It’s Friday evening.
September is already in full-swing and I still haven’t quite processed this year so far. But one thing which has shifted in the past few months is my focus on writing and creativity.
If you’re new to me, hi, I’m K.R. Green and from 2009-2019 I wrote at least 50,000 words of new fiction a year. I even managed 100k and 150k for a few of those years. But my focus has shifted, my energy has drained, and my process just needed to evolve with me.
As of 31st August 2020, I have a grand total of 1,034 words under my belt for the year. Not quite on track for the 8,334 a month I need for my usual goals… no?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_DBH37U-K4]
As I explained in my last post, I discovered a video by Kate Cavanagh about “MILWORDY” → that is to write a million words in a year… But rather than just counting fiction, she is counting ALL writing – fiction drafts, short stories and freelance creative nonfiction, personal essays, outlines and re-writes.
Because although I’ve not written any fiction since April, I have written an entire ebook, medium articles, and captured “mini-stories” in July.
So… It’s September 11th, and… I have 741 words. Of non-fiction.
So let’s put this out into the world. I’m going to follow the #Milwordy format using Kate’s definition… I’m not necessarily aiming for any specific number, but looking to track my written work to explore just how creative I am, even during the times I would brush off as “got no real writing done.”
What I Will Include:
- Creative nonfiction (Essays / Freelance projects / Medium articles / Newsletters / Blog posts) [yes, hi, counting these words today for today’s total!]
- Draft/outline/revision of fiction (novels, short stories) as per my usual parameters: new words count, removed words do not affect it.
- I am on the fence about including “podcast prep”in this. Sometimes I write notes and sometimes I just riff off a topic (kind of the reason I want to try podcasting is because it doesn’t need perfect grammar and over-thinking like written work).
But upon reflection, I’m going to “allow” myself to include those numbers if I want to. Nothing lost, I guess. It’s definitely still creative writing.
A podcast, you ask?
—> Yes, I very slyly started a podcast to “see if i like it” on September 1st. If I make it to mid-october and am still doing it / feel I can actually commit, I’ll be announcing it /sharing etc. I do not want to start a project I’ve debated for over 2 years , tell the world then find out I hate it and need to publicly cancel it. But if you’re reading this and you want to know my thoughts on personal reinvention, wellbeing and stress-management… here’s the link.