Weekly Update (1/21/24): I wrote 5,360 words this week, putting my monthly total at 16,489. I worked on Moloch, Mel, the librarian, and Achlys' demonic octopus companion! (Cue future mischief.) It was another rough week full of distractions for me, yet my pace is still looking good. Due to my personal schedule, I expect the next couple of weeks to allow for more productive time. But even if I keep my current pace, I'll hit my monthly target by Saturday. I updated my word count targets to aim for exactly 250,000 words per year. If I can hit that annual target, then I'll be outputting the equivalent of multiple novels (or one longer one) per year in terms of writing content. It also means that I'll hit my 1,000,000 word project target in four years; a non-depressing timeline. The project target will likely end up inflating as I make more progress, but it's a good starting estimate. In terms of my outline, I've just begun to scratch the surface of the First Act, so it's hard to truly judge how long the other acts will be.
Project Word Count: 104,654.
As I insert my manuscript into the game's code, I expect to edit the prose as well as work on programming. My plan is to work on bug fixes and general coding at the end of the month after I hit my writing target, but before the beginning of the next month. But I know there will be months I don't hit my target early and don't have enough time to work on the code. As such, I'm thinking it will be prudent to schedule major releases as quarterly rather than monthly, with monthly updates including the new prose, but maybe not with all the bugfixes or properly functional game mechanics. This way, I'm not taking too much time away from writing, which I really do need to focus on at this point, but I'll still be providing content each month. There's still so much writing left to do! Anyway, I may pleasantly surprise my future self, but at this point I'm thinking that I won't get to work out all of the kinks in the code by the end of January. But we'll see!
As far as reading goes, I've been struggling a bit through Part 3 of Rhythm of War. I picked up Mort, my first Discworld book. I actually purchased the
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. The deal expires at the end of the month for those interested. I'm also still debating between my next read: The Great Hunt (Robert Jordan) or Of Blood and Fire (Ryan Cahill). These Sanderson books are so thick, I'm leaning towards the shorter one, but I also may just need a break from fantasy in between. It's sometimes difficult to find time to read when I'm prioritizing writing and then, once I do find the time, I don't want to have to think too hard or really pay attention. I'm working on my balancing act.
Cheers!