# [Final] My 21 Day Novel Challenge. I DID IT. 64,000 words written and edited.



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Everyone here knows that I'm a huge proponent of writing fast. For the last few years I could only squeeze in an hour a day, and maximizing that hour was what allowed me to publish so many books since I first published 16 months ago. Along the way I've added my fair share of detractors. They believe that if you write fast then all you can produce is crap. This is my attempt to prove that you _can_ write a really good novel very quickly.

On Monday I'm beginning a *21 Day Novel Challenge*. I'm going to write a 70k novel in 14 days, then I'm going to spend a week editing it. It will get one pass with a proofreader, and then that novel will be live on Amazon. I believe I can get this book to stick below #10,000 in rank for the entire first 30 days.

For those that saw the recent cover reveal thread, *Destroyer* is the book I'll be doing in this challenge.

I'm not really sure how the community at large will view the challenge, and there is a very real possibility I'll fall on my face. Either way I'll be documenting everything with daily videos. Those videos will show my Scrivener document, and you'll get to see both how I plot and how I edit.

If you're interested in following along you can read more about the challenge by clicking the link above. Or, you can just watch this thread. I'll be posting updates throughout the challenge. =)

So why am I doing this? I think I'm still riding a little high off the going full time thing. I'm a little scared, but I think this could be a lot of fun.

*Edit: I did it. I've completed this challenge. I have a novel I'm proud of, one that is written to market, and that I believe will sell very well. All of this took just three weeks, and as you've seen in this thread I documented the entire process.

Along the way I learned that I loved recording video, and my Youtube channel was born. I'll be doing 2 videos a week going forward. The first two topics covered will be launching to market (to cover the release for Destroyer), and a plotting / outlining series since so many people requested that.

Thank you so much for all the support and encouragement. This is a seminal moment. I now see exactly what's possible as an author, and 2016 is going to be a very big year for me.*


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## KGGiarratano (Aug 14, 2013)

I wish you well. Sounds very exciting.


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## EmmaS (Jul 15, 2014)

I'll be following with interest! May luck and caffeine converge at all the right moments.


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## Darius Brasher (Feb 6, 2015)

This is so awesome. I love to see people pushing/challenging themselves. I'll be watching this thread closely. Good luck!


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## 77071 (May 15, 2014)

I wish you luck!    And lots of coffee (if you like coffee).  I think you'll inspire a lot of us to work hard and not give up!


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## BGArcher (Jun 14, 2014)

This sounds dope Chris. I'm actually doing something very similarly, and also starting on Monday. Only 50,000 words though. Look forward to reading your updates!


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## Kate. (Oct 7, 2014)

What a cool project! I'll be watching and cheering you on.


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## 88417 (Dec 31, 2015)

Bookmarked the thread... good luck!


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Something tells me you're gonna pull it off. Good luck!


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

You are insane. Insane in the brain.

But, um... I'll be watching.


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## stoney (May 24, 2015)

If anyone call pull this off, Chris, it's you. Good luck!


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## anicolle (Dec 13, 2014)

Fun! Looking forward to following your progress


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## Weirdling (Jun 25, 2011)

Good luck!  Your challenge is inspirational, and I look forward to seeing your progress.


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## ~Cael~ (Feb 7, 2016)

Well, you kind Sir have thrown down the gauntlet and I am more than happy to pick it up...
Therefore, I _too_ will be turning my hand to writing a novel in just 21 days as well! Reading your OP seemed to resonate with me, so I just thought to myself: _"Oh what the heck? Might as well do it!"_

...And i have a feeling this is gonna be a whole lotta fun


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## Marilyn Peake (Aug 8, 2011)

Best of luck, Chris!


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## UnicornEmily (Jul 2, 2011)

I'm impressed, and cheering you on!

(By the way, your writing books are fantastic.  By far some of the best I've ever read.)


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## Lorena (Jun 7, 2015)

Sounds like fun! I've subscribed to the challenge. Can't wait to see the day by day progress. By the way, I LOVE your cover 

Good luck!


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Cool! Reminds me a bit of some of the stuff DWS has done on his blog with his daily writing and challenges and stuff. Good luck. I was thinking of being inspired by you and doing something similar once I start writing my UF series. Nothing quite like having countless people looking over your shoulder. The accountability should be worth the effort.


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## A. S. Warwick (Jan 14, 2011)

Best of luck with your effort.


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## J.T. Williams (Aug 7, 2014)

Good luck! I will be jumping to do something like this soon too! (minus the video and blog updates) Have fun with it!


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## Matt Ryan (Nov 16, 2012)

I'm you a year ago. I can only edge out an hour or two a day of writing time per day. That equates for me about 4 novels a year. I dream of having a ten hour work day dedicated to writing. I'd be right there with you, trying to write my heart out and produce at least a book a month. I know you'll do it because you have the right mindset to get it done. Plus, you already got the cool cover made so you pretty much have to write it now! It's funny, I have a space opera cover already made as well, for a book I'm starting to write next month. Looks like we'll be cruising around in the same categories all year. Good luck my friend!


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## Gone Girl (Mar 7, 2015)

We miss you, Harvey Chute.


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## Jane Killick (Aug 29, 2014)

I know people who've done this and it's totally do-able.

I am not one of thise people, however. I often have to take a little time out to re-evaluate where I am in the plot.

Best of luck. Especially during that bit in the middle which will be the hard bit.


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## Book Cat (Jan 3, 2016)

Good luck

I used your 5k words a day and spreadsheet white I was wrting my current book to keep abreast of how many words I was writing a day. 

It took a month to write 65K novel but a lot was happaning and things were unorganized in my life so it was not the best. I think I will read the book again when things settle down and burn through bk2!


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## Marina Finlayson (May 2, 2014)

Can't wait! This is going to be awesome. I'd wish you luck, but I know you don't need it!


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## Matthew Stott (Oct 22, 2014)

Good luck. Though is there a reason for the 21 days, rather than a solid month?

It's not the sort of thing I'd personally want to do (I really, really believe in giving a work time to sit and breath before coming back to do a full rewrite. Not a tweak, a proper going over, and that ain't gonna change...!), but like when the SPP boys did their Unboxed thingy, it's always cool, interesting and a little inspiring to watch.


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## Scottish Lass (Oct 10, 2013)

Great idea, Chris, and I'm sure you'll do a brilliant job.

Can I ask 2 questions?
[list type=decimal]
[*]Is _Destroyer_ part of a series or a stand-alone?
[*]Will you be doing any promo on it, or what will you do to keep it in the top 10,000? 
[/list]

I'm just curious about your release strategy here. I totally believe you can write it in 21 days!


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## BlinkFarm (Oct 25, 2015)

Don't break yourself!


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

Not only am I subscribing to the thread, I have subscribed to the mailing list as well. I love that you're doing this! I enjoyed the books, and now I'm going to enjoy watching you doing this live. This is amazing to me, thank you so much!


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

This is such a great thing to attempt. Whether it succeeds beyond your wildest dreams, or falls flat on its face, or any point in between, it will be fascinating to follow along and watch events unfold. 

You'll have an exciting month! Thanks so much for sharing it with us.


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## PB2016 (Jan 14, 2016)

I thought NaNoWriMo was daunting! My jaw dropped when I read about 21 days and then my eyes popped out when I read you are actually writing it all in 14 days.

There is one series where I saw books released at a staggering pace - Caribbean Mystery series..but I don't think even those were released in such a short time.

Wish you the best..Following this and looking forward to learn from your experience


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Wohoo! You go, Chris! I'm so cheering you on from overseas.


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## Talbot (Jul 14, 2015)

~Cael~ said:


> Well, you kind Sir have thrown down the gauntlet and I am more than happy to pick it up...
> Therefore, I _too_ will be turning my hand to writing a novel in just 21 days as well! Reading your OP seemed to resonate with me, so I just thought to myself: _"Oh what the heck? Might as well do it!"_
> 
> ...And i have a feeling this is gonna be a whole lotta fun


Good luck to both you crazy people.


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## TaraCrescent (Mar 21, 2015)

Good luck! As an aside, I loved Write to Market! Super-helpful and useful.


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## Carradee (Aug 21, 2010)

Have fun and take care of yourself!


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## Buddy Pilgrim (Aug 6, 2015)

Rock it, Chris! I ended up bailing on Dragon, so I crap type along at my snail's pace. But I know there will other pearls inside this venture. 

Buddy


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Good luck!  I look forward to hearing how it goes.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Wow, thanks for the outpouring of support guys. This is more than a little scary, but I'm pretty excited too. I really, really want to write Destroyer and being excited about the project is a great sign.



Roz Marshall said:


> Great idea, Chris, and I'm sure you'll do a brilliant job.
> 
> Can I ask 2 questions?
> [list type=decimal]
> ...


Destroyer is the first book in the trilogy. If the trilogy does amazingly well I could write a second. However, if it flops Destroyer has a solid enough ending to be a stand alone book.

I've already received the cover for the 2nd book though, and am really excited about it. Wait until you see this cover. It blows the first away, and I love the first.

I will be doing a lot of promo on it, and will be documenting it all as part of the challenge. That will include videos of some of the things I'm doing so I can explain why, plus a few blog posts. Most of that will make it's way here, but I set up a mailing list too. I'm kind of surprised how many people signed up overnight.

I'll be clearing my decks today, and will start pre-writing over the weekend. I'll have the Day 0 video ready to go by Sunday so you guys can see the kind of pre-writing I've done to get ready.


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## A Woman&#039;s Place Is In The Rebellion (Apr 28, 2011)

Good luck, Chris! Just listened to you on Simon's podcast. A great interview, as always.


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## ~Cael~ (Feb 7, 2016)

Jessie G. Talbot said:


> Good luck to both you crazy people.


Thanks so much Jessie , so as not to detract from the OP I'll prob make my own thread shortly


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## mrforbes (Feb 16, 2013)

I joined your list. I've written 70k in 21 days (no dragons involved). I don't think you'll have any problem with it.  Best of luck, regardless


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## Mjcaan (Aug 22, 2013)

Interesting. I take it you've already plotted it out?  Or are you going to try and pants this?  It will also be interesting to see how you get it to stick for 30 days.  Do you have ads lined up?  Sorry i have so many questions lol  Who knows, maybe I'll try this with you  
MJ


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## Acceber (Oct 16, 2014)

I love reading about challenges like this! Good luck!


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Mjcaan said:


> Interesting. I take it you've already plotted it out? Or are you going to try and pants this? It will also be interesting to see how you get it to stick for 30 days. Do you have ads lined up? Sorry i have so many questions lol Who knows, maybe I'll try this with you
> MJ


Yes, I already plotted it out. My first real video will be up Sunday, and is challenge Day 0. I'm going to walk through the Scrivener document and explain how I did the pre-writing and why. I'm really curious, because I suspect a lot of people use a similar system, but I've never seen anyone else's.

I'm going to use a few Facebook ads for the launch of the book, but probably not much else. If I've successfully written it to market the Amazon algorithms should do a lot of the heavy lifting. Either way most of my promotion will be unpaid. I've found that to be more effective in the long run anyway.

I welcome more questions, by the way =)



mrforbes said:


> I joined your list. I've written 70k in 21 days (no dragons involved). I don't think you'll have any problem with it. Best of luck, regardless


It's reassuring to hear you say that. You've got a LOT more experience at this than I do.


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## Acceber (Oct 16, 2014)

~Cael~ said:


> Well, you kind Sir have thrown down the gauntlet and I am more than happy to pick it up...
> Therefore, I _too_ will be turning my hand to writing a novel in just 21 days as well! Reading your OP seemed to resonate with me, so I just thought to myself: _"Oh what the heck? Might as well do it!"_
> 
> ...And i have a feeling this is gonna be a whole lotta fun


Good luck to you, too! I've bookmarked this thread. Can't wait to see the daily updates!


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Chris Fox said:


> Yes, I already plotted it out. My first real video will be up Sunday, and is challenge Day 0. I'm going to walk through the Scrivener document and explain how I did the pre-writing and why. I'm really curious, because I suspect a lot of people use a similar system, but I've never seen anyone else's.


I'm curious about your Scrivener process too. I bet it's not all together dissimilar from mine and others.


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## hardnutt (Nov 19, 2010)

Good luck, Chris. You're a brave man. I just bought your book Write to Market. I'm even going to do the exercises, which is a first for me.

I've signed up to your mail, and will follow along, ready to cheer you on or offer commiserations, whichever seems appropriate.


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## hardnutt (Nov 19, 2010)

UnicornEmily said:


> I'm impressed, and cheering you on!
> 
> (By the way, your writing books are fantastic. By far some of the best I've ever read.)


Seconded.


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## BeachB (Sep 3, 2013)

This will be exciting to watch!  Thanks for much for sharing!


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## Buddy Pilgrim (Aug 6, 2015)

Since my Scrivener process is chaotic at best, this will be a very helpful part of this for me.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Matthew Stott said:


> Good luck. Though is there a reason for the 21 days, rather than a solid month?
> 
> It's not the sort of thing I'd personally want to do (I really, really believe in giving a work time to sit and breath before coming back to do a full rewrite. Not a tweak, a proper going over, and that ain't gonna change...!), but like when the SPP boys did their Unboxed thingy, it's always cool, interesting and a little inspiring to watch.


I almost missed this, Matthew!

I'm doing it in 21 days, because that's the schedule I intend to keep now that I'm full time. I write a minimum of 5k a day, and that means in 14 days I should have the manuscript. I edit at least twice as fast, so finishing that in another week should be doable. I could have made it 30 days, but I feel like I should be able to do it faster than that.

You said you leave work to sit and breathe before coming back to do a re-write. I used to do that too, until someone wiser than I asked a really good question. Why? How much better will your piece be after the 2nd rewrite?

When you are first starting out with craft I think multiple drafts are more than helpful...they're necessary. But once you've done several books and are better at your craft I think it's possible to turn out a clean 2nd draft, which is exactly what I'm going to try to do.

Guess we'll see if I'm right =D



Augusta Blythe said:


> Good luck, Chris! Just listened to you on Simon's podcast. A great interview, as always.


Thanks, I love doing that show! Simon is awesome to hang with.


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## Matthew Stott (Oct 22, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> I almost missed this, Matthew!
> 
> I'm doing it in 21 days, because that's the schedule I intend to keep now that I'm full time. I write a minimum of 5k a day, and that means in 14 days I should have the manuscript. I edit at least twice as fast, so finishing that in another week should be doable. I could have made it 30 days, but I feel like I should be able to do it faster than that.
> 
> ...


Oh, I'm sure it works for you, this is just my own quirk. For whatever reason, no matter how much I plan out the beats before I start writing, it's like that first draft is a draft 0. I need to get it down before I realise what I REALLY want the book to be. So it takes me two drafts to get to the real draft one, I suppose, regardless of how happy I am with my outline beforehand...! Maybe that'll calm down as I continue to move forward.


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## Brevoort (Jan 27, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> You said you leave work to sit and breathe before coming back to do a re-write. I used to do that too, until someone wiser than I asked a really good question. Why? How much better will your piece be after the 2nd rewrite?


I'd like to add some anecdotal evidence from another writing field that I believe bolsters your argument Chris.

Until setting up as a consultant, I spent many many years in broadcast journalism as a Bang Bang Artiste. (Think war zone reporting, humanitarian disasters, super major breaking political news, etc)

What I, and my colleagues, in both the Canadian and British broadcasting worlds realized early on was that those scripts, news reports, documentaries, produced under severe conditions and impossibly tight deadlines, would on hindsight always turn out to be as good if not better than material produced in well lighted newsrooms over a span of hours and days with breaks for meals, beer and sleep.

If you know your craft three ways to Sunday, can explain what you are writing about in one sentence devoid of subordinate clauses, then you can rely on the creative drive to do outstanding work.

But you have to know your craft intuitively.

I've mentioned this a few times to musicians, a field I know nothing about, and heard similar thoughts about how the time pressured, impossible to pull off, must be done; theme, jingle, sting, or full blown musical work very often is superb and can hardly be improved on by more dickering about.

Anyway, although I have seen this countless times before, and read about many highly productive "prolific" writers of real talent, I remain astonished that the human brain can almost burst with quality creativity under the tightest and most appalling conditions.

So, I have no doubt that you are going to pull this off. With your attitude you can't fail.


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## jsalyerjr (Feb 19, 2016)

Chris,

According to his bio, Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick, by Lawrence Sutin, the great Philip K. Dick wrote most of his novels in two to three weeks. Since he is my favorite author, I am astonished by that fact, but also inspired to try to learn how to do the same. As a recent NanoWrimo winner, I know that it is possible.

I wish you the best of luck...I will be cheering for you!

Regards,

Jay S from Dallas


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Brevoort said:


> I'd like to add some anecdotal evidence from another writing field that I believe bolsters your argument Chris.
> 
> Until setting up as a consultant, I spent many many years in broadcast journalism as a Bang Bang Artiste. (Think war zone reporting, humanitarian disasters, super major breaking political news, etc)
> 
> ...


I bolded what I felt was the most important part. Writing at speed doesn't yield positive results until you master your craft. But writing fast WILL help you master your craft, and the more you do it the better you'll get =)

Jsalye, welcome to the board!


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

I'm starting to get twitchy, I want you to start already.


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## Sever Bronny (May 13, 2013)

Much like everything else that you do, Chris, this has the scent of success. How are those mailing list signups coming?


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Hi Chris, I heard about it on RSP when I listened to it last night, and instantly went and signed up on your website for the video's. I can't wait to see how it goes.

It also put a rocket under my arse too, and I'm joining the gang who are doing it alongside you. My goal is much smaller, to write a 30k novella in 15 days, which means I only need to hit 2k words per day every day. That is surely do-able!

I did the plot outline on the cork board of scrivener, which had me swearing and kicking the desk within about ten minutes, so I'm _really_ hoping you are going to be explaining your scrivener process in great detail lol, I'm also going to be having a _third_ try at writing with Dragon (mine is called The Screaming Fury, both after the evil one on Dragon Riders of Berk, and because that is how it makes me feel!) So Scrivener and Dragon may slow me down. But I can't wait to get started with you on Monday.

Thanks for all the inspiration, I hope you go back on RSP again in another 6 months!


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## Felix R. Savage (Mar 3, 2011)

I'm cheering you on too, Chris! I have no doubt you can do it and I await the finished product with anticipation as a reader 

(Sidebar: "Scrivener process" is a thing now? I have always suspected that software eats writers' brains, and now my suspicions are hardening. IMHO your process shouldn't be dependent on a piece of proprietary software. Of course my own process is dependent on Word ... but what I do with Word is the same thing I would do with a piece of paper and a pen. Any other word processing program would work as well.)


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## KL_Phelps (Nov 7, 2013)

good luck!


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Nathalie Aynie said:


> I'm starting to get twitchy, I want you to start already.


Tell me about it! I wanted to start writing on Tuesday after I finished Hero Rising. I'm chomping at the bit to get started =D



Sever Bronny said:


> Much like everything else that you do, Chris, this has the scent of success. How are those mailing list signups coming?


Thanks, bud. They've slowed some, but I've still had 200 in two days. That just floors me!



Felix R. Savage said:


> I'm cheering you on too, Chris! I have no doubt you can do it and I await the finished product with anticipation as a reader
> 
> (Sidebar: "Scrivener process" is a thing now? I have always suspected that software eats writers' brains, and now my suspicions are hardening. IMHO your process shouldn't be dependent on a piece of proprietary software. Of course my own process is dependent on Word ... but what I do with Word is the same thing I would do with a piece of paper and a pen. Any other word processing program would work as well.)


Do you use a calculator? How about a digital calendar? Are those things eating your brain? 

I use Scrivener because it's the most efficient way to organize my projects. I'm always looking for the best process. =)

This challenge isn't about a specific tool, but since Scrivener is the tool I'm using people who also use it will get to see another process. Those who don't use it could replicate my pre-writing in any system they want.


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## stoney (May 24, 2015)

RobCornell said:


> There's nothing Scrivener can do that you couldn't set up yourself with some note cards, file folders, and a ream of paper...but it sure as heck makes it all a lot easier.


I wish there was a +1 or Like. This would get it.


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## blemmet (Jun 30, 2013)

RobCornell said:


> There's nothing Scrivener can do that you couldn't set up yourself with some note cards, file folders, and a ream of paper...but it sure as heck makes it all a lot easier.


Yes, THIS. And I did exactly that before I discovered Scrivener. You have no idea how happy I was to be able to lose the bulk of all those papers and just have it all in one file that is much easier to access. LOL

Chis, I'm all signed up to follow you in your 21 day journey. In fact, my hubby had his interest peaked and will be watching over my shoulder as well. And you can add me to the list of authors doing this beside you. I've got a new series I want to release under my real name that I will be starting Monday. Trying to match your pace will prove to me that I can do it as well. Releasing Book 1 mid March sounds like exactly what I want and need to do. Thanks for the inspiration!


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## NoLongerPosting (Apr 5, 2014)

Thanks for the kick in the butt, Chris! I'm lagging on my WIP and your progress will be inspirational.
Good luck!


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## LindsayBuroker (Oct 13, 2013)

Chris Fox said:


> On Monday I'm beginning a *21 Day Novel Challenge*. I'm going to write a 70k novel in 14 days, then I'm going to spend a week editing it. It will get one pass with a proofreader, and then that novel will be live on Amazon. I believe I can get this book to stick below #10,000 in rank for the entire first 30 days.


Good luck, Chris. I'm sure you can do this. I did one a couple of years ago in 30 days, from start to publication, and that included giving the beta readers time to go over it and also having my editor edit it. I think I did the first draft of 75K words in about 10 days. It helps to be super excited about the project and have a rock solid outline down (which I know you know!), so you're not putzing around with a lot of editing after finishing the draft.

(And for those who doubt the quality of anything written quickly, this book not only ended up being one of my favorites, but it has been a fan favorite, as well, and kicks off what has become my best selling series.)


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## writer-artist-mom (Feb 21, 2015)

Brevoort said:


> What I, and my colleagues, in both the Canadian and British broadcasting worlds realized early on was that those scripts, news reports, documentaries, produced under severe conditions and impossibly tight deadlines, would on hindsight always turn out to be as good if not better than material produced in well lighted newsrooms over a span of hours and days with breaks for meals, beer and sleep.
> 
> If you know your craft three ways to Sunday, can explain what you are writing about in one sentence devoid of subordinate clauses, then you can rely on the creative drive to do outstanding work.
> 
> But you have to know your craft intuitively.


This is amazing, thanks for sharing!!!



LindsayBuroker said:


> Good luck, Chris. I'm sure you can do this. I did one a couple of years ago in 30 days, from start to publication, and that included giving the beta readers time to go over it and also having my editor edit it. I think I did the first draft of 75K words in about 10 days. It helps to be super excited about the project and have a rock solid outline down (which I know you know!), so you're not putzing around with a lot of editing after finishing the draft.
> 
> (And for those who doubt the quality of anything written quickly, this book not only ended up being one of my favorites, but it has been a fan favorite, as well, and kicks off what has become my best selling series.)


Wow. You guys inspire me so much 

Add me to the authors who are doing this with you, too! I'm writing the second book in my trilogy. I got to the halfway point (about 50k) last May but then life happens and I have not touched it in almost a year. The other half is already outlined, and I was supposed to start it a week or two ago, but I've been putting it off.

Plus being in a car accident & injuries don't help. Did more sleeping/reading/going to my chiropractor this past week than any writing. So I'm prepped and ready to start with you on Monday! I'm going to do 50k in 21 days, and do my editing after that.

Edited to add: This sounds similar to what Johnny, Sean and Dave did with Fiction Unboxed. I didn't know about them back when they actually did the live writing, but the book they published about the experience is SO helpful!!! Anyone who's curious how a group of fulltime professional writers actually makes the magic happen needs to buy this: amzn.to/1OmrWDG


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## Nancy Warren (May 5, 2014)

I'm in! I enjoyed your 5K an hour book, since I use Dragon already, and now I'm noodling away on Scrivener which is NOT intuitive for me. But I believe I shall enjoy it once I've figured it out. Yesterday I thought all my projects were lost, and then I found them by clicking something obscure. I have no idea what I did. Anyway, I'll try and play along. It's always fun to challenge along with someone else. Otherwise it's just me, a sore back and eye strain (and a few empty wine bottles.)

Hope I can learn some Scrivener from your vids. That would be awesome.

best wishes to all challengers,

Nancy


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## dragon_charmer (Dec 14, 2015)

Chris, you're such an inspiration! You know, when I read that you plan to write 5k a day over 14 days, I thought "well of course, he's full time now." But then I remembered that with practice and dedication, and some insane productivity hacking, you were able to reach 5k in one hour. And just like that... I'm without excuse. Literally anyone who can dedicate just 1 hour a day to writing can have a frequent release schedule, in addition to a full time job and family obligations. 

Now I have some serious explaining to do to myself lol


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## 57280 (Feb 20, 2012)

Chris, there's just so many things right with what you're doing! Bravo! I come from TV where working fast is an absolute, so I know you will succeed. 

...and, nice on building the mailing list! Love it!  May I ask what mail list program or service you're using?

**EDIT TO ADD: Oh--it looks to be mailchimp from the settings. Is that right? Do you pay premium and also have an autoresponder capability?


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## JustinBell1974 (Feb 20, 2016)

This is pretty inspirational, Chris, I wish you the best of luck.  I've never had a problem writing quickly (I wrote an entire 110,000 word novel during the NanoWriMo month in 2013), but the whole "writing to market" stuff is what I really need to work on.  I can't wait to see how this goes.

I may be following along, but I'm not sure I can keep up your pace, although I'm neck deep in my third book now, and could use a kick in the ass to plow forward.

Justin


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## JBoyett (Nov 10, 2015)

You can TOTALLY do a novel a month!


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## Cap&#039;n Crunch (Aug 10, 2009)

I did 72k in 15 days, and the key for me was to not open my email inbox until the end of the day after I'd hit my word count goals. If you look at your emails when you first wake up, you get sucked into replies or checking out FB posts you've been tagged in and next thing you know you've wasted several hours of your day.

Good luck!


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## dragontucker (Jul 18, 2014)

Hey Chris! Can't wait to see how this turns out. I have a feeling it's going to go very well  Good luck.


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## rgasperson (Feb 21, 2016)

That is awesome. I thought I was ambitious wanting to write 10,000 words per week. Good luck


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Kessie Carroll (Jan 15, 2014)

This is so exciting! I'm doing a similar challenge right now, except I'm writing a novel for Lent. I had to do a ton of brainstorming and planning for it, and now my word count is ramping up as I figure out the shape this story wants to be. Alas, I can only ever manage 2k a day, but that's still 10k a week, and a 50k book in a little over a month. I have 5 kids and a hubby who I game with (Divinity for the win), so I'm working at capacity, here.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Cap'n Crunch said:


> I did 72k in 15 days, and the key for me was to not open my email inbox until the end of the day after I'd hit my word count goals. If you look at your emails when you first wake up, you get sucked into replies or checking out FB posts you've been tagged in and next thing you know you've wasted several hours of your day.
> 
> Good luck!


Isn't that the truth. For me it's not emails so much as listening to various podcasts & checking social media. Half a day's gone in no time, then. Ugh.

I'll be sort of starting my own challenge tomorrow (thanks for the kick in the rear, Chris!) hoping to write a full first draft (90K) by the end of March. With a full time job and a toddler, that's about as big a challenge as I can muster at the moment.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Cap'n Crunch said:


> I did 72k in 15 days, and the key for me was to not open my email inbox until the end of the day after I'd hit my word count goals. If you look at your emails when you first wake up, you get sucked into replies or checking out FB posts you've been tagged in and next thing you know you've wasted several hours of your day.
> 
> Good luck!


I've done 55k in 13 days, and have been sustaining a regular 5k on weekdays for a while. I think the challenge will be stretching my muscles a bit, but I'm optimistic I can pull it off.

I always turn off social media, email, and my phone during sprints. I do 5 20 minute sprints most days, but we'll see if I need to modify that during the challenge.

Thanks for the outpouring of support, everyone. I'm also shocked and elated to see how many people are picking up the challenge. We're going to kick a lot of ass in the next few weeks.


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## JackPanettiere (Jan 29, 2016)

Day 0: good luck, Chris!


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## mach 5 (Dec 5, 2015)

Am I just overlooking the link to the pre-work video? I signed up for the notifications early Saturday. Haven't seen a link anywhere. If it's not up, no pressure, of course, but I think I'm just missing something.

Thanks!

Nevermind - my brain is thinking it's Monday already.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

It will go out (and be posted here) tomorrow morning. You haven't missed anything =)

I recorded the video today, but my video editor is still working on it.


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## RuthNestvold (Jan 4, 2012)

Sounds amazing. Good luck!


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Here's the Day 0 video. I'll be sending it out to the list shortly!

https://youtu.be/qclQ9IKFKxo


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## jaehaerys (Feb 18, 2016)

This is very interesting. I am going to try this as well. 70k over the next 14 days. Here goes nothing.


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## LucasCWheeler (Feb 19, 2015)

I'm very interested in how this goes... and I'm tempted to try it myself. I'm currently working on my sequel for my Sci-Fi series and I estimate it should be around 100k words when finished. So, that's about 7,250 a day, just to have a pretty number to look at? Yikes. I'm not known for being a "prolific" writer, or speedy. We'll see how it goes, I guess. Good luck and success to everyone else trying it.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

My first writing sprint is complete! Woohoo, here I go =D


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## angela65 (Oct 8, 2014)

Following along. Watched your first video. This is exciting. Good luck!

I have your writing books except Writing to Market. Going to get that one now.

And are there any plans to be able to use your sprint tool for Macs anytime soon?


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

I don't have plans to release a Mac version any time soon, but now that I'm doing this full time that may happen. We'll see where I stand at the end of the challenge =)


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Chris, what software are you using to record the videos?


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## hardnutt (Nov 19, 2010)

Good luck, Chris. This is fascinating. I might even get my head round scrivener in the process.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Jim Johnson said:


> Chris, what software are you using to record the videos?


I use Quicktime to do the raw recording. My video editor uses Final Cut Pro and Aftereffects to clean it up and make it snazzy.



hardnutt said:


> Good luck, Chris. This is fascinating. I might even get my head round scrivener in the process.


I'm very curious what people think of my outlining process. It feels so weird to be putting all this out there. I'd be interested to hear if this gets you to try Scrivener.


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## BGArcher (Jun 14, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> I don't have plans to release a Mac version any time soon, but now that I'm doing this full time that may happen. We'll see where I stand at the end of the challenge =)


It would be awesome if you did. I saw the day 0 video last night and my first thought was I wished that was just a regular app. (Great video btw).


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## PJ_Cherubino (Oct 23, 2015)

I am sending positive brainwaves in your general direction.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Chris Fox said:


> I don't have plans to release a Mac version any time soon, but now that I'm doing this full time that may happen. We'll see where I stand at the end of the challenge =)


Speaking of apps... Any news on the Android front? _*wiggles eyebrows*_


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## harker.roland (Sep 13, 2014)

God speed Chris. While I am nowhere near your level of productivity (~5k a week) I am following along with my own writing.


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## Brevoort (Jan 27, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> I'm very curious what people think of my outlining process.


I am amazed at the level of detail you are getting into the outline. I don't approach writing this way so it is coming at me new. There is no doubt that it will help the physical writing and I will be interested to see how closely the outline will resemble the final product. Those in the military are fond of saying, "No battle plan, no matter how well prepared, survives contact with the enemy."

However, I think you have an excellent chance of sticking to most of the outline because you have taken the effort to craft what you call a blurb but which is also known as a focus statement; a clear succinct statement that answers the question, "What is this book about."

To my mind a focus statement is the single most import part of any writing project, no matter the discipline or genre.

The key of course is to keep looking at it so you never get lost in the narrative arc.

The other thing I would like to say is that your raw courage in putting it all out to see is breathtaking. It takes an uncommon person, with strong self assurance and confidence in craft, to do this.


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## Matthew Stott (Oct 22, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> I'm very curious what people think of my outlining process. It feels so weird to be putting all this out there. I'd be interested to hear if this gets you to try Scrivener.


Not too far away from my own. Though I don't split into chapters, I just have a long spine of beats and they tend to work themselves into chapters as I move down.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Veronica Sicoe said:


> Speaking of apps... Any news on the Android front? _*wiggles eyebrows*_


Nope. =p

I will never learn Android development, or hybrid development. I do iOS development because it's fun and I can make apps I'll personally use. Hopefully I'll meet an Android developer who wants to make 5k. I wouldn't even need a cut. I just want to see it made.



Brevoort said:


> I am amazed at the level of detail you are getting into the outline. I don't approach writing this way so it is coming at me new. There is no doubt that it will help the physical writing and I will be interested to see how closely the outline will resemble the final product.


I'm 5,400 words / 6 chapters in. By chapter 3 I already had to deviate from the outline. I inserted a whole new chapter, and I'm sure I'll do that a lot. It's interesting watching the plot grow and change as I write. That's happened every time I've written a novel, and I'm not sure it will ever change.



Matthew Stott said:


> Not too far away from my own. Though I don't split into chapters, I just have a long spine of beats and they tend to work themselves into chapters as I move down.


I'm considering adopting your technique. I'm finding that many of my 'chapter' outlines end up being 2-3 chapters. Doing raw beats might be a better approach.

So day one take aways? Holy shit. _I get to do this for a living_. I cranked out 5,400 words by 10:30, and along the way recorded all the video. I can't wait to see what you guys think of the process. I've already gotten some interesting insights, and I think that this will help me improve as a writer.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Chris Fox said:


> So day one take aways? Holy [crap]. _I get to do this for a living_. I cranked out 5,400 words by 10:30, and along the way recorded all the video. I can't wait to see what you guys think of the process. I've already gotten some interesting insights, and I think that this will help me improve as a writer.


Sounds like an awesome start! 

I'm still trying to improve on the wph front. My issue is that I keep stopping and going back to rephrase (or add, or cut) and only move on to the next beat if this one's "done." I don't tweak synonyms and commas, or stuff like that (only story information), but I also can't do dirty drafts. They drive me nuts. Sprinting has really improved this for me, but I doubt I'll ever be able to change 180°.

So far my average speed is ~1.2K per hour, but those are fairly clean words. I'd love to be faster though. I don't have so many hours to write on a normal day, but I'm _addicted_ to cranking out wordcounts over 3K.


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## Fel Beasley (Apr 1, 2014)

Curious, I signed up for the mailing list today. Do you have an autoresponder set up so I can get the file from day 0? I'm interested in seeing your plotting and sketching more in depth.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

I haven't set up the autoresponder yet. Sad, I know =p

Here's a link to the video:

http://chrisfoxwrites.com/2016/02/22/so-it-begins-a-fully-edited-novel-in-21-days/

I'll get an autoresponder up for new folks, and a series page where they can see all the videos.


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## RuthNestvold (Jan 4, 2012)

Matthew Stott said:


> Not too far away from my own. Though I don't split into chapters, I just have a long spine of beats and they tend to work themselves into chapters as I move down.


I write in scenes rather than chapters, which I guess is much like beats. Once the scenes are written, I organize in chapters. I find outlining by chapter too constraining and have never been able to do it that way.


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## Fel Beasley (Apr 1, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> I haven't set up the autoresponder yet. Sad, I know =p
> 
> Here's a link to the video:
> 
> ...


Cool. It's awesome that you're doing this!


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## BeachB (Sep 3, 2013)

Anxiously awaiting Day 1 video. Do you know when it will be sent out?  I loved Day 0, it has inspired me already! Thanks again for allowing us on this journey.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

I think each video will be a day behind given the time it takes to edit the.

Here's the day one video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IV9SL3TXGw&index=3&list=PLC4FzEJ7MlpzoUt9xhqG2htdBEeTSZs8I

I hit 5,351 words for the first day =)


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## MKK (Jun 9, 2015)

Congratulations and thanks, Chris. I am following along...hoping that through osmosis, I will absorb some of your skill and knowledge.


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> Here's the day one video!


That was great to watch! Cool bathrobe, too. {Now you all want to go see Chris in his bathrobe...}


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

RobCornell said:


> This is really cool, Chris. Who knew that watching another writer work on their book could be so fascinating? (And inspirational!) Couple questions: I couldn't be sure, but it looked like you deleted your chapter summary once you finished the chapter. Is that the case? Also, how much time do you typically take between sprints? Finally, I see that you finish your sprint early if you end the chapter. What if it's a longer chapter? Do you keep going after the timer runs out if you think you can finish up in a few paragraphs, or just finish it up during the next sprint? Also, if you end a chapter especially early in a sprint, do you always stop, or do you push onto the next chapter? My chapters are typically between 1,500 and 2,000 words, so I'm curious how you work this.
> 
> Thanks, man!


I do delete my chapter summaries. I used to keep them, but after realizing I'd never once gone back and used one after 2 full novels I started just ditching them.

My time between sprints varies a lot. Today I had to record a podcast, so I've only done 2 sprints and need to crank out three more. I'll get back to that shortly.

Ideally, I try to allow 20 minutes between sprints, but sometimes I'll crank out 3 in an hour with almost no breaks.

For chapters I go by gut. Sometimes I'll write two chapters in one sprint. Sometimes I'll extend a sprint to finish a chapter. Sometimes I'll end a sprint mid chapter.


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## harker.roland (Sep 13, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> I don't have plans to release a Mac version any time soon, but now that I'm doing this full time that may happen. We'll see where I stand at the end of the challenge =)


Any chance you'd share with us how to access the app through emulation on your desktop like you do in the video for day 0?

I love the app, but find that picking up the phone to start and stop sprints offers too many alluring distractions


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## ShadyWolfBoy (Sep 23, 2015)

Congrats Chris.  I suspect you're going to rock this


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## anicolle (Dec 13, 2014)

Harker: Chris appears to be using development tools to achieve the emulation. Xcode + iPhone Simulator + the app source code. I spend most of my spare time in Xcode! Maybe he needs to work on a .NET or Mac port?


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## Kalen ODonnell (Nov 24, 2011)

I think I'm more impressed by your ability to juggle this daily wordcount with all this additional work you're doing to document your process and share it. Good luck with the rest of the challenge!


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## Nancy Warren (May 5, 2014)

It was fun seeing you in your bathrobe this morning.  I thought to myself, this is a 'real' writer! Congrats on how well this is going. And from what I could see of your first draft pages, Dragon is really accurate for you. I'd say my accuracy is improving with the new Dragon for Mac, but it's still not where I'd like it to be. I'm hoping as I do more it will get better. I'm trying to challenge along with you, but not quite at 5 yet. Still, the day ain't over.

Strangely, I recently got turned onto a website called Unf#ck your Habitat and it also recommends 20 minute sprints. It seems we can do anything for 20 minutes! Then, if you're decluttering, you take a ten minute break and then do another 20. I'm finding it works quite well. Not to relate my wonderful books with clutter or anything....

Nancy


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

harker.roland said:


> Any chance you'd share with us how to access the app through emulation on your desktop like you do in the video for day 0?
> 
> I love the app, but find that picking up the phone to start and stop sprints offers too many alluring distractions


Hawker's answer is correct. As an iPhone developer you can test your apps using a simulator. I'll probably do a Mac port this year, but .net isn't going to happen =p



Glynn Stewart said:


> Congrats Chris. I suspect you're going to rock this


Thanks, Glynn. I can see why you love writing science fiction so much. This is such a blast!



Kalen ODonnell said:


> I think I'm more impressed by your ability to juggle this daily wordcount with all this additional work you're doing to document your process and share it. Good luck with the rest of the challenge!


When I worked my day job I had to squeeze all the writing into an hour, two if I was extremely lucky. I've kind of carried that over to writing full time, so my goal is to be done with writing well before lunch. So far, that's working fairly well =)



Nancy Warren said:


> It was fun seeing you in your bathrobe this morning.  I thought to myself, this is a 'real' writer! Congrats on how well this is going. And from what I could see of your first draft pages, Dragon is really accurate for you. I'd say my accuracy is improving with the new Dragon for Mac, but it's still not where I'd like it to be. I'm hoping as I do more it will get better. I'm trying to challenge along with you, but not quite at 5 yet. Still, the day ain't over.
> 
> Strangely, I recently got turned onto a website called Unf#ck your Habitat and it also recommends 20 minute sprints. It seems we can do anything for 20 minutes! Then, if you're decluttering, you take a ten minute break and then do another 20. I'm finding it works quite well. Not to relate my wonderful books with clutter or anything....
> 
> Nancy


I love that I can come out to my office in a bathrobe and still pretend to be an adult with a job! I'm actually typing this, not using dictation. Dragon is great, but I mostly only used it at the bus stop, or anywhere else I couldn't type. I prefer typing when I have access to a keyboard. It's slower, but I enjoy it more.

The 20 minute thing is interesting. I've done 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 minute sprints. 20 seem to work the best, and I have no idea why. Well best for me anyway. I know plenty of people who do 30 minutes, and a few who do an hour.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Hmm, I just sit for 3 hours till I'm done.


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## Nancy Warren (May 5, 2014)

OMG! I can't believe you're sprinting this fast and typing. Wow. I read your 5K an Hour book (Loved the eat the frog idea) and had assumed you were dictating. I dictate a lot faster than I write, mostly because of the torn rotator cuff. But it's a helluva lot more accurate to type! second draft for me is the most painful of the entire process. Plus, my throat gets sore from talking...

Unfortunately, I still have a couple of frog legs and webby feet to eat before I'm done for the day.

I have to admit I find the timer buzzer annoying when I'm in the middle of writing. Anyone else finding that? I love putting the timer on, knowing I only have to do this for 20 mins, but then I'm deep in it and I jump out of my skin when the damn timer goes off. And poof, I'm out of the story. Will have to play around with what works. 

Happy challenging, all

Nancy


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## PearlEarringLady (Feb 28, 2014)

Nancy Warren said:


> I have to admit I find the timer buzzer annoying when I'm in the middle of writing. Anyone else finding that? I love putting the timer on, knowing I only have to do this for 20 mins, but then I'm deep in it and I jump out of my skin when the damn timer goes off. And poof, I'm out of the story. Will have to play around with what works.


There are visual timers you can buy - they just change colour or flash when your time is up. Seem to be quite expensive, though.


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Nancy Warren said:


> I have to admit I find the timer buzzer annoying when I'm in the middle of writing. Anyone else finding that? I love putting the timer on, knowing I only have to do this for 20 mins, but then I'm deep in it and I jump out of my skin when the damn timer goes off. And poof, I'm out of the story. Will have to play around with what works.


The times the timer interrupts my flow are actually the best times for me. That means I'm anxious and excited to get back to the writing and know exactly where to start the next sprint. So when the alarm goes off, I reset it, get up and away from the keyboard for 10 minutes or so to help protect my hands and body from stress. Then I get back to it, firing away from where I left off.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Jim Johnson said:


> The times the timer interrupts my flow are actually the best times for me. That means I'm anxious and excited to get back to the writing and know exactly where to start the next sprint. So when the alarm goes off, I reset it, get up and away from the keyboard for 10 minutes or so to help protect my hands and body from stress. Then I get back to it, firing away from where I left off.


I often do the same. One trick that's worked for me is setting the sprint for longer than I think I'll actually go. I may set it for 25 minutes, then finish the chapter at say minute 19.

If I'm still in flow state at minute 25 (and sometimes I am), the it doesn't jar me too badly when the timer goes off. I take a break like Jim, and then get back to it.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Day 2 video is up =)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgOx_ASNTrI&feature=em-upload_owner


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## Nathalie Aynie (Nov 24, 2013)

I love the videos, and I love the idea of seeing how you outline! Thank you so much!  
I also love that (nervous?) little laugh you have. It's very endearing.


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## harker.roland (Sep 13, 2014)

I know this may be a totally noob question, but how did you get the beautiful image of your cover for your desktop? Is that what is considered a 'full wrap'? I think it is the perfect way to stay engrossed in what you are working on.

Also, I have watched the first two videos and notice your 'chapters' are relatively short. Will these 'chapters' continue to stand on their own independently, or will they be combined into larger chapters. Not being familiar with the space opera genre, I do not know if short chapters are a component.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

oakwood said:


> Awesome! I think you mentioned in the first video that you dedicated perhaps 6 hrs to doing the outline/plot. Would that be the time spent shuffling ideas around and cleaning up the beats or does it constitute the totality of time spent plotting this story?
> if the latter, that's almost more amazing than the hyper-speed writing!
> 
> My plotting tends to swallow several days of work.


That six hours is the time working in the Scrivener document. It doesn't include time thinking in the shower, at the gym, or while watching movies / playing video games.



harker.roland said:


> I know this may be a totally noob question, but how did you get the beautiful image of your cover for your desktop? Is that what is considered a 'full wrap'? I think it is the perfect way to stay engrossed in what you are working on.
> 
> Also, I have watched the first two videos and notice your 'chapters' are relatively short. Will these 'chapters' continue to stand on their own independently, or will they be combined into larger chapters. Not being familiar with the space opera genre, I do not know if short chapters are a component.


Both Mac and PC can set an image to cover your desktop. Which are you using?

My chapters are always short in my fiction, but I've made them even shorter for this book. I average 1,500 words for the Deathless series, with some as long as 1,500. I'm trying to average 900 for this book, and some are as short as 300 words. I chose that because every book I studied for the genre had short chapters. Plus it's really fun to write that way =D


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## harker.roland (Sep 13, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> Both Mac and PC can set an image to cover your desktop. Which are you using?
> 
> My chapters are always short in my fiction, but I've made them even shorter for this book. I average 1,500 words for the Deathless series, with some as long as 1,500. I'm trying to average 900 for this book, and some are as short as 300 words. I chose that because every book I studied for the genre had short chapters. Plus it's really fun to write that way =D


I am using a MacBook laptop. Sorry for being ignorant there. I just love the way yours looks so much.

That's interesting. I'll have to take a look for my next writing to market book.


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## PhilipColgate (Feb 11, 2016)

Getting up early to hit the gym AND get your daily words done?  I'd settle for doing just one of those.  Seriously, though, I think getting words done first thing in the morning is great for relieving stress.  You can do other stuff throughout the day without feeling guilty and you make sure your work is done before your energy vanishes.


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## J.T. Williams (Aug 7, 2014)

PhilipColgate said:


> Getting up early to hit the gym AND get your daily words done? I'd settle for doing just one of those. Seriously, though, I think getting words done first thing in the morning is great for relieving stress. You can do other stuff throughout the day without feeling guilty and you make sure your work is done before your energy vanishes.


Hitting the weights first thing, protein, coffee, and then laptop... I agree. Knocking out the important stuff first is good!


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

RobCornell said:


> Doesn't that mean you have to dream up that many more chapters when you plot the book?


It does, but that's fine. I just separate beats into individual chapters. It ends up being the same length, just grouped a little differently =)



PhilipColgate said:


> Getting up early to hit the gym AND get your daily words done? I'd settle for doing just one of those. Seriously, though, I think getting words done first thing in the morning is great for relieving stress. You can do other stuff throughout the day without feeling guilty and you make sure your work is done before your energy vanishes.


J.T. and I are definitely on the same page. Wake up early, and knock out the most important things early. By 10 am today I should be done with 5,000 words, my video recording for the day, and my workout. That leaves the rest of the day to take care of anything else, and even if I get nothing done I know I still kicked ass.

Here's the day 3 video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyQ3TSrteP0


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## KevinMcLaughlin (Nov 11, 2010)

Love watching the videos, Chris! Keep up the great work!


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## dragontucker (Jul 18, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> It does, but that's fine. I just separate beats into individual chapters. It ends up being the same length, just grouped a little differently =)
> 
> J.T. and I are definitely on the same page. Wake up early, and knock out the most important things early. By 10 am today I should be done with 5,000 words, my video recording for the day, and my workout. That leaves the rest of the day to take care of anything else, and even if I get nothing done I know I still kicked ass.
> 
> ...


Done by 10 am? LOL....that's awesome!


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

oakwood said:


> Thanks Chris - this has quickly become my afternoon (Swedish time) coffee-break must have video
> My only gripe is the by now somewhat repetitive and distracting background music. Personally, I wouldn't mind consuming these videos without any music at all.


That's great feedback, thanks Oakwood. I asked my video editor to at least lower the volume a little. It's there to help cover the echo where I'm recording.



KevinMcLaughlin said:


> Love watching the videos, Chris! Keep up the great work!


Thanks, Kevin. You're kicking ass too. I mentioned you in today's blog post and tomorrow's video =)



dragontucker said:


> Done by 10 am? LOL....that's awesome!


It's shaping up to be more like 11, but yeah...feels great to have all my big work done by then.


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## jaehaerys (Feb 18, 2016)

Getting a lot out of this, Chris - thank you for sharing.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Okay, here's the video for Day 4 =)

Still on target! I've passed 20,000 words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPsqqqQE1TA&feature=em-upload_owner


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## anotherpage (Apr 4, 2012)

Chris, I noticed that on all of your videos your sprint app is showing the date feb 24th. That should be updating every day you use it but todays video for the 26th shows the 24th which was 2 days ago??


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## gonedark (May 30, 2013)

Content removed due to TOS Change of 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

pagewhiz said:


> Chris, I noticed that on all of your videos your sprint app is showing the date feb 24th. That should be updating every day you use it but todays video for the 26th shows the 24th which was 2 days ago??


The dates are updating. Each video goes out one day after it's recorded, so the 25th's video went out today. That video begins with a recap of the 24th, which is why that date shows. At the end of that video you'll notice there are now a bunch of sprints labeled the 25th. Tomorrow's will have 7 sprints, all labeled the 26th.



Fferyllt said:


> Wow, Chris! I'm late to checking this out but I'm hooked now. Have been trying to create a workable structure for a P.I. series and it becomes clearer and clearer that detailed plotting/outlining--not pantsing, alas--is the only way to go. Your set-up for the actual writing is awesome. Thanks for the inspiration.


I'm glad you're finding them helpful. They've been really fun to record =)


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## JalexM (May 14, 2015)

J.T. Williams said:


> Hitting the weights first thing, protein, coffee, and then laptop... I agree. Knocking out the important stuff first is good!


Tried that yesterday but I ended up going so hard at the gym it wiped me out for the rest of the day. Didn't help I left at 10 am to go to the gym to avoid traffic and still hit traffic. Meh, LA.
On that note, i'm not joining in on the 21 day challenge but I did download the 5000 words a day book and plan on starting the plan today. Going to do 3 20 minute intervals with 10 minutes between each until I hit 5k. Hoping to end the day with 5000 words.
I've written that much in a day before but it was a entire day thing.


----------



## Guest (Feb 26, 2016)

A little off topic, but your shirt collection is helping me fill my sweetie's Christmas/birthday lists for years


----------



## hardnutt (Nov 19, 2010)

Phew! Caught up, and have now watched Video 4. I'm in awe at your productivity. I've got your 5,000 Words book, so I think that's going to be my bedtime reading. Then I might be able to get my head round it.


----------



## Gone Girl (Mar 7, 2015)

We miss you, Harvey Chute.


----------



## harker.roland (Sep 13, 2014)

Cool shout out to Kevin in the videos Chris!


----------



## JalexM (May 14, 2015)

JalexM said:


> Tried that yesterday but I ended up going so hard at the gym it wiped me out for the rest of the day. Didn't help I left at 10 am to go to the gym to avoid traffic and still hit traffic. Meh, LA.
> On that note, i'm not joining in on the 21 day challenge but I did download the 5000 words a day book and plan on starting the plan today. Going to do 3 20 minute intervals with 10 minutes between each until I hit 5k. Hoping to end the day with 5000 words.
> I've written that much in a day before but it was a entire day thing.


Only got to 4224 today. Apparently I write slow as hell. I did two sprints of 20 minutes and then two 30 minutes sprints once I saw how slow I wrote. This is writing directly through the sprint times. I'll probably get better as I go along. Doesn't help the book I'm writing is kind of complicated at the macro level, at least for me and I didn't look that far ahead in my outline. The section when wrote were smaller than expected so I got farther along in the story than I planned to. So 5k per 2 hours for me.
Going to have to edit the crap out of it though.


----------



## Matt Ryan (Nov 16, 2012)

Chris Fox said:


> Okay, here's the video for Day 4 =)
> 
> Still on target! I've passed 20,000 words.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPsqqqQE1TA&feature=em-upload_owner


20000 in four days is awesome. Love seeing a plan come together.

Thanks for doing this. Been having a good time following along.

I have a good feeling about this SO book for you.


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## SophieStern (Mar 7, 2015)

Best of luck!!


----------



## FionnJameson (Jan 19, 2016)

Hi, Chris, I've been a big fan of your books since I purchased them a few months ago and I even got your app on my iPad. 

This is an awesome experiment and I've subscribed to your Youtube channel so I can check out each video as it comes out. 

Best of luck to you!


----------



## KevinMcLaughlin (Nov 11, 2010)

Thanks for the shout out! 

I'm still doing well. Made 1500 on day 4 despite a 17-hour work day, and 3017 today despite a 9 hour workday. 

Total so far is 19,409, which is still 1400 words above my target for this point of the challenge. (My daily targets vary from zero on Thursdays to 3k on regular work days to 6k on days off).

Now on to two 6000 word days in a row over the weekend!


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## Matthew Stott (Oct 22, 2014)

JalexM said:


> Only got to 4224 today. Apparently I write slow as hell. I did two sprints of 20 minutes and then two 30 minutes sprints once I saw how slow I wrote.


That's over 4000 words in less than two hours; that's not slow by any means. I think it's important to see how great that amount in that time is, rather than trying to compare what you achieved to others and feeling bad about it.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

KevinMcLaughlin said:


> Thanks for the shout out!
> 
> I'm still doing well. Made 1500 on day 4 despite a 17-hour work day, and 3017 today despite a 9 hour workday.
> 
> ...


Sounds like you're still kicking ass, Kevin!

I struggled a lot yesterday, because I went out the night before and was up too late. It's amazing how much harder it is to write on too little sleep.

Here's the next video. Enjoy my crazy hair:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJsby-aOtuA&feature=em-upload_owner


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## angela65 (Oct 8, 2014)

Love the hair! Still enjoying the videos. Thanks so much for taking the extra time to produce them.


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## Matthew Stott (Oct 22, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> Sounds like you're still kicking ass, Kevin!
> 
> I struggled a lot yesterday, because I went out the night before and was up too late. It's amazing how much harder it is to write on too little sleep.
> 
> ...


You go to bed at 8.30?! No wonder you get up so early..! I don't think I've gone to bed that early since I was about seven!


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Matthew Stott said:


> You go to bed at 8.30?! No wonder you get up so early..! I don't think I've gone to bed that early since I was about seven!


I don't always make it to 8:30, and I rarely see 9:00. But I'm up at 5 am every day, and I'm well rested all the time. I used to sleep a lot less when I was in my 20s, but I turn 40 in a few months. I'm old, and need my sleep.

*shakes cane.


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## hardnutt (Nov 19, 2010)

Right. I've read the book, and it makes a lot of sense. Got the spreadsheet, and I'll be raring to go tomorrow morning! My DI Joe Rafferty won't know what's hit him. He's not too good in the mornings (new baby).


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## JalexM (May 14, 2015)

Matthew Stott said:



> That's over 4000 words in less than two hours; that's not slow by any means. I think it's important to see how great that amount in that time is, rather than trying to compare what you achieved to others and feeling bad about it.





RobCornell said:


> 100% agree with this. That's an amazing writing day. You should feel good about it, JalexM!


Got 4413 words today. Thanks for the encouragement! I do feel good about how many words I can write. But I was promised 5k words an hour gosh darnit! 

Today was worse than yesterday. It seems at this speed I write faster than where my mind is on the book, so it slows me down. Tomorrow i'm going to do some editing and then I work Monday so I don't know when I'll be able to do another good day. But editing the section I wrote should help the story come together in my head even though I have it deeply outlined.


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## KevinMcLaughlin (Nov 11, 2010)

Jalex, my peak speeds typing are something like 2800-3000 wph, but that's in a 15-30 minute sprint. And my norm is about 2000 WPH on sprints. If you figure I spent 20 minutes sprinting and then ten on break, then 20 sprinting and 10 more on break, that's only maybe 1400 per actual hour of real time.

And I'm considered pretty fast. 

It sounds like you're about matching me. I'd be pretty pleased with that. A lot of folks are happy getting 1k words per hour.

Also, I was getting about 1600 WPH a year or so ago. The more experienced I get, the faster I get.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Chris Fox said:


> I don't always make it to 8:30, and I rarely see 9:00. But I'm up at 5 am every day, and I'm well rested all the time. I used to sleep a lot less when I was in my 20s, but I turn 40 in a few months. I'm old, and need my sleep.
> 
> *shakes cane.


Haha, Chris, wait till you hit the big 50! 

My cane is bigger than your cane!


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Here's my Day 6 video! I just crossed the halfway point in the novel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBDp2VAQlnw


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## JalexM (May 14, 2015)

KevinMcLaughlin said:


> Jalex, my peak speeds typing are something like 2800-3000 wph, but that's in a 15-30 minute sprint. And my norm is about 2000 WPH on sprints. If you figure I spent 20 minutes sprinting and then ten on break, then 20 sprinting and 10 more on break, that's only maybe 1400 per actual hour of real time.
> 
> And I'm considered pretty fast.
> 
> ...


Yeah, it is a nice writing speed. I'm pleased with it, but too think that I will be able to get faster as I go on.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Woot, over half way through the 1st draft. Here's the Day 7 video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OlGPF6AJdY


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Chris Fox said:


> Woot, over half way through the 1st draft. Here's the Day 7 video:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OlGPF6AJdY


YOU GO, CHRIS! I'm impressed how you address all the comments & questions about your process without getting derailed by them. You're kicking major a$$!


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

RobCornell said:


> I'll be very curious to see your editing process. Many of the things you take notes on are things I've traditionally worked on during the initial drafting phase, rather than save it for later. I'm considering trying it your way with my next book. But I'm not quite sold yet.


I'm very curious about my editing process too. I've received an immense amount of feedback from writers about my process. People have made all sorts of suggestions, and some of them will likely make it into my routine. Hopefully it's the same way when I document my editing. I bet I'll learn a lot in the process.



Veronica Sicoe said:


> YOU GO, CHRIS! I'm impressed how you address all the comments & questions about your process without getting derailed by them. You're kicking major a$$!


Thanks, Veronica. The video recording and editing is a larger part of my day than I'd assumed it would be, but wow is it fun. I'll be throwing up a lot of writing videos in the future.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

The day 8 video up! I'm 40,000 words into this =D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOn7-27tjuI&feature=em-upload_owner


----------



## hardnutt (Nov 19, 2010)

Do you use cue cards for your videos, Chris? Or do you just speak 'off the cuff'? I'd love to be able to do that. Alas, my brain just goes blank when I try.


----------



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Off the cuff. I was in Toastmasters for a long time, which really helps =)


----------



## TheLemontree (Sep 12, 2015)

Day 9 is up, for everyone else obsessively checking 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7pB--ZGnL9o

Thanks Chris, I'm really enjoying following your progress.


----------



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Oops, forgot to post yesterday.

Here's Day 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q-p4i7q59U

I should be finished with the book by tomorrow around lunch time. I cannot believe how quickly this has come together.


----------



## vkloss (Sep 22, 2014)

Random question, Chris (which has probably been answered before). I happened to notice that your name is 'C.T. Fox' on the cover, whereas on all your other books, it's 'Chris Fox'. Is this a pen name? And if so, are you still going to use your existing mailing list to promote, or are you going to try and do everything completely organically?

Again, sorry if these questions have been asked! Just curious.


----------



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

I don't think anyone has mentioned the pen name, but I'll get into that at length when I make the launch thread.

I will be sending a single email to my existing mailing list, but am looking to grow a separate audience. The pen name is something I'll own publicly, but I want to use it as a visual way for people to see it's a radically different style of fiction.


----------



## vkloss (Sep 22, 2014)

I see. Makes sense, thanks. =)


----------



## Azalea (Mar 22, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> I don't think anyone has mentioned the pen name, but I'll get into that at length when I make the launch thread.
> 
> The pen name is something I'll own publicly, but I want to use it as a visual way for people to see it's a radically different style of fiction.


I'm curious about your plans for the name Chris Fox going forward, if you're starting a new pen name. I'd assume you plan to continue writing in it, as you've built up quite a following. Do you have any releases planned for it in the near future? Feel free to just answer my question in the launch thread, if you were already going to talk about those topics then.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

I'll be releasing four book under Chris Fox by this summer


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Here's the Day 11 video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK_2N_5a1is

Spoilers for Day 12 (today). I finished the first draft!!!


----------



## Matthew Stott (Oct 22, 2014)

Chris Fox said:



> Spoilers for Day 12 (today). I finished the first draft!!!


Blimey, well done!


----------



## anicolle (Dec 13, 2014)

Congrats! I'm curious if the final word count will grow or shrink after you're done editing.


----------



## jaehaerys (Feb 18, 2016)

Congratulations on finishing your first draft so quickly, Chris! Well done. That's gotta feel good!


----------



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

anicolle said:


> Congrats! I'm curious if the final word count will grow or shrink after you're done editing.


It usually grows by at least a few thousand words, so I'm betting I'll end up over 60k.

Here's the link to the day 12 vide0:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifd9H3YKkp4

I still can't believe the first draft is done =D


----------



## Allyson J. (Nov 26, 2014)

Congratulations on finishing up the 1st draft. It has been a blast following your progress, and thanks for adding those motivational words. I'm looking forward to the next video!


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## J.T. Williams (Aug 7, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> It usually grows by at least a few thousand words, so I'm betting I'll end up over 60k.
> 
> Here's the link to the day 12 vide0:
> 
> ...


It's nice to see your draft grows some during the editing process. I've been thinking I'm the only person who doesn't cut a ton of stuff out. 

Congratulations on finishing the first draft!!


----------



## jaehaerys (Feb 18, 2016)

RobCornell said:


> I've often heard there are two kinds of writers: Putter-Iners and Taker-Outers. Shakespeare was apparently a putter-iner, so you're in good company.  I'm a bit of a putter-iner, too. I get caught up in the dialogue and action and sometimes forget to put in setting and character introspection.


Pretty cool, there's two categories of writers I'd never heard of before putter-inners and taker-outers. So, soon we'll use an x and y graph in our signatures to identify our writing personas - put PI and TO on each end of the y axis and Plotters and Pantsers on each end of the x axis.

So, you could be in the lower left quadrant as a putter-inner pantser, or upper right quadrant as a taker-outer plotter.

Meh...maybe I've put too much thought into this.


----------



## Matthew Stott (Oct 22, 2014)

J.T. Williams said:


> It's nice to see your draft grows some during the editing process. I've been thinking I'm the only person who doesn't cut a ton of stuff out.
> 
> Congratulations on finishing the first draft!!


Mine grow too. I do cut stuff, but always end up developing and adding in more.


----------



## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Matthew Stott said:


> Mine grow too. I do cut stuff, but always end up developing and adding in more.


Same here. 

Congrats, Chris! I'm so curious about your editing process, more so than I was about drafting.


----------



## Gator (Sep 28, 2012)

Congrats, Chris!  I'm looking forward to the next steps.


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## Lysandra_Lorde (Mar 6, 2016)

Just wanted to pop in (hey my first post) and say I watched your first few days. Really inspiring and awesome stuff Chris, wish I could write / work as hard as you do, you really have your stuff down!


----------



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Lysandra_Lorde said:


> Just wanted to pop in (hey my first post) and say I watched your first few days. Really inspiring and awesome stuff Chris, wish I could write / work as hard as you do, you really have your stuff down!


Welcome to the boards, Lysandra!

Here's Day 13, the first editing video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfbpLmJxvXo&feature=em-upload_owner


----------



## 鬼 (Sep 30, 2012)

RobCornell said:


> I've often heard there are two kinds of writers: Putter-Iners and Taker-Outers. Shakespeare was apparently a putter-iner, so you're in good company.  I'm a bit of a putter-iner, too. I get caught up in the dialogue and action and sometimes forget to put in setting and character introspection.


This is me, too. I also find that when I do re-read of the previous chapter to get back into the right headspace that the next time I write, I edit as I go, but I also start writing some of these things.


----------



## JalexM (May 14, 2015)

鬼 said:


> This is me, too. I also find that when I do re-read of the previous chapter to get back into the right headspace that the next time I write, I edit as I go, but I also start writing some of these things.


Same. When I sprint I'm oddly detached from the characters, so I have to go back and add some character in it.


----------



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

oakwood said:


> Been reading the first draft and it's shockingly coherent and clean compared to my stuff, which isn't even done while mega-sprinting. Good job!
> 
> Did you have a specific demographic group in mind from the start (age / gender / space-opera first time readers or hardcore SF maniacs / star war fans vs star trek / etc. etc) ?


Thanks, Oakwood. The first draft has some serious issues, but I always make sure my drafts are clean. People assume speed disallows quality, and I'm trying to prove that isn't the case. I write fast, and clean.

I do have a demographic in mind. That's touched upon in Write to Market, and will be further explored in Launch to Market.

Here's the day 14 video. My hair is awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z93l839O6R8


----------



## X. Aratare (Feb 5, 2013)

Chris,

When do you (or do you at all) line up ARC reviewers and the like?  Do you have an email list that you are letting know about Destroyer?  And what things, if any, are you doing and in what time frame to get them excited for the book's release?

Thanks!  Having a lot of fun watching your journey.


----------



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

X. Aratare said:


> Chris,
> 
> When do you (or do you at all) line up ARC reviewers and the like? Do you have an email list that you are letting know about Destroyer? And what things, if any, are you doing and in what time frame to get them excited for the book's release?
> 
> Thanks! Having a lot of fun watching your journey.


That's a whole separate thread, which I'll start after the challenge is over =)

I have a detailed launch plan, and I'll be video documenting the whole thing just like I'm doing for the writing and editing.

Mailing lists are a prong of my launch, but only one prong.


----------



## X. Aratare (Feb 5, 2013)

Chris Fox said:


> That's a whole separate thread, which I'll start after the challenge is over =)
> 
> I have a detailed launch plan, and I'll be video documenting the whole thing just like I'm doing for the writing and editing.
> 
> Mailing lists are a prong of my launch, but only one prong.


Awesome! Thanks!


----------



## Anonymously Anonymous (Sep 25, 2015)

March 8th, Day 15:


----------



## Anonymously Anonymous (Sep 25, 2015)

Chris, How do you find/what is your process in finding images to go with your characters?


----------



## Audiobook Reviewer (Mar 8, 2016)

Chris,
I have been following your progress, just not here  

Anyway, I think it is a pretty amazing thing you are doing here. I can't wait to read the final product.


----------



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Anonymously Anonymous said:


> Chris, How do you find/what is your process in finding images to go with your characters?


I just run Google searches. So for the Tigris characters I searched for lions and snow leopards. For Nolan I searched 'handsome beard'.



Audiobook Reviewer said:


> Chris,
> I have been following your progress, just not here
> 
> Anyway, I think it is a pretty amazing thing you are doing here. I can't wait to read the final product.


Thanks, Paul! I'm having Ryan do the narration on this one as well =D

Here's the video for day 16, the first day of the final re-write:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiR4QW4TFuI


----------



## MinnieC (Feb 19, 2016)

Chris, I'm playing catch up and just started watching the videos. Absolutely loving following your progress. It's really fascinating to see someone else's process in this much detail because I think as writers lots of us sit there on our own, in our own little workspaces, trying to work out a method that suits us best but because writing is so solitary we don't often get an insight like this as to exactly how other people do it. Not that there is one method for everyone, of course, but it's just really interesting and potentially helpful to see how other people go about the creative process.

Also, I've had Scrivener for ages, done the tutorials and so on and liked it, but ended up going back to Word because I just wasn't using any of the features of Scrivener and returned to what was familiar. So it's been very helpful to see how you've outlined and made notes in Scrivener and how useful it can be when it's used more fully.

Because I'm late watching the videos (I'm just up to Day 4 and have just signed up to your mailing list today) I was wondering if there's a way I can still get the Scrivener document and the first draft you sent out?


----------



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

MinnieC said:


> Because I'm late watching the videos (I'm just up to Day 4 and have just signed up to your mailing list today) I was wondering if there's a way I can still get the Scrivener document and the first draft you sent out?


If you reply to any of the emails you've gotten from the challenge I can shoot that right over, along with the complete rough draft.



RobCornell said:


> Do you set goals for your editing like you set word goals for the first draft? Is it a certain number of chapters a day? (You mention doing 10-12 a day, so I'm thinking that's probably your metric.) Also, are you putting in the same amount of hours during edits as you were during first draft? I think you said around 2 hours during first-draft writing? Finally (I promise this is it), you talk about editing sprints in 5KWPH. Are you doing sprints with this editing?
> 
> Cheers!


My editing quota is 10,000 words a day, and yes I run them as sprints. Some days that's easier than others, depending on how much re-writing I have to do. Today I re-wrote several chapters from scratch, so it took longer. I finished up around 11:15 am. In general, I spend around the same amount of time editing as I do writing.


----------



## Tony_A20 (Dec 8, 2011)

Hello Chris,

You could start your editing with the title of this thread.

While "onto" is a contraction that has been used since colonial times in America, it is meant to express position, while "on to" has always been used to express the idea of "towards" or "onward," which I'm sure is what you wanted to say.

There's always a nit-picker in the crowd isn't there?


----------



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Tony_A20 said:


> Hello Chris,
> 
> You could start your editing with the title of this thread.
> 
> ...


I bet you don't think it's all right to use alright, either. Every time I use it an Oxford comma dies? 

You're right, it's grammatically incorrect. See my chapter in Write to Market on using the Pareto Principle in your publishing.

Edit: I don't really use alright, but only because my fiancee won't let me. No Oxford commas were harmed in this post.


----------



## lilywhite (Sep 25, 2010)

It's worth pointing out that that's a proofreader-level error, and your proofreader would have caught it if this were a book you were going to publish--as opposed to, say, an informal message board post that you're generously writing in time you've eked out from a very, very busy life.

Thanks for keeping us posted, Chris.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

A gentle comment to members that it's part of forum culture to ask for the grammar and spelling police to be off duty when it comes to forum discussion posts (not to be confused with vendor threads, especially those of editors, where it's fair game). Thanks, Chris and lily for handling this with good grace.

Betsy

_Edited for clarity. Sorry for any confusion._


----------



## Anonymously Anonymous (Sep 25, 2015)

March 10, Day 17: 




Chris, Fun tip about adding the character pics. It took me most of yesterday and a bit of today to find and insert them, but I love that I can now click over to get a visual as I write.


----------



## Anonymously Anonymous (Sep 25, 2015)

March 11, Day 18:


----------



## Anonymously Anonymous (Sep 25, 2015)

March 12, Day 19 



March 13, Day 20 



March 14, Day 21


----------



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Thanks for posting the links, Anonymous.

I did it. I've completed this challenge. I have a novel I'm proud of, one that is written to market, and that I believe will sell very well. All of this took just three weeks, and as you've seen in this thread I documented the entire process. 

Along the way I learned that I loved recording video, and my Youtube channel was born. I'll be doing 2 videos a week going forward. The first two topics covered will be launching to market (to cover the release for Destroyer), and a plotting / outlining series since so many people requested that.

Thank you so much for all the support and encouragement. This is a seminal moment. I now see exactly what's possible as an author, and 2016 is going to be a very big year for me.


----------



## Anonymously Anonymous (Sep 25, 2015)

> Thanks for posting the links, Anonymous.


You're welcome. Thank you for creating this series.


----------



## Mari Oliver (Feb 12, 2016)

Congratulations, Chris! It's been fun keeping up with your thread and I wish you a great launch with Destroyer. And uh...also big time congratulations on your engagement! I just recall you saying she was your girlfriend before...not stalking you. Promise.


----------



## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Chris Fox said:


> Thanks for posting the links, Anonymous.
> 
> I did it. I've completed this challenge. I have a novel I'm proud of, one that is written to market, and that I believe will sell very well. All of this took just three weeks, and as you've seen in this thread I documented the entire process.
> 
> ...


HUGE congrats, Chris! You totally nailed it!!! *throws confetti*

You know, it was a question of time until you took to podcasting on your own, since you always did great as a guest.


----------



## A Woman&#039;s Place Is In The Rebellion (Apr 28, 2011)

Congrats, Chris. Just watched the final video. It's been fun following along, especially because I'm finishing up edits on a 60k book. You beat me, though. Mine will take a few more days.


----------



## harker.roland (Sep 13, 2014)

I have fallen seriously behind on watching. I think I bottomed out at Day 10, but have found all of this to be hugely inspirational Chris. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule with your own career to give advice and guidance to us.


----------



## X. Aratare (Feb 5, 2013)

So glad that you're going to keep putting out videos, Chris!  It is so inspiring and you are a great teacher!


----------



## Bbates024 (Nov 3, 2014)

Very nice! I can't wait to see how the book does on Amazon.


----------



## sela (Nov 2, 2014)

Congrats and cheers, Chris! I looked forward every day to watching your video and will watch your upcoming series as well! Can't wait to read it!


----------



## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. I'm pretty excited to see how Destroyer does.

I read the first 20 chapters today, just sat around with my iPad binge reading. I think the book is one of, if not the, strongest book I've written.

Tomorrow I start the prequel (reader magnet), and then move into Launch to Market. I'm really beginning to grasp the power of fast publishing, especially after you have a little bit of a platform.


----------



## garyjonas (Feb 24, 2013)

Congratulations on finishing the book!  I couldn't sleep the other night, so I binge-watched the videos to get caught up.  From that point on, I kept up with them on YouTube.  It was inspirational!  And changing the cover when you were so far along definitely surprised me.  Can't wait to see how Destroyer launches.  Write on!


----------



## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Congrats! I was keeping up but I fell behind. I have to go back and watch some videos.


----------



## jaehaerys (Feb 18, 2016)

Yay, Chris! Really looking forward to your plotting/outlining vids!


----------



## batmansero (Oct 10, 2014)

Hi Chris, first up congrats on getting it all done. Keen to see the rankings over the next 30 days.

Question: in the day 0 video you mentioned that through wizardry you had your app on your Mac...I think you can guess already what the question is but, will you be making this available to the public? I'd love to have the app on my Mac. I have a dumbphone and an old ipod that doesn't like the app. So, pretty please?


----------



## A Woman&#039;s Place Is In The Rebellion (Apr 28, 2011)

Chris Fox said:


> Tomorrow I start the prequel (reader magnet), and then move into Launch to Market. I'm really beginning to grasp the power of fast publishing, especially after you have a little bit of a platform.


So you're publishing Destroyer first, then the reader magnet/prequel later on? Did I miss the publishing plan or have you not discussed yet?


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Augusta Blythe said:


> So you're publishing Destroyer first, then the reader magnet/prequel later on? Did I miss the publishing plan or have you not discussed yet?


I haven't discussed it yet, as I figured that was worthy of its own thread. The reader magnet will be released at the same time as book 1. I'm not going to list Exiled (the prequel) on Amazon, but it will be available for mailing list subscribers. I'm hoping that offering it exclusively will entice more subscribers.



batmansero said:


> Question: in the day 0 video you mentioned that through wizardry you had your app on your Mac...I think you can guess already what the question is but, will you be making this available to the public? I'd love to have the app on my Mac. I have a dumbphone and an old ipod that doesn't like the app. So, pretty please?


Through the challenge I discovered that I really enjoy having the app running on my Mac. That way, I can turn my phone off which is great for minimizing distractions. I'll be cranking out a Mac version this year, and plan to have it ready in the fall. My fiancee is an engineer as well, and she's agreed to make the Windows version. I still can't do Android, but we think we can hit every other platform.



Ken Ward said:


> Yay, Chris! Really looking forward to your plotting/outlining vids!


I recorded the first section of the first outlining video about 10 minutes ago. I'm walking through the plotting for the prequel =)


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## sela (Nov 2, 2014)

Chris you are so inspirational. I hope to replicate your process in the fall when I write my own first SF novel.  I'll be eagerly waiting for Launch To Market as well. Keep it up! We all benefit from your travails and experiences.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

Congrats and well done.


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## Veronica Sicoe (Jun 21, 2015)

Sela said:


> Chris you are so inspirational. I hope to replicate your process in the fall when I write my own first SF novel. I'll be eagerly waiting for Launch To Market as well. Keep it up! We all benefit from your travails and experiences.


Couldn't agree more! And I'll be trying to burn through a full draft with my next novel, too.


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## harker.roland (Sep 13, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> Through the challenge I discovered that I really enjoy having the app running on my Mac. That way, I can turn my phone off which is great for minimizing distractions. I'll be cranking out a Mac version this year, and plan to have it ready in the fall. My fiancee is an engineer as well, and she's agreed to make the Windows version. I still can't do Android, but we think we can hit every other platform.


I see we finally wore you down


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## Vinny OHare (May 3, 2013)

Chris do you have any idea how many people also completed their books in this time period? I am sure you got some great emails from writers.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Vinny OHare said:


> Chris do you have any idea how many people also completed their books in this time period? I am sure you got some great emails from writers.


The only person I know who completed their book (and the challenge) was Kevin. A lot of people cranked out a ton of words though. Many had 50k or more by the 21 day mark.

I was really surprised by the number of people who stepped up and did this right along side me.



Sela said:


> Chris you are so inspirational. I hope to replicate your process in the fall when I write my own first SF novel. I'll be eagerly waiting for Launch To Market as well. Keep it up! We all benefit from your travails and experiences.


I cannot wait to read your SF, Sela =D


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## JalexM (May 14, 2015)

Congrats Chris on making your goal!
I did the challenge along with you but only hit 32k words because of work.
I haven't watched any of your videos but plan to when I finish my first draft.


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## Jim Johnson (Jan 4, 2011)

Congrats, Chris! So cool to see you, me, Kevin, Domino, and everyone else putting this stuff on kboards for all to share. I love the indie community--many of us learned from the pre-2011-2013ish crowd and we're carrying the learning forward. Best wishes for success to us all, and to all the prawns and newbies yet to come who will stumble on all this great data on kboards and be overwhelmed.


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## hardnutt (Nov 19, 2010)

Vinny OHare said:


> Congrats! I was keeping up but I fell behind. I have to go back and watch some videos.


+1

So much to do . . .so little time.


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## Salvador Mercer (Jan 1, 2015)

Congrats Chris!  Yeah, I fell behind your blistering pace, but wow, I got 37k words down in those 3 weeks and the daily updates really helped to motivate me to write something everyday. I'd say this is a good example where failing wasn't really that bad when compared to prior months (where I went most of December without a single word written). 

Looking forward to seeing it published now!


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Salvador Mercer said:


> Congrats Chris! Yeah, I fell behind your blistering pace, but wow, I got 37k words down in those 3 weeks and the daily updates really helped to motivate me to write something everyday. I'd say this is a good example where failing wasn't really that bad when compared to prior months (where I went most of December without a single word written).
> 
> Looking forward to seeing it published now!


It's funny how an arbitrary deadline can get you moving again with the writing. 37k in three weeks time is awesome, especially if you hadn't been writing. Nice work, Sal.


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## ufwriter (Jan 12, 2015)

Incredible challenge, Chris. It's amazing to see how much can get done when you really put your mind to it. Can't wait to see how this goes when it launches!


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## CM Raymond (Jun 28, 2015)

Chris Fox said:


> My fiancee is an engineer as well, and she's agreed to make the Windows version. I still can't do Android, but we think we can hit every other platform.


Yes!!


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

CadyVance said:


> Incredible challenge, Chris. It's amazing to see how much can get done when you really put your mind to it. Can't wait to see how this goes when it launches!


I have high hopes. I had a top selling SF author read it, and he offered to blurb it. I've had another willing to mention it to his list, which I'm extremely grateful for. Even my line editor said it's better than my previous work =)

I can't wait to document the launch. The recording is so much fun.


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## Matthew Stott (Oct 22, 2014)

Hey Chris, something that has been tickling at me since hearing about your next non-fic book, Launch To Market. That's documenting this books launch, right..? Do you have a plan for that if the launch doesn't quite go to plan? Say it just does okay, or even drops like a stone for some reason? Obviously, regardless of doing all the right things, a book can still not quite find its audience. There's never a guarantee. Unless your name is Stephen King. Do you document that in the book or take another swing with the next series first?

(Also, does this mean I have my line editor back now?  )


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Matthew Stott said:


> Hey Chris, something that has been tickling at me since hearing about your next non-fic book, Launch To Market. That's documenting this books launch, right..? Do you have a plan for that if the launch doesn't quite go to plan? Say it just does okay, or even drops like a stone for some reason? Obviously, regardless of doing all the right things, a book can still not quite find its audience. There's never a guarantee. Unless your name is Stephen King. Do you document that in the book or take another swing with the next series first?
> 
> (Also, does this mean I have my line editor back now?  )


Launch to Market uses Destroyer as the example launch, but the principles it teaches are applicable regardless of how well Destroyer does. I draw on the things that worked with my previous books (No Such Thing As Werewolves, 5,000 Words Per Hour), and the things that didn't work.

Every time you launch any book it's a gamble. You can stack the deck in your favor with a great cover, and by writing to market. It's still very possible for a book to fail or do mediocre though. If Destroyer fails I'll analyze the launch and include that data in Launch to Market. I think that kind of transparency is important. The book failing would probably damage my credibility, but if it does I'll own that.


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## Darius Brasher (Feb 6, 2015)

Chris, I read Write to Market a couple of weeks ago, and it's having a big influence on how I'm outlining my next book. I can't wait to see how your book Destroyer does sales-wise. I know I will be reading it. Good luck, and thanks!


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## lilywhite (Sep 25, 2010)

Matthew Stott said:


> (Also, does this mean I have my line editor back now?  )


Boys! There's plenty of me to go around!

(Sadly, this is so true!)

Matthew, I'll be done with Chris today, then gotta finish up a last little bit of someone else that got left hanging mid-manuscript when my mum died last weekend, then you're up for mid-week! You'll have AH back by Friday night, whooo!


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## PJ_Cherubino (Oct 23, 2015)

lilywhite said:


> Boys! There's plenty of me to go around!
> 
> (Sadly, this is so true!)
> 
> Matthew, I'll be done with Chris today, then gotta finish up a last little bit of someone else that got left hanging mid-manuscript when my mum died last weekend, then you're up for mid-week! You'll have AH back by Friday night, whooo!


Very sorry to hear about your Mum. The 2-year anniversary of my Mother's passing was last month. It's not easy, but it does get better.

Hang in there.

PJC


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## lilywhite (Sep 25, 2010)

PJ_Cherubino said:


> Very sorry to hear about your Mum. The 2-year anniversary of my Mother's passing was last month. It's not easy, but it does get better.
> 
> Hang in there.
> 
> PJC


Thank you so much for your kind words, PJC. My mum had ovarian cancer for a decade and these last two years were hell for her--her weight dropped below 60 pounds and she had to have an emergency ileostomy in the fall of 2013. Her doctors gave up on chemo in June of 2014, and if I live to be a million years old I will never understand how she lasted nearly 2 more years. We lost my Gram (her mother) just before this past Christmas, and my mum had been saying for months now that she just wanted to go be with her Mom and Dad. So, while it's sad beyond imagining, there is also a very, very real kind of relief that she's no longer suffering. We made our peace and said our goodbyes quite some time ago.

My condolences on the loss of your mother. ((hug))


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## jaehaerys (Feb 18, 2016)

Chris Fox said:


> Launch to Market uses Destroyer as the example launch, but the principles it teaches are applicable regardless of how well Destroyer does. I draw on the things that worked with my previous books (No Such Thing As Werewolves, 5,000 Words Per Hour), and the things that didn't work.
> 
> Every time you launch any book it's a gamble. You can stack the deck in your favor with a great cover, and by writing to market. It's still very possible for a book to fail or do mediocre though. If Destroyer fails I'll analyze the launch and include that data in Launch to Market. I think that kind of transparency is important. The book failing would probably damage my credibility, but if it does I'll own that.


Hey, Chris - love reading and watching your progress. Just noticed you've changed your book cover, if you don't mind my asking, what prompted that change? Thanks, I'm learning tons from your approach, and looking forward to reading Launch to Market. Cheers.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Ken Ward said:


> Hey, Chris - love reading and watching your progress. Just noticed you've changed your book cover, if you don't mind my asking, what prompted that change? Thanks, I'm learning tons from your approach, and looking forward to reading Launch to Market. Cheers.


I talk about the cover switch in a few of the later videos. The short version is that as amazing as the first one was, the thumbnail was too dark. It was great. It just wasn't perfect.

The new cover is much, much stronger. Especially the thumbnail. It was expensive, but worth it.

The old cover is being used for a prequel story I'm using as a reader magnet.


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## YoMama (Jan 27, 2015)

Chris Fox said:


> The book failing would probably damage my credibility


Failing books don't seem to bother another author who sells a book blurb package...


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## Matthew Stott (Oct 22, 2014)

Chris Fox said:


> Launch to Market uses Destroyer as the example launch, but the principles it teaches are applicable regardless of how well Destroyer does. I draw on the things that worked with my previous books (No Such Thing As Werewolves, 5,000 Words Per Hour), and the things that didn't work.
> 
> Every time you launch any book it's a gamble. You can stack the deck in your favor with a great cover, and by writing to market. It's still very possible for a book to fail or do mediocre though. If Destroyer fails I'll analyze the launch and include that data in Launch to Market. I think that kind of transparency is important. The book failing would probably damage my credibility, but if it does I'll own that.


Cool; and I'm sure you'll have nothing to worry about in the end anyway, I have a feeling the book will do pretty well!


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## jaehaerys (Feb 18, 2016)

Chris Fox said:


> I talk about the cover switch in a few of the later videos. The short version is that as amazing as the first one was, the thumbnail was too dark. It was great. It just wasn't perfect.
> 
> The new cover is much, much stronger. Especially the thumbnail. It was expensive, but worth it.
> 
> The old cover is being used for a prequel story I'm using as a reader magnet.


Cool, thanks for replying to what, in hindsight, was a pretty intrusive question - sorry.  And what a great idea to use that cover for the prequel.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Ken Ward said:


> Cool, thanks for replying to what, in hindsight, was a pretty intrusive question - sorry.  And what a great idea to use that cover for the prequel.


I thought it was a great question. I made a thread with more details about the cover switch. =)


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## lilywhite (Sep 25, 2010)

Chris Fox said:


> The new cover is much, much stronger. Especially the thumbnail. It was expensive, but worth it.


Have to confess, I doubted you on this one. The old one seemed good enough to me.

Turns out, good enough isn't enough. You were right. This image is way better in thumbnail.


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## Craig Andrews (Apr 14, 2013)

Hey Chris, I came across this late but couldn't have found it at a better time. I've got a deadline in two months and haven't even completed my first draft, let alone the second, or the polish, and was faced with either rescheduling my editing appointment for September (the earlier they have an opening) or finding a way to get it done. Your videos showed me it was more than possible, and as a result I've had a great two weeks of writing. So thank you! Can't wait to see what happens when you release Destroyer--I'll definitely be picking up a copy!


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## angela65 (Oct 8, 2014)

Got behind watching the videos, but have binge watched them all the last two days. You're a great motivational teacher and inspiration. I look forward to the rest of your videos and books.


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## Chris Fox (Oct 3, 2014)

Thanks, Angela (and Craig). I'll have another video out tomorrow =)


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## EricaRidesDragons (Mar 21, 2016)

Grats!  I want to do it now!


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## AnitaLouise (Feb 12, 2012)

Wow!   That's amazing. Congrats.


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