09.04.08
1,000 Word Pledge Update – Day 6 and Challenge!
I have to say that this has been a really good decision on my part to listen to the advice of others! (Pat on the back for me.)
And, I would like to extend the challenge of the 1,000 Word Pledge to anyone else who wants to finish something that they are working on. Your own pledge doesn’t have to be 1,000 words (it could be any amount you choose or even a page count rather than a word count), but it has to be something that pushes you a little further than you have pushed yourself before.
Today I wrote over 1,000 words just for the novel (which is now at a total of 13,260 words). Yesterday, my total word count was 1123 words (over a few projects).
Think about it and if you decide to take the challenge, leave a comment abut what you are doing.
Happy writing!
~Melissa 
09.02.08
1,000 Word Pledge Update -Day 4
Today is a “work day” so it is a good test of my commitment to the pledge…and I passed the test! After working all day, I wrote 262 words for the thesis, 735 words for the novel and 315 words for miscellaneous projects (not including lesson plans or blog posts) for a grand total of 1,312 words today! (I wrote over 1,000 words yesterday as well…mostly on the novel.)
Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.
I hope everyone else is having as productive a day as I am!
~Melissa
I wonder though, if I did keep track of all the words I wrote today including lesson plans, blog posts, emails, handwritten notes, and everything else, just how many words in total that would be? Has anyone ever kept track of how much they actually write in a day for purposes of general communication? I want to look into this further and perhaps share some statistics with my students…it might be interesting!
08.30.08
Commitment and the 1,000 Word Pledge
I have noticed that on a multitude of blogs, the authors post entries about how many words they have written that day, the status of a particular project (there are even widgets designed specifically for this purpose!) and I have sort of read those entries and just said, “Okay. Gee, thanks for sharing.” But, I have to admit that I get it now!
I am probably the most inconsistent writer there is. I always was. In high school – somewhat, in college – definitely, and I would write when I was on the bus, walking on campus, when I was at work, or during calculus class when I should have been trying to understand the math! I couldn’t help it – I didn’t have a routine and just wrote when the ideas came to me. I’d stay up all night and work on a paper or story if I had to, but it all seemed worth it because the end product was usually pretty good. I still write my papers and stories in that way now. When I have an idea, I jot it down and the next time I have an idea, I jot it down and before I know it, the project is finished.
Well, I am going to try to take the advice I have been given (by many) and commit to a word count each day. Now, I have to be completely honest here because the word count is going to be divided among the major pieces that I have in the works. The first piece is of course my thesis, the second is a novel, and the third is going to be whatever else comes along. This may sound disorganized to you, but believe me it is much more structured than I have ever been.
So, my pledge is to write 1,000 words each day. (Productive, substantial words that I feel good about.) I think the the pledge is important because our attention spans are diminishing these days, we are all over-booked, and required daily to multi-task more than ever. This commitment will hopefully be exactly what I need to accomplish everything that I plan to in the next year with regards to my writing.
Wish me luck and let me know if you have made similar writing commitments or pledges to yourself. Has one worked better than another for you? Am I being too easy on myself or is 1,000 words a good number? Be honest!
~Melissa
PS…Blog entries don’t count!
