Writers write. That’s the bottom line.
I realize that the last couple weeks I’ve left the Writing Tracker to the end of the week. As long as I keep them all within the proper weeks, I’ll be happy with it, but ideally I’ll return to a more consistent schedule for the Tracker.
Last week was dedicated almost entirely to journalism. I really put a lot of time and words into a story for the Chicago Tribune City Living column. The Tribune itself, after a century in the iconic Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue, is in the process of (sadly) moving to a new headquarters. As such, it will take a bit for everything there to get back fully on-track. While I’d expect my story to come out in the next couple weeks, it may also be delayed a while longer. (Obviously, general newspaper operations are running fine, but my stories are more likely to sit for a while.)
Like I said last week, I was beginning to feel I hadn’t written for media in quite a while, but that seems to be picking up again. I’m grateful for that. But, as I’ve noted, my writing for media outlets really takes a lot more time and energy than any other kind of writing, which is why this single Tribune story sort of put all my blogging and fiction on the back-burner. In any case, I was still able to post quite a bit on the blog. Check out all the new words and please share!
Words Per Day
Sunday, June 3: 707 words (journalism)
Monday, June 4: 1,000 words (journalism)
Tuesday, June 5: 700 words (journalism)
Wednesday, June 6: 850 words (blog and journalism)
Thursday, June 7: 1,000 words (journalism)
Friday, June 8: 848 words (blog and journalism)
Saturday, June 9: 0 words
Week 23 (June 3 – 9) Totals
Last week, I wrote 5,105 words and spent about 5 hours writing, averaging 1,056 words per hour.
2018 Totals
Since the beginning of 2018, I’ve written about 188,507 words and spent approximately 125 and a half hours writing.
Published Writing From Last Week
On the Prospect of Resettlement: Saying “Welcome” – The Church cannot look refugees in the eye and tell them, “No. You have to tough it out in the deadzone.” We can and must look them in the eye and say, “Welcome.”
Christianity and Terror Management Theory: Part 1 – The Afterlife – The belief in a good afterlife—that there is, in fact, life after death—dramatically changes our feelings toward death. It becomes not a dark end, but a bridge to the next thing—which for Christians promises to be far better and fuller and truer than what we have now.
Christianity and Terror Management Theory: Part 2 – ‘I Am With You’ – This is what the incarnation proclaimed and foretold. That God himself would enter the physical-ness of time and space, and be with us as a fellow human being. Even with all the things that threaten us, God is here, among us. Something more powerful than death is here. We don’t need to be afraid.
Writing Tracker – Week 22 (May 27 – June 2) – Follow along as I track progress toward my writing goals. Here’s an update from last week.
Here’s What’s Coming Up
Looking ahead, I’m planning to continue plugging away at a couple fantasy novels. On the blog, I may have a couple more posts coming up in this little series on Christianity and terror management theory (honestly, I was excited when I first started writing them, and then I began to feel the weightiness of thinking about so much death, which in fact proves the point of the posts–and how we need God to give comfort even at the thought of death!). I’m also really thinking the Kardashev Scale series of posts may be nearing completion. At last! There should be a number of media pieces on the way–so keep an eye on my blog Facebook page for that. And I’ve been thinking more about that movie I wrote about a while ago, “The Heart of Man,” and may write some more thoughts about that. We’ll see if I keep going with the pieces related to Bonhoeffer’s theology and how it may be applicable today, and what the gig economy might mean for Christians specifically.
Why Sharing Your Goals Is Important
Accountability: Because my writing goals for 2018 are to 1) post at least twice per week on this blog and 2) publish a book online, I know that I need to hold myself accountable and be held accountable by others. Making my writing statistics is one way for me to do that. With my writing production out in the open, others can see if I’m keeping up. If I’m not, they can give me the necessary encouragement/kick. Posting my stats also keeps me personally motivated. I don’t want to be embarrassed by falling behind my goals in public!
Inspiration: Assuming I can maintain my writing production at a level I’m satisfied with, I hope it will be an inspiration to other writers. I work full-time and have a number of ongoing commitments, but because writing is important to me, I make the time. You can too. Even 15-minute writing sprints over the course of weeks and months really adds up.
Data Tracking: I love seeing trends in data almost as much as I love writing. Amateur data analysis is incredibly easy today, and I love to see my numbers crunched. It’s fun and fascinating, but it also helps me write. Tracking my writing means I know how much I can write per genre, per hours; I know my pace; I know how much time I’m actually dedicating to writing; and I can see how my writing accumulates and improves over time.
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