Last updated Tue 12:06 AM
This is the last of my three daily posts about my 3-Day Novel contest. There will be two more posts in the days following the Labour Day weekend. One will share some wrap up details, while the other will share some content details, as well as trials and tribulations that came with getting that content.
Mon 2:10 AM
I stayed up past midnight today to make up for the unintended 9 hour beauty sleep I got last night due to forgetting to set the alarm. I ended with a strong 9400 word session between about 4:30 PM and 2:05 AM. That left me at about 24,200 words so far, and about 11,700 words for Sunday and 2 hours Monday, compared to 12,500 words Saturday when I had a lot less sleep due to cheating a bit Friday evening.
I am about to start Chapter 11 of my game plan. There are technically a lot more chapters to go, like 7 – 10, with just one day left. However, they are planned to be shorter chapters, and I can actually cut a few ending ones to end the novel at a much earlier point than the later one planned. But both endings had been planned as possible options.
I feel a bit tired, and only slightly panicky about being able to do this on time, and well. I’m actually not panicking about being able to finish on time. It’s the finishing well, with editing time and effort needed to improve my writing thus far, what I’m slightly panicky about. No sense worrying now, though. It will only keep me awake. Time to go to bed with the alarm already set for 730 AM Monday morning!
Mon 9:14 AM
I didn’t get to sleep easily last night so I pushed the alarm back to 830 this morning. After just a few hundred words and some reduction in quick editing, I realized I had not gathered my MS Word reading stats from last night so here things after 24,300 words or so.
Other stats for the day and document of first 24,300 words or so:
- Time spent in document, 1567 minutes or 26 hours, basically double of what I had Saturday now with two days and a bit done. Some of the time, the document was left open while I did other things, though. Just forgot to close.
- Average sentences per paragraph – 7.3 (down 0.5)
- Average words per sentence – 15.9 (16.2 up 0.3)
- Average characters per word – 4.3 (no change)
- Flesh-Kincaid Grade Reading Level – 7.5 (up 0.1)
These stats will probably change more with editing that I hope to have time for later today.
Mon 2:24 PM
Just took a half hour walk up on to Citadel Hill to get a big picture, higher perspective feel for things. At 27,400 words so 3,100 words since this morning in a strong writing session. However, the tough part is about to begin, and some critical decisions to be made about how to end the book. Then hopefully I’ll have time for another break before editing that I hope to start at 8 PM, 9 PM at very latest. If not, I have some specific issues and broad stroke editing I could do and that will be that!
Mon 7:34 PM
THE FIRST DRAFT IS DONE!!!
32,103 words, including a long dedication to my former grade 3 teacher who failed me despite my best in class report card… because she thought my English as a second language then wasn’t going to be good enough for my future! I wanna scream at her with his manuscript and ask HOW’S THIS FOR NOT GOOD ENOUGH??? LOL
Now all I have to do is take one good crack at editing after giving myself a walking break on the Halifax Waterfront. One good crack is probably all I’ll get, but it should be good enough to leave me happy with my entry!
YIPPEE!!!
Tue 12:06 AM
DONE!!!
That walk turned double scoop ice cream break I took was a bit ill advised, as it turned out. I needed all the editing time I could get right till midnight. I could have probably used 20 minutes more to have gone through some of the novel draft more carefully, but I think I got all I needed to find. It was just the feeling of being rushed that I might not have done my best work because of it.
However, done is the novel for the contest! Here are the final stats.
- Time spent in document, 2315 minutes or 39 hours 15 minutes.
Some of the time, it was left open while I did other things, though. - 145,819 characters
- 333 paragraphs
- 32,348 words
- 1,951 sentences
- Average sentences per paragraph – 6.2
- Average words per sentence – 16.5
- Average characters per word – 4.3
- Passive sentences – 6%
- Flesh-Kincaid Grade Reading Level – 7.6
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