The story's not done, but I ended on a chapter break, so that's me for 2025.

I'm grateful for everyone here, and I'm rooting for everyone to reach their writing goal--50K/30/1 or however FediWriMo looks to you this year.

Here's the daily leaderboard at the beginning of November 15th:

Unfortunately, Sokio has decided to remove himself from the board as he doesn't believe he will be able to finish the challenge this month. I wish him the best, and hope he can find the time to return to the challenge.

So, do you ever use different writing tools? I mentioned that I started writing a journal with a fountain pen recently. I got into them when I read that fountain pens are different because you don't use your wrist as much as you do your elbow and shoulder.

Back in high school, before I had a computer, I had an old, really old Underwood typewriter. That was the first thing I used to write a story. It wasn't about the story, but about wanting to do something with the machine.

These days we all use computers, phones, tablets etc. But, do you ever think maybe there is something you want to do with a different set of tools?

How's your day going? Things going well? Having any struggles? Need some pick me up words of encouragement?

Quote of the day:

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go. — E. L. Doctorow

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood via Pexels

Today's leaderboard:

Do you have a favorite beverage you have when you are writing? Is it just something you'd normally have, or is it something special? Personally, I drink coffee - nearly every day. I generally have at least one drip-over cup in the late morning / early afternoon. But lately I've been having a second one in the evening.

So, how did you do today? Did you make progress? Did you overcome any challenges? Did you run into any stumbling blocks?

Quote of the Day:

A writer should have this little voice inside of you saying, ‘Tell the truth. Reveal a few secrets here.’
– Quentin Tarantino

Photo by Michael Burrows

Here's the daily Leaderboard:

Do you have an ideal place to write? Have you ever imagined yourself in a cabin in the woods, or hidden in a traditional Japanese style house, or someplace else?

Let us know how you are doing. Do you need help? Do you need encouragement? Have you had any successes that you want to celebrate?

Quote of the Day:

Whatever you’re meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.
– Doris Lessing

So, we have one person that has completed the 50K words, and in only 11 days. Congratulations to Miguel for being the first to finish the competition.... Now the hard work starts: the second draft. 😝

Today's TrackBear Leaderboard:

After having a day away, I'm looking forward to grinding as much out as I can today. How about you? Can you just jump back into a project after you've been away from it for a bit? Is there some amount of time away that is too long?

How is your writing going? Are you making regular progress? Have you had any successes? Are you struggling? Let the community know if we can help.

Quote of the Day:

The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.
— Albert Camus

Photo by Aviv Rachmadian via Unsplash

The leaderboard is looking healthy, with everyone above target / par. It's good to see this little community working towards their goals.

On days that I can't do much writing, I will do as much reading as I can. My eReader has made this easier of the last few years. Over 1200 books at my fingertips, and 50+ publications are at my disposal any time I need them.

So, how do you spend your time when you cannot write? Do you have days where you don't know if you are going to be able to get a whole hour in? Or are you able to schedule time every day for the whole month to get things done?

And, how are things going for you today? Are you getting things done, are you meeting your personal goals?

Quote of the Day:

The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write. A man will turn over half a library to make one book.
— Samuel Johnson

Photo of a woman looking through a bookshelf from Pixabay.

So, it has come to my attention that there is one person that isn't on the TrackBear leaderboard, and if he were included would be in the #1 position, and that is Miguel, with a word count of 37,530. Check out his progress at: https://writingmonth.org/~miguel/

Today's quote is one of the more appropriate quotes for people that are "seat of the pants" writers, as I know several of us are this year.

Do you like "pantsing" your stories? Or are you more of a planner? If you are a planner, how much do you put into your plans? Do you make vision or mood collages? Do you outline your stories in detail? Do you make character profiles? Do you create detailed setting descriptions? Maps? Do you create lore or backstories?

So, how is your writing going? Are you making it to your daily goals? Is outside life interfering? Or are you able to find the time that you need to write?

I write to discover what I know.
— Flannery O’Connor

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

Well, things appear to be going quite well with the leaderboard. There is no one that is below par, and a few participants have made some real gains.

Do you like writing in a library? Maybe in a cafe or diner? Or is there some other location that you like to work on your stories? Is there any part of writing that is a social activity for you?

So, do you struggle with writing on the weekend? Is it more difficult when you aren't in the location where you want to be? How do you handle not having your perfect environment?

Are you struggling today? Or have you been able to make lots of progress?

Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

I'm taking a different route with these posts starting today. Originially, I was attempting a "horse race" style commentary on our progress. It was intended to be fun -- it wasn't. As a moderator / admin I shouldn't be commenting on other's progress outside of offering encouragement.

So, instead, I'm just going to add a table of the status for each of us. This is (basically) the same table that is in the image, only in text form. This might make it a bit easier to read.

You might notice that I am now setting Flair on all the leaderboard posts. I was thinking about doing the same thing with the Daily Status posts.

But, I was trying to come up with a good set of flair that we could use for categorizing our posts. The ones I have set right now were just the things that I thought of off the top of my head -- but I don't think they are all that good.

I would love to have some feedback on what kinds of flair you would like to see for the posts in here.

So, I don't know that it's actually snowing here as I write this (it isn't)... But the prediction for today is that it is going to snow, up to an inch. (Okay, I looked more closely, and it's not supposed to start until the evening -- but still...) Sounds like the perfect day for writing to me.

So, what kind of weather do you like for writing? Personally, I find it easier to write when it's cold / wintry outside.

Feel free to post any comments below. How it's going? Where's your word count? Are you struggling? Need some kind of inspiration?

Quote of the day:

You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.
― Madeleine L'Engle

Photo by Vitaly Gariev via Unsplash

I don't know if anyone else is doing this, but there is a Goal Tracker in TrackBear that is separate from the Leader Board. I think it's interesting to look at it from time to time -- just to see what the projection is of when I will complete the challenge. But, it's also fun telling me what that amount of time is in different units. (I really like it when it puts in Sols.)

This is one of the things I am liking about TrackBear. Yes, it's a bit cumbersome to use, but it does have some nice features. I have several projects set up in it with different goals that I am not tracking as part of FediWriMo, and it's nice to be able to measure my progress.

First: welcome to umbraroze to the leader board. It's awesome having you join us in this friendly competition.

Tonight, I'm back in first place by a bit under 2K words, followed by Jess in the #2 position. But, Sokio has been upping his game and trying to work his way to the #1 position. That sounds like a tall order to me, but he could do it if he tries. So could umbraroze for that matter.

I think Adubya is in this for the long, even, steady haul. Pushing to the word count that he needs to have on a daily basis.

But, I can't wait to see how this plays out.

Reading is one of the things that I really like doing, but I don't feel like I get as much time to do it as I would like. How about you?

Is your story inspired by something you've read? Is it your take on an age old idea? Or are you trying to move the conversation in a new and different concept?

How are you doing today? Things still moving along smoothly? Is there something you need for inspiration?

Quote of the Day:

The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write. A man will turn over half a library to make one book.
— Samuel Johnson

So, today we have the reversal: JustJess has taken the #1 position, while I slipped a place to #2. Which is honestly, no big deal. To be fair, it could have been a lot worse for me. I almost posted a few hundred words today instead of the 1603 I managed.

But tomorrow I will make the difference up! ;)

Mugita and Adubya are locked in at 3rd and 4th place. I look forward to them having a really good day and challenging me and Jess.