Holiday Challenge: Completed

Hello, creatures of the internet,

As of today, I have officially completely the first draft of my new book Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence. I may or may not have squealed happily a little bit. To say the least, I'm feeling really good right now! On the 16th, when I decided to challenge myself in completing my novella before the end of the holidays, of which I had 6,512 words total at the time, after that first day I wondered if I would regret it. I was afraid that the pressure of having to write a set amount of words per day might be a bit overwhelming or that I might not be able to find enough time. But in the end, I surprised myself by going over that minimum amount of words almost every day and because of it I was able to finish my book way ahead of schedule. I wrote over 30,000 words in under two weeks, which brought me to my goal of finishing my book at around 40,000 words. The total word count comes out to 39,120 words.

If anyone is interested in seeing how I kept up with my numbers each day, here's a small chart I filled in as I went:

Word Count Before Start of Challenge - 6,512
Goal Words Per Day to Reach 40,000 words by January 6: 1,522

Dec. 16 - 07,999/08,034  (Daily Count: 1,487 - 35 words short. Next day must write minimum 1557)
Dec. 17 - 10,814/09,556  (Daily Count: 2,815 - 1,258 words over. Next day must write minimum 264)
Dec. 18 - 14,124/11,078  (Daily Count: 3,310 - 3,046 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 19 - 18,114/12,600  (Daily Count: 3,957 - 5,514 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 20 - 21,095/14,122  (Daily Count: 2,978 - 6,973 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 21 - 25,026/15,644  (Daily Count: 3,910 - 9,382 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 22 - 27,047/17,166  (Daily Count: 2,033 - 9,881 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 23 - 27,719/18,688  (Daily Count: 669    - 9,031 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 24 - 29,790/20,210  (Daily Count: 2,069 - 9,580 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 25 - 32,234/21,732  (Daily Count: 2,401 - 10,502 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 26 - 36,193/23,254  (Daily Count: 4,008 - 12,939 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 27 - 39,120/24,776  (Daily Count: 2,850 - 14,344 words over. COMPLETED)
Dec. 28 - ??,???/26,298   
Dec. 29 - ??,???/27,829   
Dec. 30 - ??,???/29,342   
Dec. 31 - ??,???/30,864   
Jan. 01 - ??,???/32,386   
Jan. 02 - ??,???/33,908   
Jan. 03 - ??,???/35,430   
Jan. 04 - ??,???/36,952   
Jan. 05 - ??,???/38,474   
Jan. 06 - ??,???/40,000   

So go ahead and check out the dedicated page to Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence to learn more what the book is about and what my plans for it are for the future!

Now I'm going to go relax and enjoy the rest of my holiday!

Your humble writing gremlin,
Scott