Many writers live and die by milestones: first submission, first rejection, first non-horrible rejection, first sale, first pro sale, first novel chapter, first novel… you get the idea.
I am definitely one of these writers. In fact, sometimes I go a little overboard. First 10 pages. First 12 pages. First 2500 words. First paragraph that doesn’t include the word ‘punch’! First non-horrible mention in Locus. First chapter written without the aid of caffeine or other mind-altering substances… you get the idea again.
Are these milestones actually motivational aids, or just my way of inventing success? Hard to say.
What I can say, is that my new novel broke 10,000 words over the weekend. It’s not much, frankly, but it’s a milestone, and it excites me. 10,000 words is about one-sixth of the book. I only have to do what I’ve done, a little differently, six more times—clearly this is cause for celebration! (Even if I end up cutting most of the chapters, and I’m actually at, say, about 3,500 words instead.)
Writers are wicked strange beasts. What are some of your more unusual milestones?
One Reese's Peanut Butter Cup per page.
I hope you're not kidding, because that's awesome! I'm stealing that idea!
Awesome indeed!
Milestones for me… I think the best is when I have re-read the pages of the script I'm working on (I usually read from page 1 to ramp up) and I don't make any piddling changes. At that point I realize that those pages are solid and I have to stop procrastinating and make forward progress again.
Wow. That's excellent. I'm not sure I've ever reached that point in a story or chapter, except through laziness. Nowadays, I read only far enough back to figure out where I am and what's happening. It's too dangerous to start at page one — I'd never make it to that "forward progress" part that I've heard so much about. :)
Apparently I'm a mutant with regards to my method. Most people I've heard (my writing partner included) simply can't go back because they get mired in the trivialities and never make forward progress.
I guess I have to feel like my foundation is very, very good to give me the confidence to continue.
Hooray on hitting 10,000 words! I also do milestones by fractions as I write: ooh, I'm 1/10th of the way through…1/6 of the way through…. right up until I hit around the 1/2 or 2/3 point, at which I inevitably start panicking: There's so much left to do! It'll never all fit! And then I ignore the fractions from then until the end of the book because they give me panic attacks! (But it always works out in the end.)