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Many writers -- and I count myself among them -- are obsessive word counters, judging progress on the work-in-progress by the number of words in the manuscript. It's a character flaw, I know. In fact, often 'progress' is getting rid of words that shouldn't be there. However, my tendency is to write somewhat sparse first drafts, and my subsequent revisions tend to add to the word count rather than subtract from it. I might delete 200 words, but I'll replace them with 250.
Anyway, since I'm working hard on MUSE (which is the working title for the current work-in-progress) and counting words, I thought why not get the rest of you involved in this. So...
The Obsessive Word-Counting Contest!. I started MUSE on May 6, 2010. I hit 5,000 words on May 18, 2010, and 10,000 words on May 24. The contest is for you to guess the date that I'll cross the 20,000 word threshold.
Here's some additional information to help you in your calculations. Starting the novel in May meant that the semester's classes were over, though I had a buttload of grading to do in that first week. Since May 11, when grades were submitted, I haven't been teaching. However, I do have an eight week summer semester course I'll be teaching: a graduate-level creative writing workshop course. That starts on Tuesday, June 1, and meets two days a week. I'll be prepping for that, and will have manuscripts to read and critique regularly throughout that course, which will necessarily slow down progress. And, of course, there's always the possibility that I'll bog down for one reason or another and will have days with little-to-no progress, and just as likely that I'll get really excited and pump out 1,500 words in one day.
So -- in the comments, put the date you think MUSE will reach 20,000 words in draft, either on LJ or the S.L. Farrell page on Facebook. The winner will receive his or her pick of any of the previously-published Stephen Leigh, S.L.Farrell, novels (or even the one Matthew Farrell novel). Should two or more people pick the correct date, Denise will randomly choose the winner from the correct entrants.
All right -- make your calculations and give us the date!
Anyway, since I'm working hard on MUSE (which is the working title for the current work-in-progress) and counting words, I thought why not get the rest of you involved in this. So...
The Obsessive Word-Counting Contest!. I started MUSE on May 6, 2010. I hit 5,000 words on May 18, 2010, and 10,000 words on May 24. The contest is for you to guess the date that I'll cross the 20,000 word threshold.
Here's some additional information to help you in your calculations. Starting the novel in May meant that the semester's classes were over, though I had a buttload of grading to do in that first week. Since May 11, when grades were submitted, I haven't been teaching. However, I do have an eight week summer semester course I'll be teaching: a graduate-level creative writing workshop course. That starts on Tuesday, June 1, and meets two days a week. I'll be prepping for that, and will have manuscripts to read and critique regularly throughout that course, which will necessarily slow down progress. And, of course, there's always the possibility that I'll bog down for one reason or another and will have days with little-to-no progress, and just as likely that I'll get really excited and pump out 1,500 words in one day.
So -- in the comments, put the date you think MUSE will reach 20,000 words in draft, either on LJ or the S.L. Farrell page on Facebook. The winner will receive his or her pick of any of the previously-published Stephen Leigh, S.L.Farrell, novels (or even the one Matthew Farrell novel). Should two or more people pick the correct date, Denise will randomly choose the winner from the correct entrants.
All right -- make your calculations and give us the date!
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