Track Your Progress As You Write

Using the NaNoWriMo Report Card by Eric Benson, I adapted a spreadsheet that will track your word count goals and progress. This is a helpful motivation tool, especially if you're goal-oriented or like a visual representation of your progress.
Click Here to Download.
Cameron Matthews has a much more high-tech version, found here.

Free Intro: Create a Plot Clinic

I found a nice little freebie from Holly Lisle. Her Think Sideways course is a bit pricey, although I can say from personal experience it's worth every penny. Still, for those of you on a budget, she has a number of writing clinics, which I've mentioned before.
For those of you on a tight budget, I found a free intro to her Create a Plot Clinic:
Click Here To Download

I've bought and used the entire clinic and it is fantastic. It takes you through the ins and outs of plotting a novel no matter where you are in the process. She gives a number of techniques and gives lots of examples. Anyway, hope you find it helpful.

Links for Writers: from Funny to Informative

As I was catching up after the fourth of July weekend, I stumbled across some new writing-related sites:

Many of you have heard of National Novel Writing Month in November (NaNoWriMo), but what about the other 11 months of the year? (Yes, I'm aware of NaNoFiMo and NaPlWriMo, but still...)

If you need motivation, you may like The 500 Word-A-Day Challenge. Easier, more achievable goals is the key. (I won't be posting their banner yet, since I'm done with my first draft and won't actually be getting word counts this month. :( But for the record, I was averaging about 630 WPD. )

There's a cute comic called Will Write For Chocolate that has some great writer humor. It makes my day.

I found a great article by Margaret Fisk. (It's actually a free workshop, since she gives an assignment.) It's called All the Way to the End. She addresses a common problem for writers : not knowing how to end your story.

And finally, Chip MacGregor's blog had two informative posts: Basic, Basic, Basic Questions and More on the Basic Basics. In the first, he explains a few terms used in the publishing world. The second is more about querying and agents.

First Draft Done!

I finished my first draft which, as I suspected, came up short at 37,800 words. The planned add-in chapters are gonna make it so much deeper. Lots of goodies--conflict, character, and of course more romance between Rachel and Nathan.

I'll take a short break (as long as I can anyway) and then add in those chapters and scenes. Then I'll take a week off followed by a hard edit. That should be fun to track. :/