Sunday – a mix of sun and cloud & #ROW80 check in
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So this Sunday was just like any other Sunday in Brussels. Just like the Sunday’s in oh, lets say November or February. It was cloudy and cool in the morning and then the air started warming up to the point where I took off my jacket. I know you start to get excited right. Then the sun even pops out for a good 20 minutes and I’m thinking we’re in business. So me and My Prince go to the park to soak up some rays. We bring some snacks and books. By the time we get to the park a gigantic grey cloud covers the entire sky and we end up wrapping the towels that we were sitting on the grass with around our legs for warmth. So after two hours of chill we decide to head out. We get home, put all the stuff away and then the sun comes back out. And its been sunny ever since. But that’s Brussel’s summer for you…and fall, and winter and spring for that matter.
As for my week of writing, it went ok. My goal was 5,000 words per week, which brings the daily total to about 714 words. I tend to do better with a weekly goal than a daily one because some days I write 200 words and other I write 1,000. I didn’t keep track of my daily word count, but I did increase my work in progress (WIP) by 5, 853 words as of Monday July 4. So I made my goal technically speaking.
I have to admit that I didn’t actually write all 5, 853 words this week. Don’t get me wrong, nobody else wrote them for me, but some large chunks of it was taken from draft 1 of my WIP which I had put on hold after reading some craft books.
So this week I wrote a few thousand words, plotted chapters 3-7, and copied/edited some large chunks from draft 1 and pasted them into my current draft. I also got some tips from fellow tweeters which was great!
This week I hope to keep up the pace and dedicate more time to writing. I will still be using big chunks from draft 1, but I will try to do some organic generated writing, not just editing what i already have.
Hope all the other ROW80 participants are doing well. 🙂
It sounds like you have had a great week! I went to Bruges earlier this year and loved it! Didn’t get to see much of Brussels though….just the train station!
You made a good choice going to Bruges, its more beautiful and makes for a more relaxing holiday. 🙂
Awesome job making your word goals for the week. We’re having odd weather here in the states as well. Sacramento in July usually really hot. I was sitting out on my patio wrapped in a blanket, while writing. Have a great week!
Thanks for the comment. The weather is odd everywhere it seems…. At least we can escape in a book based somewhere warm.
Congratulations on meeting your goals! Also, I must confess that I did the same thing with some of my word count this week…I found myself weaving in pieces of an earlier draft, and it definitely inflated my word count. But it was definitely work, because it entailed a lot of editing and organizing and generally moving around, which was time-consuming. So I think we can count it!
I’m so glad I’m not the only one. Editing and re-organizing does take some work so I think we can count it. But when I run out of usable parts from my first draft, then the pressure will really be on to write a lot. 🙂
Great progress this week! I think it takes just as much effort to sift through first drafts for usable parts as it does to write them in the first place – so go you! 🙂
Well thank you Cricket. I felt like I was cheating somehow, but it was work and I am being honest in my check in. I love the ROW80ers so supportive. 🙂
No no, Words yanked from old WIPs count and the motivation lift is an extra reward 😀
I’m happy that you have confirmed this as well. I will be doing some of this again this week, but soon enough I will run out of usable parts. Then its all writing from there.
I think anything you do to move a manuscript forward counts. Congratulations on your good week.
I love your description of Brussels weather! I hope for some of that in November.
Thanks so much Kathy. Yes the weather here is on and off all year round.
if its the story sure it counts towards word count – you don’t just lift and put down any old where it has to be slotted in convincingly – no cheat
This makes me feel much better. It does require some strategy and re-write because my characters have different names now and I’m trying to prevent info dumps which I did in my previous attempt at draft 1. I stopped writing 70 pages into draft 1 and I started fresh with ROW80.
Wow! Sounds like a wonderful week! I’m doing my first ROW80 and loving it. Nowhere exotic or anything like that…just at home. But maybe I can imagine I’m somewhere lovely. 😀
Thanks so much Sonia. Its my first ROW80 too. I know I have to do lots now as I have a 2 week summer vacation coming up. Gotta get some extra words in to make up for non-writing days that are sure to come….
Brussels isn’t so exotic, but does make for some great story ideas.
I’m with Sonia…a #ROW80 Newbie. I’m really enjoying making my way around to all the other sites! Y’all saw how my weekend went so it’s slow going but I’m gonna get to them ALL by the end of the ROW.
I didn’t know you were in Brussels, Nicole? Is that your permanent home or are you a transplant from somewhere else?
Duh…I went back and read your bio, Nicole. Scratch the back half of that last comment! Your banner photo is GORGEOUS. 🙂
Hi Jenny. I made a weekly and end goal for ROW80 because I think they are easier to achieve than daily goals and its nice to have a secondary goal to fall back on if I don’t make the first. Yeah, I’m a Canadian whose living in Brussels at the moment. The banner is a photo I took in Ghent, Belgium. One of the best cities in Belgium I’d have to say. 🙂
[…] see pals like Gene Lempp, Tiffany White, Nicole Basaraba and Sonia Madeiros “Rockin’ the Row.” There are others, like Jamila Jamison and […]
[…] words so now I have a stock pile of 987 words to carry over into my vacation period. As mentioned in last week’s check-in, I can’t say that I’ve written 5, 987 words. I would say that 80% is edited material […]