Fell for that "write every day" challenge and lost 3 months of real progress

Joined a 90 day writing sprint group online thinking it would kickstart my novel. All they wanted was word count goals no matter how bad the writing was. I churned out 50,000 words of pure garbage. Now I have to delete almost all of it and start over. Has anyone else had a writing group actually help them finish something decent?

3 comments

3 Comments

troyjackson1mo ago

Whoa wait, 50,000 words of garbage? That's insane lol. I get the idea behind pushing yourself but that group sounds like it was just feeding a bad habit. Honestly, I've heard way more horror stories than success stories from those daily word count cults. Maybe try a small critique group instead where you share one chapter a week and actually talk about what works instead of just counting words.

tessa_roberts11mo ago

Holy crap, 50,000 words of actual garbage? That's wild.

lisa_jones211mo ago

I get what you're saying but honestly some writers just need that pressure to break through their own blocks.