Accountability Check-In #1
May 15 - June 15 2024
Welcome to my latest new idea. Hopefully it will stick, as its purpose is quite simple: Relay all of my writing by the numbers! I’m taking inspiration from Brandon Sanderson who delivers weekly updates on his many writing projects. I doubt I’ll ever had enough to report on a weekly basis but once a month seems feasible for now.
DISCLAIMER
If you are a fiction writer and unsure of what length something should be, please DO NOT go by my methods. This is something that works for me but won’t work for everyone. Understand that writing is fun and unless you are a fiend for spreadsheets and charts, this might seem overwhelming and unnecessary. If it’s not fun for you DON’T DO IT!
While I work out the kinks of how this will all look visually, here’s a look at the numbers I’ve accomplished and where I hope to be for by my next check-in mid-July:
FICTION
Some sort of overall graph or excel chart will be coming soon to hopefully better represent what’s happening below by the numbers.
THE 100 WORD STORIES
May 15 - June 15 = 3,100 words written. Also, The Fourth 100 is completed and The Fifth 100 has begun. Work is under way on two important projects here: The Fourth 100 book is coming together AND The 100 Word Story Art Book is happening! I’ll have more on the grueling process for the art book in a separate email.
SHORT STORIES
My overall goal with both Anatomy of Typewriters and Old Wounds—New Beginnings is for each story to range from 3k - 10k in length. I don’t want them all to be too long or too short. I think having a variety of lengths will make a good pace for each collection. Both books should be available for purchase in 2025 in hardcover, paperback, and ebook format.
[Old Wounds—New Beginnings] Bone War | A 2020 rewrite that started out as 1.2k and is now near 3k words. Written in 2020 (1,225 words) | Rewritten in 2024 (2,917 words)
[Anatomy of Typewriters] The Flat (Part 2) | Look for Part 3 and the Epilogue this week. I’ll include the final word count on this story on July 15th. 2,642 words
COMMUNITY WRITING
Microfiction Weekend is fairly new and much like Friday Fiction encourages writing stories with the use of images as inspiration. Join in and write your own 6-word, 50-word, and 100-word stories!
May 17th, Tracks to Nowhere / May 24th, Footprints in the Sand / June 14th, Let’s Take a Drive
NON-FICTION
A WRITER’S NOTEBOOK
Two more additions to the Killer Series: Write a Killer Navigation Page & Set-Up a Killer Subscription
Top 5 Things I Wish I Knew When I Joined Substack - If you’re new or just starting out, read this so you can avoid some pitfalls I had to bounce back from the hard way. HUGE time saver!
Reflecting on turning on Paid Subscriptions 1 year later.
A Hot Take on Word Counts. Exactly what you imagine it might be.
MURDER PEN SOCIETY
We’ve read chapters 7 through 11 of The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie. Her first published novel and introduction to Hercule Poirot.
What are your goals for the next month? Share them here and let’s check back in with each other mid-July to see how we’ve done.
This is awesome! So many great things going on!
I love this. And I think it is a healthy thing to do, laying out your accomplishments and progress regularly.
I started a new focus on organized productivity the past few months, but this summer season in particular, with kids at home and activities and trips, etc, seems virtually impossible to achieve my goals. Or even to maintain a proper schedule.
I, for one, dear writer, will be looking forward to your next "Check-In".