Whelp, it’s been a bit, hasn’t it?

In all honesty, I’ve procrastinated about writing this post, or something like it, for the past several weeks. I always sort of understood why some of my students would rather repeat a grade rather than do an assignment they’d prefer not to do, but this past month or so has been an illustration of how it would actually work (lol).

I once had bold, gold aspirations to massive word counts for 2026. I had hoped to make it to 230,000 words this year and make my daily minimum writing quota (see below if you are not familiar with it) at least 85 percent of the time. Based on what I had written over the past couple of years, those goals appeared to be attainable.

Over the past eight weeks, however, my productivity has collapsed.

While I realize pure word count is not indicative, necessarily, of progress in your writing. And this year, I’ve come to the conclusion that completing one work in progress (WIP) has become the massive priority it has. I want to make sure this book gets finished, because in the personal inventory I’ve been doing on myself, I think it’s the key to where my head is at right now.

At this point, I’ve gotten so behind on writing new work it’s not funny. In all honesty, I think instead of putting all of those numbers up here, I will instead list my monthly totals for May and June 2026, as well a full stat recap for the first part of the year. I think these numbers should show the tale:

Writing statistics, May 2026:
Words: 11,363
Revising or planning:1,260 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met: 69 percent.

Writing statistics, June 2026:
Words: 2,431
Revising or planning:1,445 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met: 87 percent.

Writing Statistics, first half of 2026:
Words (total): 86,542
Words (avg.): 14,424
Revise/Plan (total): 3,335 min.
Revise/Plan (avg.): 556 min.
DWGM (avg.): 76%

Yes, absolutely horrific statistics for me considering the past several years of my work. How to explain this?

1. My main focus right now is a work in progress (WIP) I started on Halloween last year, a sci-fi environmental horror project set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa, known as Shadows on the Mississippi.
   In the process of writing the book, I came to the realization that I have devoted far too much time to worldbuilding and minutiae and not enough on a propulsive story that might attract people.
   For the past several weeks, I have been performing major surgery on SOTM. I cut the first 57 pages down to a lean and mean 50-page, three-chapter opener I’m feeling much better about before. And I am now in the process of finishing up two things I think the rough draft (or SOTM 1.5, perhaps) require – a plausible threat that I won’t have to get into a massive amount of sci-fi research to pull off, and then taking a close look at the pacing of the book. If I want this to be a good horror, it needs to have good tension and pace.
2. World Cup 2026. Obviously, this has distracted me. I have to watch from home because I’m not going to take out a loan to get one World Cup ticket and have to travel all the way over to the West Coast to watch the US Men’s National Team play (I don’t have too much interest in seeing the other teams live). I’ve been privileged to already watch the USMNT play in person before, so that’s already off my bucket list. I’m definitely distracted, especially with the US about to play Belgium this coming Monday.
3. Some personal realizations about my writing in general are leading me to question not only how I put together my work, but how I deal with people generally. I should keep vague on this until I have some clarity on this, but rest assured I am not in danger or in any particular harm. In some ways, I have to learn how to write again, or concentrate on what I need to concentrate on.

Well, that’s about all I want to get into for now. This is the closest I’ve come to writing an Iowan Stephen King story. If I give it the attention it deserves, I won’t. I can’t wait to share it with you.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing. Hopefully I show up next week as I normally schedule.

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Told you last week I was nervous about not making my writing goal this year of 230,000 words in 2026.

This week … I’m not so nervous.

That’s because there’s times when pure word count is not indicative, necessarily, of progress in your writing. And there’s one thing now I want to do that goes beyond just writing random words – it’s finishing a certain book I’ve had nagging at me for a while. And I want to make sure this book gets finished, because I think it’s the key to where my head is at right now and, in more than a little way, where my home is at, as well.

So, the (pathetic, I know) numbers for last week:

Writing statistics for the week ending 23 May 2026:
Words: 715
Days writing: 2 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 7 of 7 for 480 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 7 of 7 days.

So, a little more than a tenth of an expected 5,000 words a week is not good, data-wise. But, I have bigger fish than simply just writing.

My main focus right now is a work in progress (WIP) I started on Halloween last year, a sci-fi environmental horror project set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa, known as Shadows on the Mississippi.

I’ve been shaving that manuscript down, keeping it lean and mean, keeping the story humming along. I’m … not fully satisfied with my first 50 pages, but it feels tight enough to get attention from first-time readers … and that’s what I want. I want it to move and groove, and I think … it might be on it’s way. Not perfect, but closer to the honed and polished product.

The reason is, I’ve been thinking long and hard about worldbuilding and not getting into the action enough. And I had a bad feeling the action was dragging too much. I wanted the first 50 pages of my book to be moving and grooving. Have I gotten it there? Well, I think I got a lot closer to it, and I managed to fit the first three chapters into 50 pages rather than 57 pages, which I think is a massive improvement.

I want SOTM to grab the attention of readers, a real rush of a story that screws up some minds. I think my wavelength is on the right path. This is the closest I’ve come to writing an Iowan Stephen King story. I’f I give it the attention it deserves, I won’t. I’m having so much fun with this story, family. I can’t wait to share it with you.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

---

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

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. Just click the button below.

For the first time this year, I’m facing the possibility that I might not make my writing goal this year.

And right now … I’m at peace with it. Not because I’m accepting failure, but I think it’s because my priorities have changed halfway through the year.

So, the numbers for last week:

Writing statistics for the week ending 16 May 2026:
Words: 2,887
Days writing: 7 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 5 of 7 for 450 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 7 of 7 days.

Again, for someone who was hoping to get up to 5,000 words a week, that’s … weak. But I think I know why it’s been slow. It’s because I’ve been busy with revisions.

Those are related to my main work in progress (WIP) I started on Halloween last year, the sci-fi environmental horror project set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa, known as Shadows on the Mississippi.

When I started last week, I was over 50,000 words on the rough draft of the project. As I now write this, I’m back to 47,618 words, and I couldn’t be happier.

The reason is, I’ve been thinking long and hard about worldbuilding and not getting into the action enough. And I had a bad feeling the action was dragging too much. I wanted the first 50 pages of my book to be moving and grooving. Have I gotten it there? Well, I think I got a lot closer to it, and I managed to fit the first three chapters into 50 pages rather than 57 pages, which I think is a massive improvement.

I want SOTM to be something that’s going to grab the attention of readers, a real rush of a story. This is the closest I’ve come to writing an Iowan Stephen King story. I don’t want to screw it up. If I give it the attention it deserves, I won’t.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

---

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

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. Just click the button below.

Well, it wasn’t the worst week I ever had, but considering the pace I’m trying to set, it was nowhere near what I wanted it to be.

I’m getting into the strange section of my new work in progress (WIP), where I might need to start trimming words from it to speed up the action. Which might mean I have to get going on other projects as well to keep up my full productivity.

The numbers for last week:

Writing statistics for the week ending 9 May 2026:
Words: 3,846
Days writing: 7 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 0 of 7 for 0 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 5 of 7 days.

I thought I did a lot better until I totaled up the numbers, but to be fair there was a mini-slump during the first two days of last week that explains it. If I did just as well with the first two days as I did the last five, I might have been pushing 5,000 words for the week.

As I mentioned in my May newsletter here, I’ve now given the WIP I started on Halloween last year, the sci-fi environmental horror project set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa, the official title of Shadows on the Mississippi.

Now that I’m over 50,000 words on the project, it has too much momentum to stop.

Since I was worried I spent so much time thinking about the setting and worldbuilding in the first run, I’m adding a new opening that I think moves the plot and characterization along at a bit brisker pace. I need to make the first 50 pages something that hooks in readers.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

---

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

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. Just click the button below.

Well, I had a decent week and a great month – actually, the most productive month I’ve had this year. So, why am I still feeling uneasy?

I’m getting the feeling it goes beyond numbers and stats. But that might be a whole different discussion or post.

The numbers for last week and last month:

Writing statistics for the week ending 6 May 2026:
Words: 4,472
Days writing: 6 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 1 of 7 for 120 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 6 of 7 days.

Writing statistics for April 2026:
Words: 22,539
Revising/planning: 180 minutes.
DWGM: 89%

The week’s production was so-so, this month was fantastic.

I’m in a slight bit of a funk regarding my writing, for reasons that are perhaps best stated in another post. Let’s just say I have been truly giving my writing a critical eye, both past and present work, and I haven’t always liked what I see. In short, I’ve given a bit more focus on things that perhaps were not important, but it’s something I think I can fix.

I’ve yet to release my May newsletter here, but I’ve now given the work in progress I started on Halloween last year, the sci-fi environmental horror project set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa with the working title of The Land, The River, and The Waste, a brand new title. It will be known as Shadows on the Mississippi.

I’m now past the 46,000-word mark now. I think one of the issues I’ve had with this project is I spent so much time thinking about the setting and worldbuilding that I neglected characterization and plot. Well, it’s back to the drawing board for this. I need to make the first 50 pages something that hooks in readers.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

---

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

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. Just click the button below.

Bad news, I had another sub-par productive week last week. Good news is, I wrapped this journal up to get it done on time like I should have been doing for the past couple weeks.

The numbers:

Writing statistics for the week ending 25 April 2026:
Words: 3,523
Days writing: 7 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 0 of 7 for 0 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 5 of 7 days.

Underwhelming since I’m hoping for a minimum of 4,500 words per week and really should try to hit a 5,000 word pace at the moment since I’m trying to catch up to my eventual goal of 225,000-230,000 words for all of 2026.

I’m feeling slightly better about my efforts to complete a rough draft of a sci-fi environmental horror project with the working title of The Land, The River, and The Waste, set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa. I’m now past the 45,000-word mark now. It would be great if I could finish it by Halloween of this year, which would be exactly a year after I started writing it. Then, the plan’s to publish it sometime in the first part of 2027 (even if that’s more May than January 😂. I’m looking forward to sharing it with everyone.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

---

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

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. Just click the button below.

Again, I’m apologizing for putting this out late Wednesday rather than earlier in the day. It’s getting harder to stick to a schedule for publication around here.

And I know I haven’t been publishing as much for you here in recent weeks, that’s for sure. But I’ll get into that below.

My total for last week:

Writing statistics for the week ending 18 April 2026:
Words: 5.040
Days writing: 7 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 0 of 7 for 0 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 6 of 7 days.

Anytime I’m at 5,000 words is a good thing for my eventual goal of 225,000-230,000 words for all of 2026. However, for the first time in a while, I might be thinking of a different goal as my priority, even if the word count goal might at least help me get to the next one.

I’m trying to get a rough draft done of this sci-fi environmental horror project with the working title of The Land, The River, and The Waste, set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa. I’m past the 40,000-word mark now. I want to have the rough draft done by Halloween of this year, or at the very latest by Christmas. I want this book to be published by the first part of 2027, whatever that takes. I think it’s too interesting of a story to keep to myself.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

---

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

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. Just click the button below.

If anyone was waiting for this, sorry but I flaked out because I essentially had some community meetings and a writing group I attended the other night so this is a bit late.

My modest total for last week:

Writing statistics for the week ending 11 April 2026:
Words: 4,113
Days writing: 7 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 1 of 7 for 60 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 7 of 7 days.

I don’t like that I didn’t get up to about 5,000 words, which is the pace I really need to hit if I want to make up the pace I needed to get to 230,000 by the end of 2026, or even match last year’s total of 225,000 (either fiction or nonfiction). As of the end of March, I was at least 6-7,000 words behind where I needed to be to be at that pace.

This past week, I put out the second part of a short story turned novella: what if the plot to kill Lincoln not only failed worse than it actually did, but if the United States discovered the Confederacy had provided more direct assistance than was thought to be the case in real life? I’ll hold off working on it more because I have some blog posts to get done, but the next two parts will be up in a while.

I’ve also made more progress, finally, on my sci-fi environmental horror project with the working title of The Land, The River, and The Waste, (I am so superstitious about revealing a real title until I am closer to publishing), set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa. I’m deep into the third reveal in the book which will raise the personal stakes for my characters after it hits them on a personal level. It’s a big mess in the best way.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

---

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

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. Just click the button below.

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit I totally forgot to put out a writing journal for last week (or much of anything else) this past couple of weeks. Call it flaking out over the Easter weekend, call it procrastination with wanting to repost here from my other sites, but it meant there wasn’t a lot on here for what appears to be two weeks. As you might suspect, my writing stats for the past few months has not been the best, but they have been pretty good for the last two weeks.

So, let’s talk about the numbers for the past two weeks and for March overall, :

Writing statistics for the week ending 28 March 2026:
Words: 5.042
Days writing: 6 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 0 of 7 for 0 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 5 of 7 days.

Writing statistics for the week ending 4 April 2026:
Words: 5,391
Days writing: 7 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 0 of 7 for 0 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 7 of 7 days.

Writing statistics for March 2026:
Words: 16,915
Revise/Plan: 90 minutes
DWGM: 75%

So, looking good for the past two weeks, and as for the month … better than February, but that’s not saying much in all honesty.

The Year so Far

In fact, if I’m really being honest … the numbers … aren’t really the best at the moment.

Since I had reached 225,000 words written last year (both fiction and nonfiction), I decided I would try to at least equal that total and perhaps even bump it up to 230,000. If I was on track to write 225,000 or 230,000 words, I’d have written between 56,000 or 57,000 words in the first three months of 2026.

My current total for 2026 so far, as of the end of March? 50,209 words.

While that is not nothing by any means, it is nowhere near where I want to be at this point. I had one incredible month of writing (January), one horrific month (February) and one month I missed my target by about 2,000 words (March).

Why, then, have I gotten to this point?

In the end, I think it’s pretty simple. I’ve spent too much time staring at screens other than the ones I’m using to write my stories. I’ve allowed myself to get distracted. No, scratch that – I’ve distracted myself with almost anything other than writing. Also, I’m trying to jump start my main long fiction project I’m hoping I will have a completed rough draft by the end of the year.

The only thing I can do right now is start kicking things into high gear. I’m a long ways away from giving up on my goal, both regarding wordcount and also getting my projects completed. If I manage to get moving this month, I’ll let you know what turned it around for me.

This past couple of weeks, I’ve gotten obsessed with a short story turned novella that is an alternative history story: what if the plot to kill Lincoln not only failed worse than it actually did, but if the United States discovered the Confederacy had provided more direct assistance than was thought to be the case in real life.

I was inspired to write the story after a friend of mine who is on Archive of Our Own, one of the biggest fan fiction sites online, who is writing an intriguing alt history piece involving the Byzantine Empire and Persia, among other locations. I wasn’t even aware you could do alt history pieces there. (I have written fan fiction there myself before). So, my thoughts turned to Lincoln, at least slightly inspired by recent questions of constitutional practices.

It will be a four-part series of four short stories, set between 1865 and 1884. The first part of the story will post here this Friday. The other three will be coming in the next couple months as well.

I also want to get back on track with my sci-fi environmental horror project with the working title of The Land, The River, and The Waste, (I am so superstitious about revealing a real title until I am closer to publishing), set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa. I’m in the process of writing the second of three big reveals intended to ratchet up the tension in the story. I’ve got an idea for the third reveal that has Stephen King’s fingerprints all over it. I’m looking forward to kicking that into high gear.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

---

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

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. Just click the button below.

Back to the slump.

I did all right for the previous week, but I had yet another slump, based on not getting on with the next part of my main story. I had to get some blogging done to actually make up some numbers.

So, let’s talk about the numbers:

Writing statistics for the week ending 7 March 2026:
Words: 3,259
Days writing: 5 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 0 of 7 for 00 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 5 of 7 days.

My sci-fi environmental horror project with the working title of The Land, The River, and The Waste, (I am so superstitious about revealing a real title until I am closer to publishing), set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa, has been the bane of my existence for the past week.

Finally, I managed to break the slump with just cutting much of the scene and getting straight to the action. It left out one small scene I wanted to get to, but I can always add that later. One small tip – you never have to write a story in exactly the same sequence in which it occurs. Filmmakers do it all the time, and I’m surprised more writers don’t do this, or discuss doing it, with their own stories.

At the very least, I think I might have more written this week. I’ve got a bit to catch up with. I’m just a bit irritated at myself that I didn’t utilize my spring break better than what I did.

I’m starting to worry about where I am on this yearly total. I’m considering not even checking to see how far I’m behind at the end of the month. However, if I end up not checking, it makes it easier for me to avoid it. Better to face what I need to face and get on with things. I’ll let you know what I decide later.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

---

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

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. Just click the button below.