Image Copyright © Tracy Mangold aka @InkyTwig. Thanks, Tracy!
WELCOME TO ALL those plucky writers who are participating this week!
This is the place to post your check-ins for Wed, Sept. 21 and/or Saturday, Sept. 24.
To learn more about this event, check the 10K Day section (see blog menu above).
If you’re participating from overseas, feel free to start whenever you’re ready. This check-in page is posted the evening before the event so you can. 🙂
DON’T FORGET TO TAKE REGULAR BREAKS!
You’ll regret it later (when you’re feeling fried) if you don’t take regular breaks. Even if you’re on fire with your writing, take your scheduled breaks.
Every two hours is recommended. Breaks are also for posting check-ins.
WHAT SHOULD YOU POST FOR YOUR CHECK-INS?
TIP: If you don’t see your comment right away after posting, try refreshing your screen.
1. You can mention your word count if you want to. If you’d rather not, please provide a general comment about your progress thus far.
2. You can also describe what you’re working on.
3. Feel free to mention how you’re feeling and how the day is going for you.
4. It’s always fun to hear what people are drinking, snacking on or listening to.
DON’T FORGET TO log out of forums, Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.
Go gettum, Tigers! – Milli
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NEED A HEALTHY SNACK IDEA? OR A BRAIN REFRESHER?
(opens in a new browser window so you won’t lose your place)
Healthy Writers Series: Yummy Healthy Snacks
Healthy Writers Series: Yummy, Snacky Salads
Healthy Writers Series: Rewire Your Writer’s Brain with Shiva Nata
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OTHER HELPFUL READING FOR YOUR 10K DAY
(opens in a new browser window so you won’t lose your place)
What I Learned from My First 10K Day by 10K participant Taryn Blake
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Twitter: jmmerchant86
Good morning 10Kers! Bit of a later start than I planned but never mind, still got a few hours before work to kick-word-arse! (Sorry if that word offends anyone, but I’m in a good mood and ready to work…almost!)
After breakfast I think a blog update is needed, then time to crack on with the outline for my novel, the deadline for which is 10 days away and as usual not sure I’ll hit it. But that’s what today is for!
Good luck to everyone today!
Jo x
Twitter: jmmerchant86
Today is a slow day, but things are getting done, just very very gradually. Flitting between the blog and outline, don’t think I’ve written more than 1k yet.
Off to work for a few hours, hope to still have some energy to continue afterwards.
Hope everyone’s going well.
x
Twitter: jmmerchant86
Blimey it’s quiet in here today. Where are all the other early birds?
x
Twitter: helenaritchie
Good Morning! Time to put the coffee on and settle in for the day. I have a list as long as my arm of stuff to work on today … If I can get two or three pieces of it done, I will be a very happy girlie. 🙂
Have a great day everyone!
Good morning. Just got the kids set for school and found another cup of coffee.
I have a list of blog posts I want to get first drafts of done today. Some other things wait in the pipeline if I get through them, but just that much will make me feel good about the day.
Have a great day!
Kate
Twitter: pattistafford
Good morning! Late start for me too. I’m having breakfast right now. I just finished my aerobics session, so writing may be a bit delayed. Me first! One day I’ll breeze through my workouts again and won’t feel so tired.
Kicking word arse does not offend me. I say it all the time. 🙂
Best of luck to everyone!
Twitter: millivrstravels
Boy, did I snooze last night. Didn’t wake up till 9:30. I needed that. 😀
About to go rustle up a cup of coffee and then do some journaling on the couch. After that I’ve got blog posts for MT, FoW and Screenwriting in the Boonies to work on, plus I hope to make a start on a new screenplay treatment. Plenty to do and hubby’s away so I can write as late as I want tonight.
~ Milli
Twitter: millivrstravels
Journaling session in the bag.
Time for brekky (eggs on toast) and a quick shower. Then I’ll attack my juicy list of stuff to write.
I am being interrupted constantly by my newly homeschooling kid this morning despite his prior agreement not to. We are going to have to work on his working-by-himself-while-Mummy-is-writing skills.
It is going to be a long day.
*Sigh*
But I have made progress on the first blog post – which is proving far harder to sketch out than I originally thought.
I’m here…sort of. Having some leftovers from last night first while I think about a character journal entry I want to start today with. Then I’ll work on an article, then my current Lucky Raven story. It’s sad that I’m still working on the same story I was working on last month. Guess I just need to buckle down and stop letting distractions get the better of me (gotta go through my e-mail again and weed out the junk I never read).
My goal(s) for Today: Write one character journal entry, write one article, and work on Holiday. No word count goal. Just wanna write. 🙂
Current food: salmon, ranch-style beans, and corn.
Current drink: nothing, but I’ll be having a mystic chai once the water’s done.
Current music: All-American Rejects
The sun’s shining, the pupplet’s lying on her pillow bed a few feet away. I’m ready to face the day. I feel great! 😀
Good luck, everyone!
Lois
Twitter: pattistafford
I’ve completely lost my focus. I think it’s time for some Skid Row.
Don’t freak out, I DO listen to something other than Iron Maiden. LOL
Twitter: millivrstravels
All showered and feeling great, dressed in my comfiest writing gear. Did some organizing work to set up my writing day. Now I’m ready to dive into my list. First up: brainstorming a screenplay idea. Can’t wait! 🙂
Twitter: helenaritchie
So far so good this morning! I have one blog rant done and posted, and the article and intro done for tomorrow’s newsletter, for a grand total of…. 1692 words! More than I’ve written in the last 3 days combined. 🙂
Off to find some lunch … I’m thinking a little egg drop soup and then I’ll either be back here or take a quick trip to the gym, all depends on how I feel after lunch.
Off to get some lunch now – leftover roast beef and peas.
I managed one crappy first draft of a blog post and an email response to someone that expanded into the first draft of an article.
Word count: approx 2,000.
Twitter: millivrstravels
Finished my brainstorming session at 1,389 words.
Not a huge amount of words, but maybe it was the intensity of the topic that has left me feeling a bit drained. Going to take a walk around the block and grab another cup of coffee before I move to the next thing on my list.
(I’m happy and feel relieved that I tackled the highest-priority thing on my list first. :))
Good for you getting the highest priority one out of the way.
I used the high-priority but easy email/article draft to avoid something tough. Now it’s just lurking out there, waiting for me.
Twitter: millivrstravels
Good luck with your toughie! I’ve got another one on my list as well, but there are three things in front of it. I’ll bolster myself by thinking of you facing yours as I wade ahead to mine. 🙂
So far, I’ve only managed the character journal entry. Ever since the DDoS attacks back in…July(?), Livejournal’s been having lots of problems. But now it’s up, and I can move on to the article! 🙂
Twitter: millivrstravels
I’ve been eking along like a snail (1,899 onscreen words plus the handwritten stuff from this morning) but happy with what I’ve done so far. I plan to pull a late night so time stretches tantalizingly before me. . . .
Need to take a sunshine and fresh air break and then come back to the next thing on my list.
Finished and sent the article. Didn’t get a word count, but that’s not important to me today. 🙂
So…one character journal entry (with quite a bit of difficulty, I might add) and one article. Not bad, considering that I haven’t been writing nearly as much lately as I normally do. The ideas are there. Just haven’t had as much time. 😉
And now it’s time for a very late shower!
Twitter: millivrstravels
I guess everyone else has knocked off for the day? (I’ll still be here till late if there are any late starters like me who like to work into the night.)
I’ve made it up to 3,488 onscreen words – probably around 4,500 counting this morning’s journaling. Slow going but still happy with the stuff that I’ve written.
I’m off to eat some leftover chili for dinner. After that I’ll proceed to the next thing on my list.
I’m only on here for a little bit longer. Just wrapping up the role play. In a way, I consider the role play as writing, too, because it’s a story that’s being written…even if it won’t ever be published. I have to say, I admire Lucky Raven more and more with each passing day. 🙂
Good luck, Milli! 😀
I had planned to write late, but the evening with the kids killed me. I might get a few more paragraphs in today, but not much.
Glad you came back, Kate. I was super-tired earlier but once I got engrossed in the next thing on my list, I forgot all about being tired. Hope that happens for you. 🙂
Twitter: millivrstravels
Just finished another item on my list for a count of 541 words. That’s a piddly count but it represents a finished blog post for the Fear of Writing blog, scheduled for Oct 4, and complete with photos (I cheated and worked on a non-10K Day aspect of writing ;)).
I’ve now got 5,041 words racked up. No way I’ll bust 10 grand today . . . but I feel super-dooper creative and productive. 😀
Twitter: millivrstravels
Well, it’s almost 2 a.m. and I’ve only added 1,236 words since I last checked in . . . but that was for a big story I was doing for MT that included lots of photos. I’ve been procrastinating about it for weeks so I did the whole shebang tonight. I’m so glad to have that done and can’t wait to publish the story next week on my blog.
I’ve got a total of 6,277 words for the day.
C U all (or at least some of you) here on Saturday. 🙂
~ Milli
Good Morning!
Overslept and no plan what to write today. Worst start possible *lol*
That almost drove me into perfection mode, leading to procrastinating and putting it off until next month. Ridiculous, so what if I can’t make the 10k mark? I still have about 7-8 hours left and can make serious progress.
Now it’s time for a late breakfast and making a list of what I want to write. No procrastination today! 😀
Quick check-in:
Not much written so far, only 756 words – but that’s a product review I’ve been procrastination on for a *month* now, so I guess it’s good that finally got started, even if it’s going slow =)
Somehow writing reviews is really hard for me. I never know what to write and in what order… I’m better with tutorials and step by step stuff, or random rant blog post thingies.
Seeing that a lot of you here are journaling – do you think that helps with writing non-fiction too?
Twitter: fearofwriting
Hi Lisa,
I do think journaling can help with non-fiction writing, because it helps you process your emotional issues about the writing.
The two check-ins you made above contain some of the same issues all of us here face, and doing some venting can help get it off your chest. 🙂 Amazing how much easier the real writing can emerge after you get the junk out first.
The 756 words for a review you’d been procrastinating about sounds like a great word count to me!! On Wednesday I knocked over a story for my travel blog that I’d been procrastinating about for weeks. I didn’t even care how many words it was – it was just such a relief to get it written! (It was a story I really wanted to do but it came with some complexities that felt overwhelming – until I just got on with it, then it didn’t seem so hard anymore. Typical! :D)
~ Milli
I know what you mean about wanting to write something but feeling overwhelmed! Once you start it seems way less intimidating most of the time, but sometimes even just getting started is hard =)
You’re right, venting really helps! Got a pretty low word count, only around 2500 words, but I decided to try journaling again.
My last experiences with that were a bit disappointing, but this time it worked great: uncovered some deeply routed writing issues that I really need to work on if I ever want to write with joy again. So I’m counting this day as a success even with the low word count 😀
Off to bed now, it’s almost 1am and I’m too tired to think *lol*
Thank you for this great experience, it finally got me writing again and helped uncover some blockades I didn’t even know were there. Looking forward to next month!
Twitter: fearofwriting
Lisa, that’s a wonderful outcome for your 10K Day. I had goose bumps reading about it.
The word count is not important when you’re having a breakthrough of that nature.
I’ve had lots of disappointments with journaling, too, so I know what you mean about the difference between journaling that feels like it’s getting you somewhere and the times when it doesn’t.
Looking forward to having you with us again next month. 🙂 And I do hope you find your writing joy again.
~ Milli
P.S. 2,500 words is nothing to be sneezed at. I think you did great!
Good morning everyone!
For a change, I haven’t overslept today (for a change I actually went to bed early last night, but that’s another story). I tidied up the place, had breakfast while thinking about everything I’d like to write today and I still have a full 4 hours before any distractions arrive home. I know, what a concept 😉
I’ll start now with writing up the NewsFlash for #fridayflash, then editing a blog post I managed to write yesterday and then I’m hoping to finish an article on Paris for Milliver’s Travels.
Considering that I’ve been avoiding online time (and especially writing and e-mail writing time) for the past few sad weeks, this is all I’m aiming for today.
However, if I manage to write some blog posts to have ready whenever needed and squeeze in some e-mail answering time as well, I’ll be more than happy 🙂
Happy writing everyone! See you later 😉
Twitter: fearofwriting
Estrella, I’ve been wondering how you were doing and I was going to email you today if I didn’t see you here. Glad you could make it. I hope your four hours of distraction-free time felt fruitful.
Looking forward to seeing your next check-in, no matter what you got written. Just want to hear you. 🙂
xoxo
I’m doing okay enough, though it seems like writing for a full day wasn’t in the cards just yet. Called it quits after 5pm as I barely got the NewsFlash written and added finishing touches to that blog post I wrote yesterday.
I promise to e-mail you later or tomorrow, thank you for the concern, Milli! *huge hugs*
Twitter: helenaritchie
Good Morning!
I’m actually up at a decent time for a Saturday morning. 🙂 Got my list of things to work on all set out here. Now all I need is breakfast and coffee, and I’m good to go.
Twitter: fearofwriting
Hi Helena 🙂
I like that we both felt we got up at a decent time for a Saturday and both got our lists ready. (On Wed, I got up late and had to carve my writing list out of thin air.)
Your latest post title (“Thoughts on Accepting and Loving Yourself”) sounds wonderful. I’ll save that link to read after the 10K Day.
~ Milli
Twitter: jmmerchant86
Morning! Or afternoon now actually.
I’m sort of here, only going to be able to manage a couple of hours today, hoping to use that time to make some progress on my next MT story (sorry Milli, it’s not the one you wanted, but I can do that one next weekend!), and if I have the energy after work would like to continue working on it.
Good luck today everyone.
Jo x
Twitter: fearofwriting
Hi Jo 🙂
It’s always fun to see 10K Day check-ins that are about people writing stuff for me. Estrella might be working on a MT story today, too, and Wed Lois wrote a guest post for FoW. (Greedy me :D).
I do hope you have a bit of energy left after work to rejoin us. Sometimes when I’m tired, if I force myself to start writing I soon become immersed in the process and forget to be tired.
xo
Twitter: millivrstravels
Good Morning Me Lovelies 🙂
Slept well last night and this time I’ve got my list of stuff to write all ready and waiting for me as soon as I get to my desk.
My Wed 10K Day was immensely satisfying and I hope to have another day of feeling creative + productive. I’ll start with a cup of coffee and some journaling here on the cozy couch.
~ Milli
Twitter: millivrstravels
Just finished my journaling and now it’s time for some breakfast.
Had an interesting experience with the journaling. Normally I don’t have any problem going straight to the issues I want to vent about. Today I wasn’t in the mood to go there – I didn’t have any desire for it whatsoever – but when I forced myself to write about some painful feelings, by the end of it I saw how that will contribute greatly to today’s 10K Day writing, even though the feelings and issues seem completely unrelated. It opened up a new vista on one of my writing projects that should really be fruitful. I guess there was a block in the way and I just moved the block. Yay!
Twitter: jmmerchant86
Really pleased for you Milli. I use my short stories like that sometimes.
Here’s wishing you a wonderful writing day.
x
Twitter: fearofwriting
Thanks, Jo! 🙂
Twitter: fearofwriting
Got 1,479 words written, which was feedback plus an individually-tailored assignment for a coaching client.
Now time for a shower, grab another cuppa coffee and get on with my own writing.
~ Milli
Twitter: tarynblake71
Getting a late start today. Hi, everybody!
Twitter: tarynblake71
Finished a blog post! YaY!
Twitter: fearofwriting
Hi Taryn! Congrats on your productive first hour. 😀 Glad to have you with us.
~ Milli
Twitter: christybower
I wasn’t able to start until after lunch, but I cranked out a short article so far! Moving on to the next one!
Twitter: fearofwriting
Hi Christy!
Glad you could join us. Congrats on cranking out an article already!!
~ Milli
Twitter: tarynblake71
*waves*
Twitter: fearofwriting
I’ve got too many IDs. Can barely keep up with myself. 😀
Anyway, here I am in my screenwriting guise. I’ve only written 1,839 words so far (plus the handwritten stuff from journaling this morning) but I’m actually have a really productive day. I went back and read a script I’d abandoned last January because I feared it wasn’t funny (it’s a comedy/drama). But I made myself laugh so much from reading my own funny lines I decided I’m crazy to leave this lying around unfinished.
All my plans for today are now strewn on the floor, but that’s good. I’m going to take a walk in the sunshine and figure out my next move.
~ Milli
Twitter: tarynblake71
YaY for discovering great old material!
Twitter: helenaritchie
Well, so much for my great day of writing. I had big plans for today, but got invited to go golfing at the last minute and it was just too nice a day to turn that down. So I’m starting on my list now, and we’ll see how much I get done before I land face-first on my keyboard tonight. 🙂
Twitter: fearofwriting
Helena, it’s that time of year when you have to grab the last nice weather (at least, we do here in Ohio). The golfing in nice weather sounded great.
Glad you came back to work on your list. I’ll be here till late, and hopefully so will a few others.
~ Milli
Twitter: helenaritchie
Milli,
That’s exactly it. I’m further north than you (north of Toronto) and thought after yesterday that we’d seen the last of the sun for awhile so today was a real nice treat. 🙂
Twitter: fearofwriting
Ah-so. North of Toronto. You probably have identical issues to mine: not enough sun and a long, gloomy, snowy winter. Need more sunshine!!
Twitter: christybower
I finished a second article! (I write an average of 500 words per hour, so I never make 10K, I just count progress.)
Twitter: christybower
Just finished a dinner break, now back to writing for the evening. I’ve done about half of what I want to accomplish today. Carrying on!
Twitter: fearofwriting
Christy, that’s terrific!! Half-way through is a great milestone. 🙂
Twitter: tarynblake71
Woo Hoo! I’m about to take more pics.
Twitter: tarynblake71
Second post finished and scheduled for next week! No wonder I was procrastinating on that one. Lots of pics, lots of links, took ages. But it’s done! Woo Hoo!
Twitter: fearofwriting
Yippee!!
That’s a few of us now who’ve experienced relief from procrastination. Yeah, we’re shifting some stuff around here. 😀
P.S. Tweet me the link when your post goes live.
I got all of 5 minutes to write. His Royal Highness is very fussy. 🙁
Twitter: christybower
I wrote five short articles today, which is what I set out to accomplish. Yay for me! Calling it a night. Thanks!