I posted one update earlier this year, but now I must make the sad declaration: I will not reach this stretch goal in 2012. The "Meelion Word March" is dead.

To make this work, I needed to write 3,000 words a day for 333 days of the year (plus a bonus 1,000 somewhere). That's about 90,000 words a month. I fell behind early in January and February, and after a low word count in March it was all but finished. I thought I might rally later in the year, but my Eeevil Plan™ failed to take into account two major things: editing, and the tour.

Remember: editing doesn't count. If I edit, say, 80,000 words for the second draft of THE CRYPT: Book One, then that 80,000 doesn't count. Editing 80,000 words? Takes more than a day. Takes more than a week. All that time, no new words are being written.

Then, add in the 2012 Tour, both East Coast and West Coast. I've tried writing on tour, and it's a real bitch to make good stuff. I basically wrote nothing on tour. Seeing as we spent upwards of five weeks on tour, six weeks if you count Balticon, ComicCon and Dragon*Con, that's a lot of lost writing days. Frankly, I didn't take that into consideration when I did the initial math (because 3,000 words a day is very, very do-able, if that's all that you do.).

I just received Tha Shiv's notes for PANDEMIC's first draft. That means it's time for the second draft of PANDEMIC. There will be many new words in there, but I turned in 150,000 words (a 600-page novel) -- any edits to those existing 150,000 words will not count.

As we roll into October, I am 410,000 words behind where I should be. Therefore, it's time to admit defeat, throw in the towel, tap out, etc.

In 2013, maybe I'll make that the Half Meelion Word March and see if I can achieve the goal.

Here's my word count so far this year: