Book Total = 19,402 words
7,023 words
Yeah, I’m staring at that number and can’t believe it. Can’t believe I knocked down 7K today. I need almost 600 words to make it 20K…and a novella. I confess, I’m a little stunned. Tomorrow, I’m hoping to start writing earlier than 2 PM. Wonder if being able to write in the morning will make a difference in my word count.
The competition kicks off in Chapter 7. I’m only 1000 words into the chapter, but I’ve got Jack at the palace, ready to fight for Talia. Looking forward to building the new prince charming challenges that the knights in training will have to win to gain their princess’ favor. And poor Jack has no idea that there are people already plotting against him. But Talia’s back in angel of death form and ready to smite as she struggles to beat Lucifer at his new wager. But Lucifer cheats. Should be fun to see what happens.
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4,114 words
Just hit chapter six. Talia is pissed. And contemplating all her angel of death powers and how she can use them on these humans. Gotta take a short break. Back later.
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1318 words
And the plot thickens. Things just got real for poor Jack. He’s got paparazzi and Lucifer in his face and all he can think about is Talia. And the opening competition for her hand, against twenty-nine younger, richer, and successful guys. Including previous rival, Armand Gianni. He begins to question what he can even offer her except his heart. And he’s wary about the person from his past that’s been signed to show. The obstacles are building up and he’s starting to lose faith in himself (damn, I’m mean, it’s only chapter 5). If only he knew that Talia wasn’t a human woman and didn’t care about any of that. As an angel of death, she saw past bluster and illusions. The one thing that shined through like a beacon was the human heart, good or bad. It was the only thing she cared about, the only thing worth fighting Lucifer for.
Listening to: American Idiot by Green Day
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I put links to both Ron’s and Brigid’s dare posts at the top of my post and will try to keep them at the top so you can check on their stories, too. The point of a dare is to be immersed in the entire story for a short period of time, from beginning to end. That way, as a writer, all the details and events and emotions are still vibrant and fresh in your head as you writer the entire story. Another reason is because at the end, I have all the clay on the potter’s wheel and can now shape it into my vision of the story. What I saw in my head. What led me to write the story in the first place. And another big reason for doing a dare is the camaraderie and support from the others doing a dare. That’s my reason for doing a dare.
A word about word count: it’s really not about the word count comparison. Every writer’s story is different. Maybe Ron and Brigid have very detailed, intricate plots, worlds, and/or characters that require extra time to build and paint. First book in a series…gotta get all those stages set and details on point. That kind of writing takes a lot of time and sometimes, every word is a battle. And sometimes, you just have to fight for every word because your head sees it, but your heart’s struggling to send those feelings to your hands to implement. Not because of the story, but because the world is just dropping bombs on your head (looking at you 2020!)
And sometimes, the universe gifts you with an experience where the story burns so hot through you that you struggle not to set the keyboard on fire because your typing so fast but you can’t keep up with your brain’s rapid fire transmissions and your whole body’s vibrating because you’re there, in that world, in those characters’ heads, cheering them on. And who the hell knows if anyone else will ever feel that electric, magical rush of story that propelled you like a Saturn V rocket to the end? But those are the best kinds of dares. When the world around you just falls away and you look up and hours have past since you last checked and you wonder if you’ve been abducted by aliens or having the best damned writing time of your life. Why not both? We are fiction writers after all. So getting words done each day and getting the story onto the page is what matters, not how many words. Onward!
Okay, now that I’ve wasted another half hour of the day…my progress. I don’t actually have any yet. Sitting here typing this while I eat lunch and get back to chapter 5. Late start, had errands I had to run today. We’ll see what happens with wordage today.
Listening to: the silent sound of my failure to have written a single word today…but today ain’t over yet.