Saturday, November 24, 2012

NaNoWriMo: Week Three

I got distracted by a lot this week hence the late post. I didn't even remember about the NaNo update until 11:30PM right after I shut off the lights and went to bed. Ha. Anyway:

Word Count: 161,194
Goal: 200,000
Words Needed: 38,806

Key Plot Points:
It's over. Yep, I've written the last two words every novelist strives for: The End. It became official at 9:59PM on the 18th. The Forbidden Object was destroyed. Two people died and everyone else lived happily ever after. Oh, I did forget that Gary wears glasses so during editing either this month or next month I'll have to add that in which will bring up the word count for the Chosen Ones. I'm not going to get into too much detail here because I can't remember most of it.

Thoughts on Week Three:
I didn't really have much of a week three. Once I finished Chosen Ones I took a long break. I didn't actually start writing again until Thursday night when I pumped out about 3,000 words. Last night I managed 5,000 which isn't much considering. This weekend I plan to get my 200,000. That's right: I'm going to write 38,806 words before Sunday at midnight.

I'm fairly certain I can do this. I might need to take an extra few hours Monday since I'm not going to be starting to write for another half hour or so then I've got another hour to two hours I have to take out of the day for various things. I'm not too concerned though.

I'm making up the other words by finishing a novel I started back in Oct. It's a big switch going from a Lord of the Rings Parody to a modern day, serious, character-growing fantasy. I want to add commentary but it's not allowed. I think this is what's slowed me down the past few days but I'll get over it.

This novel has the unofficial title of Protectors and is about five men who stumbled upon amulets that gift them with special powers. The catch is the five have to grow up in order to use their powers. For instance, Paul, the lawyer is a perfect candidate for Anger Management. In order to use Serenity's powers (yes the amulets have names) he has to learn to become cool, calm and collected. It's a big task for someone with such a hotheaded personality.

Of course, it wouldn't be much of a story without a bad guy so there is a nice little twist in there that I have to thank the NaNo forums for giving me. I'm about half way done with this story so getting the other 38,806 words will not be a problem. The problem might be getting it before Sunday at midnight.

As I said in the beginning, I've been distracted by the internet, namely the muse that kind of inspired Andre in Chosen Ones. I've also had a lot of self-doubt issues to deal with this week that made my writing slow down to a crawl. I think I'm over both. We'll find out, won't we?

Thus ends the week three update. Hopefully I'll remember to get week four up on the right date. Until then, good night and don't let the monsters of doubt bring you down.

Monday, November 19, 2012

One Million Feelings

A little while back I wrote a blog post that talked about the six novels that contributed to the 1 million words I wrote this year. It came to my attention that while I mentioned the six novels that made up those million words I never actually talked about how I felt about it. The main reason for this post is last week someone from NaNo messaged me with questions about the million words. It then dawned on me: while I thanked all my characters and plot bunnies, I never talked about how, why or what the heck was going through my mind doing it. So, here's a little Q&A thanks to Azalea E:

How has the experience of writing a million words been for you?
It's been one heck of an experience. Oddly enough, I had not set out on Dec. 1 2011 to write a million words by Nov. 30 2012. I had spotted a thread in NaNo in and around July 25th and decided 'What the heck, let's do this.' I only know the exact date because it's in my 12in12 tracker file.

Do you feel mentally exhausted?
Oddly, no, I'm not mentally exhausted. I would write for a few days in a row hitting 5-10K words a night, take a day or two off then write a few days straight again. I'm not sure if that actually helped but I'm not mentally wiped.

Has your literary stamina increased?
I don't know about literary stamina but I do know I can now get 2,000 words in an hour. If I'm really going I can get 10K in four hours.

It's said that after writing a million words or so, you'll become a better writer. Do you think that's the case? Have you noticed any improvement in your writing from 12 months ago till now?
There has definitely been an improvement in my writing. My stories and characters seem more real, there are more subplots, and things generally tend to make sense and feel alive. I've also learned to work with my Inner Editor and I don't make the same mistakes I used to a year (or so) ago. My writing style has matured and changed a lot from 2011 to now.

How did you manage such a thing? Do you write in all your spare time? Are you a fast typist/thinker?
At the risk of sounding like some kind of anti-social freak: I don't have much of a social life and that doesn't bother me. I hang out with friends once a week (sometimes twice a month) and write any other time. There have been certain situations in my life that has attributed to me not having an active social life so I turned to writing as an escape. Usually I write from 6PM to midnight every night. When I'm really into a story my word count and brain power increases.

What are the Pros and Cons?
Pros: I wrote six novels in a year. I know some professional authors have done more than that but I wrote six novels with a 9AM - 5PM job from June to September. This is awesome because I have 50 more novel ideas on various back burners that I want to write. The past year has taken a huge chuck out of my 'story list'.
Bragging rights. Anyone who tells me that I'm not a real writer I can honestly say I've hit my million words/10,000 hours of practice then KEPT GOING.
My first drafts have improved greatly and read more like a second or third draft. This means less re-writing. I know what works and doesn't work. I can plot out entire novels in less time.
It increased my writing output by leaps and bounds. Before I was lucky to get 1000 words in an hour. Now I've doubled it.
I seem to be inspired by the oddest things. Before I started taking the million word challenge seriously, I wouldn't get an idea for months. Now a sentence can send me into a 'what if?' thing and BAM! Idea.

Cons: I have to EDIT those six novels. That's probably the biggest one I can think of. I'm not sure if this is a pro or con but I can survive on 6 hours of sleep.

Final thoughts:
This is one challenge that is worth it to do. Not to say that anything else is worthless but this is definitely something that will give anyone a work out, especially if they have a day job and other commitments. But in the end, it can improve your writing by leaps and bounds so it's completely worth it. It might make people go crazy, throw their social lives out the window, live off caffeine, and learn to function on little sleep but it can improve a writing style by leaps and bounds.

Would I do it again? Heck yes. In fact, I'll start up my second 1 million in 1 year challenge in January. For those of you who are curious: that's 83,333 words a month. Yes, MORE than a NaNo challenge every month to get that goal. I'm looking forward to it.

Until next time: Good night and don't let Gollum take the precious.

Friday, November 16, 2012

NaNoWriMo: Week Two

Being honest, I got so wrapped up in my story I kind of forgot about this blog. Better late than not at all, right? Moving on:

Word Count: 126,346 (I'll be writing more after this post goes up)
Goal: 200,000
Words Needed: 73,645 which is a little over how much I wrote in week 1.

Key Plot points:
Er, I can't even remember half my plot right now because it's zipped by so fast. I do know that my villain is gearing up to head North where the Forbidden Object must be destroyed. The Chosen Ones are about five months away from getting to the only place the Forbidden Object can be destroyed. Yes there is an epic battle planned in the near future.

Ed decided to be a hero and learned a bit of swordsmanship from Bob. He's not wonderfully good but he knows to stick the pointy end into people. We got to meet Bob's cousin (Andre) who was supposed to be a minor, one scene character. Now the cousin has joined the Chosen Ones on their journey.

Ed was poisoned by a massive spider and we found out that all elves are deathly afraid of spiders. Ed was brought to the elf haven of White River where they reunited with Bob's cousin Andre. This is where Andre joins them on their journey once Ed heals up. The group is currently trying to save the elf haven of Strong Waters from two Kings fighting over who's Queen is prettier.

Ridam learned to fly after Hulkael sneezed him off a cliff and he learned to breathe fire when Ed was attacked by the giant spider. Yes, Ridam is an ACTUAL dragon now. They grow up so fast.

Mr. Omega created giant koalas because he wants them to be part of his North-bound army. I never said he was a normal villain. There's probaly a lot I'm missing (and intentionally leaving out...hehe) but that's the basics. Check out the week 1 blog for prior plot information.

My thoughts on week two:
It dragged. I know I wrote more than I did in week one but for two nights in a row I didn't even open the darned document or anything. I got stuck with a big massive hole in the middle but inspiration struck and everything is planned now. It didn't help in actually writing anything though.

I'm still hitting that wall where this thing is too serious for a parody (in my eyes) but then Mr. Omega comes along and knits his kittens sweaters or something equally odd and makes things better. I swear the only reason I have him is for funny moments. I'm afraid that if I kill him off all the funny will go away.

Anyway, things are tying up in nice little bows and I don't think I've missed any plot points. I kind of sad that in four chapters and an epilogue this thing will be over. I know, right? I've only got four chapters left to write.

I know I won't hit the 200K word count goal with just this parody. I'll probably get around 180K words for it but that's okay. I've got the story I was working on in October to finish to get my 200K goal.

My goal for this weekend (with tonight, Sat and Sun) is to get 50K words to finish this monster. I'm not sure how that's going to work out as my highest word count day is 18,333. I'm going to try though.

I hope to be finished this novel by Tuesday, take a few days for a break then get my last 20-30K words with my other novel. The sad part is even with those 20-30K words that other novel won't be done. That's okay though; I don't mind. I will say that once I hit the 200K I'm stopping so I can focus on editing everything.

Anyway, that's my NaNoWriMo week 2 update. The week 3 update is coming on the 23rd and until then: Good night and don't let the evil sun monster steal your soul.

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Inner Editor

I'd like to start off by saying this post was inspired by all the threads I see in the NaNoWriMo forums about the Inner Editor. So for all those who have started threads, responded to threads or are wondering who this Inner Editor person is: this is for you.

The Inner Editor is the voice in the back of a writer's mind that constantly discusses plot flaws, grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes and character flatness. Some Inner Editors go so far as to tell the writer that they are no good at writing and should quit. Some won't be quiet no matter what the writer does thus leaving the writer trying to perfect the same sentence for hours.

You may think it's strange that I'm talking about the Inner Editor as if the Inner Editor is a real person. For some authors, it is. For others it may as well be. The Inner Editor for (most) writers is a constant stream of internal monologue that we cannot shut off. Now I'm not sure if EVERY writer has an Inner Editor but it looks to be the case from what I've seen in the NaNo forums. Yes, I realize this does not represent every writer. That's fine.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way I think it's fair I mention that during NaNo most people's advice is to shut off the Inner Editor. This confuses the heck out of me. Why would you want to silence something trying to help you? The response is generally: "I can't write with the Inner Editor tearing apart everything I write." or: "I won't make the 50K if I keep trying to make everything perfect." Okay, that makes sense I guess. The whole purpose of NaNo is to have fun while trying to get 50,000 words in one month.

But I ask these people: What happens when you can't EVER write anything with the Inner Editor turned on?

You see I have an issue with turning off the Inner Editor for NaNo. I think it's silly to do so. Why? Well if one wants to learn to work WITH their Inner Editor they must write WITH them. Sure NaNo is about getting a first draft. But not all first drafts have to be big piles of crud. I know, I know: BLASPHEMY! Every first draft is CRUD! Cue the pitchforks and all that. I disagree that all first drafts are crud but more on that another time.

Back to the Inner Editor: I LOVE my Inner Editor. There. I said it. I LOVE MY INNER EDITOR. Why? Because I've written enough that me and my Inner Editor have become one. I've written enough that I know what my faults and mistakes are and I don't make them as much. Yes, I'll slip up sometimes but for the most part I can stop myself.

This does not mean my writing is perfect. I'll never be perfect since my style will constantly change with the more experience I get. It DOES mean that my first drafts are more like a second or third drafts. Why? Because I've learned to work WITH my Inner Editor instead of shutting it out. Now the Inner Editor is my partner instead of someone I have to shut up so I can write without care.

People can say I've only become better because I've grown up or I've been writing more. But isn't accepting the negatives you may think about your writing a part of growing up? This would mean that learning to see and fix plot holes as you go (a job of the Inner Editor) comes with experience. This experience can only be obtained if you let it.

Practice makes perfect (or close to it). I am under the firm belief that if one writes enough with the Inner Editor one can get to the point where the Inner Editor doesn't have to be shut up. Also, writers evolve the more they write. If you shut off a part of yourself, you can't evolve. You can't get better. You won't be able to get over that road-block stopping you from making your first draft more than a pile of dribble.

I've learned a lot about myself and my writing in the past two years, more so in the last year. One of the most important things is that you SHOULD NOT force the Inner Editor to be silent. Let it free. Let it improve you. Let it better you. Work with it and become friends because at the end of the day, your Inner Editor is your writing voice.

Until next time: Good night and don't silence your Inner Editor.

Friday, November 9, 2012

NaNoWriMo: Week One

So the first week of National Novel Writing Month is complete. It's been a hectic week with work, trying to work on NaNoWriMo as well as promoting. Here's my stats and the introduction to what the heck I'm writing:

Word Count: 70,422
Goal: 200,000
Words Needed: 130,000
Finished NaNoWriMo challenge: Sun, Nov. 4th.

Yes I'm one of those crazy people known as an over-achiever on the forums. Moving on:

Novel: Fantasy Parody of Lord of the Rings (yeah I went there, ha)
Title: Chosen Ones of the Forbidden Object
Plot so far: The farmer Ed was whacked in the head with the Forbidden Object while it was being transported by a dragon to Mr. Omega (the Big Bad). Ed of course, didn't know what it was so decided to hang on to it. He was tracked down by the Nine Riders of the Abyssal Planes, chased from his home town, tried to settle in a new town, was chased from there and almost killed. Fortunately (not according to Ed) Bob the valient elf warrior and his steed Pinkie saved him.
Bob brought him back to his home of Clear River where they met up with the other members of what would be the Chosen Ones to destroy the Forbidden Object. These others are Hulkael the Giant Prince (slow moving, slow talking and slow witted), Alina a fairy (a bit on the drunk side with random items in a ridiculously small bag), the Dragon Prince Ridam (a dragon who can't breathe fire and is afraid to fly), the Wizard Gary (a bit crazy), the Dwarf Prince Dreh Cairnbeard (a self-proclaimed ladies man), and the reluctant Bob with Pinkie.
So the group started off and found out quickly that Ed is not the hero they need for this. He complains, wets himself in the face of evil, sleeps when he should be listening and in general is not a good guy. This is even more evident when giant wolves attack and Ed screams, wets his pants, and falls into a fetal position. Of course the giant wolves are defeated and the group moves on.
The next challenge are bats with tentacles that Ridam (in a high-pitched teen dragon voice) takes out and the Nine Riders of Hell. The baddies are defeated putting Mr. Omega into an anger management class. The group is forced through a mountain where they meet Jedris (think Gollum) who wants the Forbidden Oject. He's knocked out by a well found cannon from Alina's bag and the group moves on.
Mr. Omega then releases the tigers. During the battle Bob and Alina fall in love (bah) and Mr. Omega mourns his tigers. The group has to climb over some cliffs where Ridam has to fight another dragon in a game of chess. Mr. Omega becomes bored and makes cute, fluffy kittens with bat wings.
The group gets off the cliffs and comes into a desert, walked through it and surived. Now they're taking a break while Mr. Omega teaches his kittens how to fly.

That's where I am so far. I'm mostly making this thing up as I go along so as for what's next I don't even know for sure. I do know there is a major battle between Mr. Omega and the Chosen Ones but that's the last chapter. I also know there's going to be a war of somesort that side-tracks the group in the later chapters. I also know this thing is going to be HUGE.

Anyway, my thoughts on this week: It started out awesome and the fourth wall lays in dust at my feet. On Sat, the 3rd I got my highest word count in a day: 18,333. On Sun. the 4th I got 16K words to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge. By Tuesday I hit a wall. My parody was no longer a parody and becoming way too serious. This came from Bob and Alina's romance which I'm not too sure about right now. I might break them up or I might pretend it didn't happen.
It's gotten back into it the comedy aspect now which is awesome and I hope to hit 90K this weekend. I'm not sure how that's working out as shortly after the posting of this blog, I'll be out. Saturday I'm out in the morning and the afternoon then Sunday morning is a no-go. But I'm going to try dang it.

Well, that's my week one NaNoWriMo update. Stayed tuned for NaNoWriMo Week 2 Review on the 16th. Hopefully it won't be so rushed as this one. Also for NaNoWriMo I'll be talking about the dreadful Inner Editor and what I do to keep writing despite said Inner Editor. Until then: Good night and don't let any demons from Hell steal your soul.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

The Six

I mentioned in my 'One Million Words' blog post that I wrote six novels. I also mentioned that I might talk about the six novels. Hey guess what? I REMEMBERED!

The reason I want to talk about these novels is because four of them are a part of a series. One can become a series and the last has been planned to be at least three books. Without these six books I would have never made it to the million so this is my thank you to them. I know that sounds really weird but I'm a writer so weirdness is kind of needed.

Moving on:

Book 1: The Warriors Eight
Length: 165,278
Inspiration: Television.
Plot: We follow the story of the young boy who decides to save the world. Archard is our main character with the P.O.V. He lives in a country ravaged by war because the four kings cannot get along. He doesn't know that though because at the tender age of three he is kidnapped and forceed into becoming a special kind of warrior. It's not as awesome as it seems and he's beaten, tortured and a few other things. Archard escapes and decides to form a group of warriors to save the innocent people from bloodshed. There are a whole bunch of other things going on but I don't want to give up too much of the plot.
Thoughts: I loved writing this, I really did. It's not close to being finished as there are quite a few edits to do and some things don't make sense. It can become a series simply because of how it ends.
Release Date: TBA. Hopefully within the next two years or so.

Book 2: Glory Hole
Length: 145,012
Inspiration: I'm not entirely sure...
Plot: This is erotica. Yeah, I went there. Ha. Anyway, Samuel falls in love. The problem? Samuel is a stripper who can't admit his feelings and his lover is a high-profile business associate who can't admit he likes men. Yes I like to make things complicated.
Thoughts: Samuel is one of my favorite characters to write. He's witty, cute, lovable and just so darned full of anguish over the whole situation that he seems real. The interactions (clothed and unclothed) between the duo were so natural to write. They really fit.
Release Date: Probably never. This was something solely for me. But yes, there are two more books planned for this.

Book 3: The Land of Cara, Book 1: The Otherworlder
Length: 139,050
Inspiration: I used to hang a lot of posters on my ceiling. One day, one of them (a dragon poster) was falling off the ceiling. I had a really bad day and in a fit of rage, ripped it down and tore it up. Then I thought:"What if that had been a real dragon? I just killed it!"
Plot: Emily is our main character and the story starts with her jumping off a bridge. She's then transported to Cara, the country unknowingly under war. She meets Magalia, the Elemental Mage and Ayla, the last Ahkas Metalweaver. What they don't know is the Dark Mages of Cara are planning a coup to take over the country. Again, there's a lot more going on but I don't want to reveal too much.
Thoughts: I recently found out that I'm not so creative with Ayla's name. Look it up. I also never expected this thing to morph into a series. It was supposed to be a stand-alone book but I fell in love with Xeros.
Release Date: TBA. Hopefully in the next two years.

Book 4: The Land of Cara, Book 2: The Dragons
Length: 142,782
Inspiration: Xeros, one of the characters from Book 1.
Plot: Fifty years have passed and Emily has grown into a powerful Mage. The bad news? The Dark Mage Coup did not end. The good news? Emily is in a much better position to stop it. The best news? She's not the only Dragon Summoner in Cara anymore.
Thoughts: I have no idea where some of the plot came from. The whole thing with Drake and Xeros...OMFG! Then Pheobus. Really? I mean, REALLY? It blew my mind and I was the one writing it.
Release Date: TBA, again within the next two years.

Book 5: The Land of Cara, Book 3: The Red-Eyed Mage
Length: 102,777
Inspiration: The final fight in Book 2.
Plot: We meet the fourth Dragon Summoner who turns out to be a lot more important than people first think. I can't go into much detail without destroying the surprises in Book 2. Sorry.
Thoughts: It's way too short but I can't make it any longer. Well I might be able to now that I've left it alone for a bit but it's short. This is probably the shortest novel I've ever written. I think everything just happed so effortlessly because I had most of it planned out.
Release Date: TBA, within the next two years.

Book 6: The Land of Cara: Final Travels
Length: 136,504
Inspiration: The final scene in Book 3. This book never would have existed if my characters had done their job and finished like I wanted them to.
Plot: Sorry, I'm not even getting into it. There's SO MUCH going on and all of it will be spoilers for the prior three.
Thoughts: Awesome. Heart-breaking. THE FREAKING END.
Release Date: TBA, see the others.

These six alone totalled: 831,403 words. That's eighty percent of my 1,000,000 words. That is why I decided to list them. That was my thank-you speech to all the characters (I can't even begin to count how many) in all six and all the little plot bunnies.

I have to say that I'm a bit sad I won't be going into the Cara world again. I could write some side-scenes but I don't think my heart will be into it. As for the other two, I can still have fun with them.

Anyway, that is the summary of what I was working on this year. Until next time: Good night and don't let any demons steal your soul.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

National Novel Writing Month

I think it's only fitting that I talk about National Novel Writing Month since it is National Novel Writing Month or NaNo for short. Bascially NaNo is a writing challenge for anyone brave enough to accept it. The goal is to write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November.

I know, I know, that doesn't sound hard at all right? I mean to get the goal you have to write 1,647 words a day. Depending on your typing speed that can take anywhere from half an hour to two hours. Taking into consideration there are 24 hours in a day, that's nothing.

Yet, there are those that fail to complete the goal. There are many reasons for this and I know most of it can be attributed to life getting in the way. Sometimes a person can run out of steam or run out of story. I understand that. It hasn't happened to me but who knows this year might be the year.

I've participated in NaNo2010 and NaNo2011. My goal for this year is 200,000 words. But, let's take a trip back in time...

NaNo2010 was a book entitled 'Trees of Life.' It was an old story from about four years prior that I never fully plotted and never finished. Basically it was about saving the world in a fantasy setting. I won that NaNo with 100,000 words and completed it's 146,828 words. Of course this is a first draft and for a first draft, it's not that bad. There's grammar mistakes and a few things that need to be added but it's decent. I stopped writing after I finished it and did not look back at it until this year.

NaNo2011's book is called 'A Hero’s Dilemma.' It's a sci-fi novel about four reluctant super heros with a nice little plot twist and a cliff-hanger ending. I had the idea for it about four years before NaNo2011. It's 120,823 words long and I finished it by the second week. For kicks, I keep going. I wrote 'Have a Bloody Christmas', 'My Sweet Valentine', 'Odd Things Seen (HodgePodge)' and four fairy-tale gone wrong stories: 'Little Red Glock', 'Sir Andrew and the Dragon', 'Raven and the Seven Warriors' and 'The Warrior Mermaid'. My final word count was 175,000. I haven't read 'A Hero's Dilemma' since I finished it but I've been writing steadily since last year's NaNo.

This year I'm not working on a four-year-old idea like the two years prior. My idea for my 200,000 word goal came to me during last year's NaNo while I was posting on the NaNo Forums. I described a warrior elf named Bob. Bob is now a main in what is called 'Chosen Ones of the Forbidden Object.'

What is 'Chosen Ones of the Forbidden Object' you ask? Why it's a fourth-wall breaking, drunk fairy including, cowardly dragon meeting, talking horse stalking, relucant hero making parody of the Lord of the Rings. Yes. I am writing a parody of the Lord of the Rings.

Now, you're probably wondering why I've been sitting on such an idea for a year. Well, it's the only thing in my story list and idea notebook that will get me to 200,000 words in one shot. Everything else will finish between 120,000-150,000 and I don't want to be writing multiple things if I don't have to.

Why will 'Chosen Ones' finish at 200,000 words? Because I can make it. I have the freedom to pad the HECK out of this sucker because I am breaking the fourth wall. This means I will be talking to my characters ON SCENE. Also, it's a crazy, funny, silly little thing that I need to write after writing so seriously for the past eight months or so.

I will be updating with my progress on the insanity of NaNo when I remember. I know, you're thinking:"But, it's November 3rd. Isn't this an update?" Nope. This is only the beginning. And before anyone asks: No, I will not be including my blog posts in my word count. Until next time: Good night and don't let any demons steal your soul.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

One Million Words

For those of you that don't know I've been participating in a 12in12 Challenge. Basically this means I was to write 12 novellas (20,000-40,000) words a month for 12 months. I started in December of 2011 and will finish November 30th, 2012. This is the second reason why NaNo is so big for me this year. The first reason is because hey, it's National Novel Writing Month and that in itself is important.

Anyway, the third reason NaNo2012 is so important is that half-way through the year I took it upon myself to take on another challenge: 1 million words in a year. Yes, I decided I was going to write 1 million words between December 2011 and November 2012.

The forth reason has two parts: 1) I want to hit 200,000 words and 2) I've been sitting on this idea for a full year. That's right. I've had the idea for this year's NaNo since last year's NaNo. More on that in some other post.

But let's get back to reason number three: Writing 1 million words in a year. A lot of people (authors and non-authors) have said that it takes a writer 1 million words to become worthy of the title of 'writer'. Well, here are my stats for the year:

December: 22,000
January: 20,000
Februrary: 48,615
March: 147,543
April: 63,380
May: 96,948
June: 80,019
July: 134,023
August: 183,562
September:117,782
October:84,964
Total so far:998,836

This leaves me with 1,164 to write in order to hit 1,000,000 words this year. I will have completed my goal by the time this blog has been posted. Will finishing my million early stop me from writing 200,000 for NaNo2012? Nope. I'm still going to go for 200,000 words in November. Why? Well, I'm crazy. I think we've established that, right?

It's been one heck of a journey, I'll tell you that. Those million words took up six books, multiple shorts stories and a few novellas. If you're so inclined, you can buy the novella through Smashwords, Nook or Kobo. The others aren't done yet and the novel edits take time.

I'll probably talk about the six novels in a seperate blog post because hey, they're part of the journey to 1 million. I do want to mention that this has been the first time I've counted my words. This just proves I'm crazy but I'm okay with that. Until next time: Good bye, good night and don't let any demons steal your soul.