While browsing through some of my writing-based Facebook groups last night, I stumbled on the page for another writing challenge that I’ve decided to participate in. It’s called A Round Of Words In 80 Days, and unlike NaNoWriMo, it’s not a word-count based challenge. For ROW80, you set various writing-related goals, which you’re to accomplish … Continue reading ROW80 – December 31, 2018
So, friends, once again it's time for a writing update. This week has, of course, been busy. It was difficult to find the time to write with all of the holiday stuff going on, but I did manage to squeeze some in. We spent Xmas Eve with my mom out in the county, and then … Continue reading Post-Xmas Bloat – December 29, 2018
This post is a day late, so sorry to all of you expectantly sitting on your hands waiting for it 😉 This week has run me ragged, and I’ve been paying for that these last few days. Running around trying to find the perfect Xmas gifts for everyone on my list took it’s … Continue reading Sleep Deprived but Still Alive – December 22, 2018
Well, another week has passed, so I figure it’s time for an update. While it’s been difficult, and slower going than before, I have managed to keep up with my goal of writing a minimum of one thousand words a day. Though things are moving forward, it’s obviously not going as quickly as it was … Continue reading It’s Beginning to Look Alot Like…Meh – December 14, 2018
All right, friends, this has been a shit week, and I’m sure you’re all very eagar to hear all about it. So, NaNo ended exactly one week ago. And I won. Yay. To get this part out of the way, I did keep up with my promise, and have written at least 1000 words a … Continue reading Up and Down, like the market – December 8, 2018
So, friends, last week I promised you all that I wouldn't bug you about my silly "writing experiment" for at least another week. Well, a week has passed, and I'm sure you're all chomping at your respective bits, waiting to hear how I've been faring. Don't lie, I know you have. As you may recall, … Continue reading The End of the Beginning – November 30, 2018
An appropriate place for a celebratory pint (or three) to commemorate my NaNo Victory
If you saw my post last night, and how could you help but see it as obnoxious as it was, then you already know that yesterday I finally crossed the 50,000 word threshold in my novel attempt, and officially “Won” NaNoWriMo 2018. I did it a week early, which is an accomplishment in itself, considering … Continue reading Victory Lap – November 23, 2018
So, everybody, I did a thing. I'll probably have more to say on this tomorrow, after I've had a bit of time to process it, but tonight, I passed the 50,000 word mark and officially "Won" NaNoWriMo. I'm going to take some time to contemplate the meaning, and the meaninglessness of this achievement. … Continue reading I Did A Thing!!! – November 22, 2018
Bought this notebook back in late September when I first decided to do NaNo. I write in it at work. Finished filling it up tonight.
Just a quick update post today... It was a very busy day, and I got a late start, so not my best writing day. I did pass the minimum 1667, but didn't break 2000 for the day. Did crack the 45,000 mark, though, so 90% there Hoping to make up for it tomorrow. Still on … Continue reading A Quick Update – November 21, 2018
Had another decent day of writing today; I seem to be out of the funk that had me down this past weekend. Got some stuff done around the house, too, which is also good. What's preoccupying me lately is... "What happens after NaNo?" In all likelihood, I'll hit 50,000 words some time on Friday, so … Continue reading What Happens After? – November 20, 2018
Today went a bit better than yesterday... I had to forego watching Doctor Who last night in order to try and catch up on some sleep before work, so I think that may have helped. I managed to get 1200+ words in after work this morning before going to bed, and finished up this afternoon … Continue reading A Bit Better – November 19, 2018
So, I'm calling it on the writing for tonight. For some reason, this weekend hasn't been the best for getting the words down. It's been an up and down weekend... I had a great time Friday night with Drunk D&D, had a really good night Saturday night just staying home and watching documentaries on Netfix, … Continue reading Roller Coaster Weekend – November 18, 2018
Didn't have a great day today. I was up at stupid o'clock again this morning, and couldn't get back to sleep. I think I only got about four and a half hours. Because of that, I really didn't feel well all day, but I still managed to get some small things done around the house... … Continue reading Not a Great Day – November 17, 2018
Tonight is Drunk D&D at one of my favourite local hangouts, Villain's Beastro. A bunch of us get together to play Dungeons & Dragons, in a bar... which is both awesome and dangerous Since I'm out tonight geeking it up, I wanted to get my writing in early, though I also got some work … Continue reading Drunk D&D – November 16, 2018
Had a really good day today... we had plans to meet some friends for dinner... it's a group of friends we get together with every month, and I usually take the night off so I won't be rushed to get to work and can hang out for the entire night. We had a great time … Continue reading Maintaining Momentum – November 15, 2018
Had a decent day today... got to do a little work in my woodshop after getting up, and had a good writing day to boot. I am getting a bit concerned about how much longer this project will take beyond the end of NaNo, though. 50,000 words is not going to be near enough to … Continue reading A Decent Day – November 14, 2018
Today was my wife's birthday, so we had plans to go out for dinner and celebrate. We had a nice meal with the kids. Because of that, I didn't have much time to get anything done around the house, and I did want to make up for lost time with my writing the last few … Continue reading Wife’s Birthday – November 13, 2018
Today was a rough go, I'll be honest. I think I burnt myself out over the weekend with all of the running around and late nights. I couldn't get motivated to do much more than a few odds and ends today. The writing suffered too, it was a real slog. I only just passed the … Continue reading A Rough Go… Again – November 12, 2018
I'd like to start off tonight saying Thank You to our Veterans. It's Remembrance Day here in Canada, so stating that here is the very least I can do, and I hope all of you remembered to take a minute to reflect on all they sacrificed for the rest of us. Today, I took a … Continue reading Thank You for your Service – November 11, 2018
Got a lot done around the house today, despite being up at stupid o'clock this morning. Finished up a few things that needed doing, and also got to put some time in cleaning and working in my woodshop. I had set quite a hefty goal for my writing today, since I had the day off … Continue reading A Hefty Goal – November 10, 2018
Happy Friday, everyone. I'm lucky enough (thanks to our Veterans and my Union) to have a long weekend, so I'm anticipating getting quite a bit done around the house and still having time to get some relaxation in. Plus, more time to write. I had a bit of running around to do today, so … Continue reading Time Lord – November 9, 2018
Today I flaked a bit on all my other responsibilities to take a writing day. They held another "Write In" at the local University, and even though I didn't have the best of times at the one I went to last week, I decided to give it another shot, so I went. Before I left, … Continue reading Flaking – November 8, 2018
So, today was a bit of a slog when it came to my writing... real world thoughts kept intruding, which made it difficult to plow through it. I managed it though. Still finishing up some odds and ends outside. I'm hoping that by the end of the weekend, the house will finally be winterized. One … Continue reading Another Slog – November 7, 2018
Despite the wind today, I still managed to get some work done outside. Almost finished with the TLC to the Tardis, and things are pretty well sorted getting the yards ready for winter. Managed to get my writing in today without much trouble. I'm maintaining at least a 2000 words per day word count, which … Continue reading A Windy Day – November 6, 2018
Today was my first day back at work after a week-long layoff, so my schedule is a bit off as I have to get used to living like a vampire again. We had a bit of downtime at work, so I managed to get quite a bit of writing in before coming home. I did … Continue reading Remember, Remember – November 5, 2018
Today was another busy day. Again, I took advantage of the semi-decent weather to work outside. I did some yardwork, but spent most of the day giving my Tardis some much needed TLC. For those that don't know, a couple of years ago I built a small shed in my back yard in the shape … Continue reading Another Busy Day – November 4, 2018
Finally had a break in the weather today, so I could get back to doing some work outside. Good thing too, because the lawns were covered in about 6 inches of leaves. I still managed to keep my writing momentum going, and got to do some work in my woodshop. All in all, a very … Continue reading A Break in the Weather – November 3, 2018
This post is a bit late, but it was Friday night, and I went out, so ... It was the second day of NaNo today, and I did my best to keep my momentum going... I was up stupid early for some reason, but that gave me the opportunity to get some writing in early. … Continue reading Second Day – November 2, 2018
Well, the first day of NaNo has come, and gone. I spent quite a bit of time in front of my trusty old MacBook today, hammering at the keys, building up my word count on my actual story. I am kind of proud of myself to tell you the truth. In all, I managed 3448 … Continue reading Official First Day and a Rant – November 1, 2018
Happy Halloween, everyone. Apart from that, today is the last day before NaNoWriMo kicks off, which means that all of this practice I’ve been doing for the last month and more will be put to the test. Tomorrow, this silly writing thing starts for real. I’m a bit nervous, but as prepared as I suppose … Continue reading Halloween 2018 – October 31, 2018
Second day of layoff today, and I did my best to keep busy. I did some work outside, started on a few more mini-dice towers, and made the family dinner - home made pizza from scratch, which took up a large part of the day. I've also been trying to keep moving while I'm off. … Continue reading Layoff Day Two – October 30, 2018
Today was the first official day of my layoff from work, so I was feeling a bit aimless and unsure of what to work on. I have quite a few things around the house I could have occupied myself with, but I just couldn't get motivated to get to them. Add to that, I was … Continue reading The Layoff Begins – October 29, 2018
Another rainy day today, so another day working inside. Got quite a bit done, so I'm happy about that. I'm very glad I've been able to keep up with my regular responsibilities and still find time to write. Again today, I had to resort to writing prompts and stream of consciousness writing to hit my … Continue reading Rainy Day Two – October 28, 2018
Today was a rainy Saturday, which derailed my plans for working outside. I ended up just doing some reno-work inside the house, stuff I was saving for when the weather turned too cold to work outdoors, but still needed to be done. Feeling a bit accomplished, though, so there is that. For my writing today, … Continue reading Rainy Days – October 27, 2018
So, it's Friday, and I don't want to spend my Friday night hunched over my keyboard, so I decided to try and get my writing in early. I did still manage to get some things done around the house, mostly tidying up the outside of the house to get it ready for winter. Writing was … Continue reading It’s Friday, Bitches – October 26, 2018
Just going to say this right off the bat... Today was a shit day. Nothing too devastating, just disappointing, but I'll roll with it. Honestly, it's mostly my fault for not paying attention and seeing it coming. I'll deal with it. Anyway, had a good time grabbing some beers with a good friend and shooting … Continue reading Another Shit Day – October 25, 2018
Today was kind of busy; had quite a bit to get done this afternoon, as I have plans tomorrow evening before work and won't be able to get up to much. I did get my writing in, though. I'm really trying to put in the effort to write consistently every day, and to at least … Continue reading One Week To Go – October 24, 2018
With November just around the corner, NaNoWriMo advice posts and blogs are, of course, coming out of the woodwork. I’ve been reading quite a few of them, looking for any tips, tricks or encouragement that might help me along in my NaNo attempt next month. I read them on my phone during break at work, … Continue reading What’s the Point? – October 23, 2018
It's been a pretty shit day today; have been moping around in a bit of a funk because of some disappointing news. Nothing really serious, just, as I said, disappointing. I did still manage to get my writing in, though I dread to read it over, as I'm sure it's even worse than my usual … Continue reading A Shit Day – October 22, 2018
So, I got a private message today, from one of my Facebook "Friends", regarding my NaNo posts, and I feel I have to address it. I said before that if you find my daily NaNo posts annoying, I won't mind if you block notifications from me until this is all over. I post updates once … Continue reading A Rant – October 21, 2018
Ok, big day today, and lots to report, so pardon the long post. The weather didn't co-operate with me today, so most of my work around the house had to be delayed or done catch-as-catch-can between rain, hail and wind. Got a bit done, but not as much as I would have liked. During a … Continue reading Another Writer Met – October 20, 2018
Ok, so, super productive day today... I took last night off from work because of an event we had to attend, so I figured I should get as much done around the house today as possible to make up for that. Did a dump run, cleaned and fixed the eavestroughs, ran some errands, shopped for … Continue reading Productive – October 19, 2018
We have plans for tonight, so I had to get my writing in early. I finally got past the climax of the story in my outline today, which was fun, though I'm not totally satisfied with it, and feel it needs some tweaking. It's, of course, a big space battle/explosions/robots/fight to the death kind of … Continue reading Again, Plans – October 18, 2018
Today was a sad day in the house, as we had to say goodbye to our dog, Napolean. Despite this, and to help distract me, I managed to make my daily word count, clean up my word deficit and pass 1667 words. I'm sure they're not great words, but they are words none-the-less. Daily Word … Continue reading Sad Day – October 17, 2018
Feeling better today, and though I did have some house stuff to do, I still managed to get some good writing time in. Passed 1667 again today, and shot way past my daily goal. The outline is right at the climax of the story, where the main protagonist and the main antagonist finally confront each … Continue reading Better – October 16, 2018
Have a slight chest cold today, and had to do some work around the house, but still managed to get my writing in. I beat my new daily goal of 1250 words today, and made a dent in my deficit. I also passed the 1667 threshold again. There's only a little more than 2 weeks … Continue reading Cold – October 15, 2018
Very tired this afternoon... as I posted earlier this week, I can still party like a rockstar, I just can't recover like one Had a great time visiting some friends this weekend, but that meant that unfortunately, I didn't have as much time to write as I would have hoped. I've built up a deficit … Continue reading Tired – October 14, 2018
Busy night again tonight, after a busy day. Had to do some chores (chopping logs), but I still found some time to write. Hit my personal daily goal, but didn't reach 1667 today. The weekend will be tough, as we're going out of town tomorrow, so I will be hard pressed to get my words … Continue reading Busy Again – October 12, 2018
I have plans for tonight, so I had to get to get my writing in early. I did grind it out today, though... surpassed my word goal, eliminated my deficit, and passed 1667 again. Oh, and I passed 25,000 words, which is halfway to the NaNo goal. It took me 20 days to do it, … Continue reading Grind it Out – October 11, 2018
Did really well today... hit my word goal, knocked quite a bit off of my deficit, and passed the 1667 word threshold again. One really good outcome of having a daily word goal during this practice run is it's teaching me not to self-edit, which tends to bog me down. Right now, I'm just writing … Continue reading Doing Well – October 10, 2018
Ok, busy day to day... have plans this evening and work later tonight. But, I did manage to find time to write... I hit my daily word goal, managed to make up some of my deficit from before, and broke the 1667 word threshold Today's Word Count - 1691 Deficit Remaining - 598 Novel Word … Continue reading Plans – October 9, 2018
Had Thanksgiving with the family today, and did some visiting, so that meant a drive out to the county and back. That means I didn't have much of a chance to write today, and am falling a bit farther behind my goals. I should write a bit more, but I have to work tonight, and … Continue reading Being Thankful – October 8, 2018
New cork board in my office to help me layout the chapter order.
Bit of a rough go today... woke up still a bit "tired" from our con day yesterday, and I had some home improvements to finish, as well as to visit some family for Thanksgiving. I did manage to get some writing time in, though I did take a break to watch the Doctor Who premiere. … Continue reading A Rough Go – October 7, 2018
This is (supposedly) a wolf's tooth. I bought it at Continuum for a couple of bucks from a witchy woman selling witchy wares. I don't buy into all that "woo" stuff, but if it is infused with power spells from some kind of suburban shaman from Almish country, it couldn't hurt Plus, wolf's tooth
The good news... I had a great time hanging with and nerding out with my son today at the Continuum Sci-Fi Convention in Romulus, Michigan. While it was a smaller con than we're used to, there were some great people, we sat in on some really good panels, I met two published authors … Continue reading Meeting Some Writers – October 7, 2018
Today was a slog... had a few social engagements to attend, so it was difficult finding the time to reach my word count for the day, but I did manage to scrape it out just under the wire. Tomorrow will be especially difficult, as my son and I will be at a Sci-Fi Convention all … Continue reading The Slog – October 5, 2018
Busy day today... have to go out later this afternoon so I can't play hermit and just write. Still managed to reach my daily word goal, though just barely. Today's Word Count - 1163 Novel Word Count - 0 (Start Date Nov. 1) Outline/Prep. Word Count - 17,316
Trying to commit to writing at least 1150 words per day for the next little while. Hoping to amp that up to 1667/day by the end of this month. The outline is getting really long, and perhaps a bit too detailed. I've started using some plot-building templates available through the NaNoWriMo website to flesh out … Continue reading Trying to Commit – October 3, 2018
Had a bit of free time to write today, so I managed to break 1667 words Also, I finished my 7 day challenge, and passed the 7000 word goal by 2367! I may start a new challenge in a few days and up the word goal. I decided to participate in NaNo twelve days ago, … Continue reading The First Challenge, Day 7 – October 2, 2018
Today has been crazy hectic, with working on my makeup for the upcoming convention. I still managed to squeak by on my word count, though, and I finished my seven-day goal early! Still have to work on getting my word count up to 1667/day, though I do have a whole month to get up to … Continue reading The First Challenge, Day 6 – October 1, 2018
Busy day today... managed to finish my costume for next week's Continuum convention, did the front brakes on the PT. Cruiser, and still managed to hit my word target for today, though just barely Will have to try and step it up come November, though. Today's Word Count - 1016 Daily Challenge Word Count - … Continue reading The First Challenge, Day 5 – September 30, 2018
It was a rough day today... haven't been getting a lot of sleep, and had to work on a Saturday for the first time in a long time. I've been dragging my ass all day. But, despite getting all the work on the house done that I wanted to do today, while shuffling around like … Continue reading The First Challenge, Day 4 – September 29, 2018
Had quite a bit of down time at work this morning, so had some extra time to write. First time so far I've cracked the 1667 word barrier Also, my outline and research notes are getting really long, lol. Today's Word Count - 2057 Daily Challenge Word Count - 4298 (Day #3) Novel Word Count … Continue reading The First Challenge, Day 3 – September 28, 2018
Today was a bit hectic, and had trouble reaching my daily goal, but I managed it Still a ways away from the 1667/day I need, but hoping to get there before November. Today's Word Count - 1043 Daily Challenge Word Count - 2241 (Day #2) Novel Word Count - 0 (Start Date Nov. 1) Outline/Prep. … Continue reading The First Challenge, Day 2 – September 27, 2018
The NaNo website offers a lot of resources to help you get ready for November, things like inspirational pep talks and writing prompts and such. It also has a series of challenges you can participate in, kind of like practice runs, to help build you up to the 1667/day word count goal. I signed up … Continue reading The First Challenge, Day 1 – September 26, 2018
Today's NaNo Pep & Prep... Post an Inspirational Picture. Had to include a quote for reference... Ian Fleming working on Casino Royale at Goldeneye, Jamaica. Novel Word Count - 0 (Start Date Nov. 1) Outline/Prep. Word Count - 5549
NaNo Pep & Prep for today... Post a before selfie. Best I could do Novel Word Count - 0 (Start Date Nov. 1) Outline/Prep. Word Count - 4121
More NaNo Pep & Prep - Today's tip is to post an inspirational quote. Novel Word Count - 0 (Start Date Nov. 1) Outline/Prep. Word Count - 3131
Going through some Pep and Prep for NaNo. One of the assignments is to post a pic of your writing space. Novel Word Count - 0 (Start Date Nov. 1) Outline/Prep. Word Count - 2635
So, after many years of hemming and hawing about it, I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and participate in NaNoWriMo this year. That’s today... tomorrow I may decide to abandon the whole idea For those not familiar, National Novel Writing Month (often shortened to NaNoWriMo), is an annual, Internet-based creative writing project that takes … Continue reading The Decision – September 21, 2018
Rob's Writing Blog 