Sometimes a general has to realize he’s losing a battle before he can devise a strategy that might let him win. These journal entries are my vantage point. They help me objectively see what must be done. The truth can hurt, but at least it gives me a plan with direction.

Yesterday’s experiment was a big success. With a cut and paste into a new document starting at the exact place I was stuck at before, I was able to push out a new set of paragraphs with all the changes I needed.

It’s a daunting process to rewrite scenes that needs major changes. That is, until I get started on it. More often than not it turns out better than before. Still, revisions get harder and harder the further I get. Scenes written two years ago are now so wrong, the task can be more like writing a whole new book than revising.

The old scenes are like homes that were once nice and new and fit neatly into their little neighborhoods, but now they’re dilapidated and depreciate the value of every new property that moves in around them. Some might be missing shingles or have a broken window or two (easy enough to fix with the proper tools), while others have an old, rotting framework that requires a bulldozer, at least. (Napalm might be better.)

The task at hand is pushing through the rest of this section, now that the groundwork has been relaid. A couple of  new scenes have to branch off this scene and a character (who has come and left the story several times now) has to step back in.

Last night I did write a little bit, but it was all editing on stuff I’ve already edited. Today doesn’t seem quite so busy today at work so I’m going to take the opportunity to write during breaks.

The key is, I need to scroll past the stuff I’ve already edited without re-reading it and get to where I last left off (Is there a bookmark feature in MS Word?). Even a quick glance is enough to completely derail me. This was part of the reason I’ve kept my writing files in separate documents in the past, sometimes to the point where every document was a single scene. I have this bad habit of randomly editing while I’m scrolling down, and right now it’s a problem because I’m saving my entire book as one document. I’m doing this to create a simple quicklaunch shortcut. One click and I’m ready to write–I’m far less likely to write if I have to browse through several folders just to get to my manuscript.

I need to break myself of ‘drive-by editing’, or I need to create a new document every time I hit a roadblock like this one…. Ah. That’s what I’ll do.
Currently my main manuscript is called FIVE RINGS.DOCX. Maybe it’s time I created FIVE RINGS2.DOCX so I can revise the part of the book I’m supposed to be working on instead.

Boy! It’s been a busy month. (Don’t worry, I sent the Duke home.)  I’ve been writing, keeping track of the NPI tallies, training at work, reading books, doing the ‘Couch-to-5k’ program, and … I’ve been being a dad. I feel so productive!

But the trick is keeping it up. Can we continue to write each and every day? I know I fall off the writing wagon sometimes, but NPI always gets me hopping back on to try again.

I’d like to thank everyone who participated, with an extra-big congratulations to everyone who finished.

Together we cranked out an average of 5,341 words per day. This was in no small part thanks to Ryan and Brian, who both went above and beyond what the Novel Push Initiative requires each day.

In all, four people ended up passing which gives us a 50/50 pass ratio.

I’ve broken down everyone’s stats below. After the breakdown, there will be an awards section.

1. Ryan G. Sanders
https://twitter.com/RG_Sanders
http://www.ryangsanders.com/

Pledged to write 250 words per day.
Number of strikes left: 0
Highest Word Count in a Day: 7,577
Lowest: 250
Average: 1,611
And the Grand Total: 48,330

2. Brian Niemeier Read the rest of this entry »

Hey Pushers! Duke here. Listen up.

Last time I checked up on ya was September 5th.

…

What? I’ve been busy. You know, doin’ talk shows, re-explainin’ what DNF really stands for, stuff like that. (Hint: It ain’t ‘Did Not Finish’.)

I remember bein’ pretty impressed with you five days in (BTW — Did some of you miss that post?!), but let’s see where you stand at today. *checks the list* Hm. Not bad, not bad. We’re three people light, but on the whole, these are some good-lookin’ stats.

The goal of NPI is consistency over quantity, to make sure you plop your little butts in front of a keyboard and Write Every Day. As long as you understand that, I’m sure we’ll get along juust fine.

=========================

1. Ryan G. Sanders
250 words per day
https://twitter.com/RG_Sanders
http://www.ryangsanders.com/

Zero strikes left.

Total to date (as of day 20): 45,167 Read the rest of this entry »

*blows whistle*

All right. Listen up, Pushers. It’s been five days now. Let’s see how you’re doin’.

*eyes paper taped to a wall*

Yeah, you’ve been writin’ all right. All eight of ya. (How am I supposed ta kick your butts if ya keep writin’ every day?)

OK. Fine. So maybe you’re five, six days in and thinkin’, “Yeah, this is easy.”

*scoffs* Hell Yeah it’s easy for you. You’ve got your cushy leather couches and your custom lattes and your cute little portable notebooks. Peh. Let me tell ya somethin’: I write on jagged brick walls with nothin’ but my bare knuckles. I’m not even postin’ my wordcounts on here because it would Blow Your Mind. This post? Written in blood and knuckle-skin. (You wouldn’t catch me typin’ this; I’m havin’ Mr. Lawyer here type it out instead.) *cracks what’s left of his knuckles*

Or maybe you’re thinkin’,  *in a girly voice* “Jeez. It’s only five days in and I’m already gettin’ lazy. I don’t know if I can make it through.”

Well, Pusher, think of it this way: All those days, weeks, months, or years that you didn’t write, they’re gone. But this month is different. This month is gonna feel like it’s gonna take a long time. And that’s good. You’re gonna do me a favor and basque in that time. Don’t let it overwhelm you. Just take it one day at a time. Keep with it and I promise: Amazing Things will happen with your story.

(For details on each day, check out the Word Count Repository.)

Word totals so far:

1. Ryan G. Sanders – WC Total: 22,428
https://twitter.com/RG_Sanders

2. Brian Niemeier – WC Total: 6,881
http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Niemeier/100002462676719

3. Robin Ford – WC Total: 5,500
http://twitter.com/#!/rakford

4. KLC the Book Worm – WC Total: 4,544
http://disciplineunderfire.blogspot.com/

5. kakapo – WC Total: 4,221
http://twitter.com/#!/kakapo1

6. Ranee Dillon – WC Total: 2,779
http://twitter.com/#!/raneedillon

7. Julie – WC Total: 2,673
http://jflamingoreflections.blogspot.com/

8. Nick Enlowe – WC Total: 1,241
http://twitter.com/#!/NickEnlowe

ALL RIGHT! Good job so far, everybody. Nobody charley horses or swirlies today. Well, except for Nick Enlowe.

Nick Enlowe:
*dries off and rubs leg*

Jeez, how’d I get in last place!?

You should know that Ryan G. Sanders just released his very first eBook. It’s got a slick presentation and is written in bite-sized, easy-to-digest entries for on-the-go reading, so definitely check it out. You can see samples and purchase it online at Smashwords or Amazon.

He’s also hoping for more reviews ;D

Anyway, I concur. You’re all doing a wonderful job at kicking my butt.

Happy pushin’!

This is just a place to keep track of wordcounts. :)

(Will be frequently updated)

Read the rest of this entry »

THE DUKE:
Hm. Only one more mega-pack of chewin’ gum left. Too bad the flavor in each of these only lasts about 0.7 seconds. Oh well, while I’m chewin’, let’s see who signed up for boot camp.

1. Ryan G. Sanders
250 words per day
https://twitter.com/RG_Sanders
http://www.ryangsanders.com/

2. KLC the Book Worm
250 words per day
http://disciplineunderfire.blogspot.com/

3. Brian Niemeier
1300 words per day
http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Niemeier/100002462676719
http://soulsagabooks.blogspot.com/

4. Robin Ford
Two pages (Assuming these pages consist of Times New Roman font, 12pt, single-spaced, setting your goal at 1,000 words per day)
http://twitter.com/#!/rakford
http://www.onemadwomansonemillionwords.blogspot.com/

5. kakapo
250 words per day
http://twitter.com/#!/kakapo1

6. Julie
250 words per day
http://twitter.com/#!/jflamingo2
http://jflamingoreflections.blogspot.com/

7. Ranee Dillon
700 words per day
http://twitter.com/#!/raneedillon
http://raneedillon.blogspot.com/

8. Nick Enlowe
250 words per day
http://twitter.com/#!/NickEnlowe

NICK ENLOWE:

Ah, memories. The original Novel-Push Initiative (It was hyphenated back then) was announced way back on February 5th, 2009. Now that may not sound like such a long time ago to you, but back then I wasn’t finished drafting my first novel, I was out of a job, I’d only written two short stories, and my son wasn’t even born yet.

The rules were pretty crude back then, but I was feeling pretty good about the idea of writing 250 words per day (pretty nervous, too). Towards the end of February, I was pretty sure I’d be going it alone, but then miraculously Packsister decided to join in, then Ryan G. Sanders did. It was us three versus the month of March, 2009. And ever since then, I’ve never felt alone as a writer again.

It’s been a long journey. This is actually the seventh NPI.

March 2009:
The Novel-Push Initiative (The original!)

May 2009:
Novel-Push Initiative Redux

September 2009:
Merrilee’s NPI

December 2009:
‘Laid-back Edition’ (Insurance mascots and first time there were days of reprieve)

March 2010:
The first one where you could actually earn more days of reprieve.

Oct 2010:
‘Custom NPI’

September 2011:
THE DUKE

Get out those pre-NPI jitters and get ready to write! The duke’ll be checking in on you, starting tomorrow ^_^.

Good luck, everyone!