It’s my final milestone of Operation 50/50. For the last 50 days, I’ve been trying to tackle a scene a day. The reason? I want to get my work-in-progress in a polished draft form for my critique partners and betas plus make my goal of a finished novel in 2011.
The whole goal was to give myself some type of structure without the added pressure of stressing myself out. As some of you already know, my day job can be sometimes very demanding, so I already knew that some of my days would not be as productive as I wanted them to be.
However, I must say the progress on my novel has really been a great thing and I really do believe that if I hadn’t have done something like this that I would have not gotten the same level of output.
So what’s the final tally?
Wrote draft for scenes 49-50
Total for this milestone: 3211
Total for Operation 50/50: 27,944 words
Total for current whole novel revision: 65,359 words
Operation 50/50 Statistics:
Revised scenes: 5
Draft scenes: 30
Story-boarding scenes: 15
So during Operation 50/50, I had the opportunity to revise/draft out the last 1/3 of my novel. I’m happy about how the new ending is working out. I still need to go back and work on the story-boarding scenes — the ones where I just jotted down some ideas — but now that I have a full novel draft again, I can figure out how best to approach them.
My next steps will be to complete all remaining scenes and then start another revision round. My goal is to have a final revision complete by the end of the summer — pending any crazy job activities.
The things I learned during Operation 50/50:
- Consistency (no matter how small) pays off.
- Exposure to your novel on a daily basis keeps you in its world.
- Being flexible and realistic lowers stress level and fosters creativity.
- Breaking a novel into smaller chunks keeps you writing in the moment.
So that’s it folks! Operation 50/50 is over and I’m very happy with the progress. Writer friends, what kind of things have you learned when you reach a major milestone in your writing?
What great lessons! Focus on small chunks! Be consistent. Yay for you!
Oh dear, we should keep in touch… my goal is to finish the whole revision by the end of July. Our writing schedules seem to be eerily in synch with each other!
28K. WOW! Go you!
You’re so much better at adding up your stats than I am, but I might need to start working on that… they’re so empowering!
Congrats! I learned that exposure to my WIP on a daily basis is a huge help. I spend a minimum of 20 minutes a day and it saves me so much time in the long run. This really helps keep me moving forward during school breaks when both my boys are home.
Laura: Exactly! When you look a whole novel trying to figure out how to revise, it’s just too overwhelming!
Anne: We should definitely keep this thing going over the summer! I’ll touch base with you so we can do our check-ins. We can do this! :)
Karen: Thanks! :) I’ve learned this important lesson. When I would not write for several weeks, it was very hard to get back into the novel world. But it really doesn’t take that much time — 20 minutes a day does wonder by keeping you close to your work.
Congrats on finishing Operation 50/50! I love your lessons and will keep them in mind as I forge through ROW80. So far, exposing myself to my WIP every day has helped me keep up the momentum. :)
Holy cow, Karen, look at you! Congratulations on this huge accomplishment. It’s been so fun watching your progress.
Ghenet: I know that you’re going to do well with ROW80. Whatever you do, spend a least a few moments every day with your novel. You don’t have to write anything but just “being” with the words will help you stay in the world. Good luck! :)
Julie: Thanks! :) And OMG congratulations again on the agent! How exciting! So happy for you.
Okay, that was impressive! Way to keep your eyes on the prize. I’m kind of awed by your discipline!
You’ll make it, I have no doubt! Operation 50/50 is an awesome idea and you’ve come a long way with it. Following along your progress has helped inspire me too!
Vicky: I still have a ways to go but I’m very happy with my progress. Structure works for me. :)
Heather: So glad that I could help inspire you. You should be at your finish line for your project as well. Good luck with it! :)
Karen,
Congratulations! it’s time to celebrate this milestone. And I heard something about an agent?!! WOW! Congratulations Karen! Definitely time to break out that champagne.
nutschell
http://www.thewritingnut.com
Nutschell: It was a great milestone to celebrate for sure.
And the congrats go to good writer friend Julie Musil who just signed with a fabulous agent! I’ll be doing my submissions later this year. :)
Good for you! Looks like it was a success.
Theresa: Thanks! :) It actually turned out pretty well I think.