it is because I have started to consider putting together my own email list. Mailchimp appears to be the easiest and most straightforward platform I’ve seen and there is some good integration with it on WordPress. But that is likely a post for another day.

However, in looking at my overall numbers, I’m still feeling quite good about my progress and reaching my overall writing goals of 200,000 total words written this year and meeting my daily goals (500 words per day or 30 minutes of revisions and/or planning) at least 70 percent of the time.

As of right now, I am just slightly under 16,000 words to reaching my goal. That is about the amount of a mediocre month for me this year, so I have a chance of reaching that goal before November is out. As of right now, I’m meeting my daily goals 75 percent of the time, and I have to think that in a few weeks, there will be almost no mathematical chance that I will miss that goal. So, I have that to look forward to, at least.

That’s about it for now, I think. This isn’t going to make my daily quota, but sometimes it’s best to go for below your quota rather than trying to do more and ending up writing nothing. That’s what I’ve realized with myself, anyway. Besides, if I manage six subpar weeks in a row (where I just write maybe 3,000 words), I’ll make my quota with room to spare. That’s a good position to be in.

Take care, everyone.