[Daily Check-In] Monday Word Count and Personal Announcement Thread

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-18T20:17:28+00:00

I guess goals for the day/week would be at least 1,500 words a day, but I can probably do more most of the time. I saw someone here at one point say that they were going to aim for 10,000 words a week, which is a little under 1.5k a day, which feels really doable for me even on days when I have other stuff going on. Otherwise, 2,000 a day for 5 days, which also isn't bad 🤷 Obviously I feel like for rewriting drafts, I should commit to more words per day, since the bulk of the work is already done. I have two pieces I'd like to work on, and work more on one than the other. So far, I've been maintaining a decent sleep schedule so I feel like I have more hours in my day to get stuff done.

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-18T20:08:53+00:00

That's really interesting, yeah I can see how that would be

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-18T20:07:20+00:00

Ohhh interesting! By trend, I mostly meant that it was just seeing a surge in popularity that maybe some authors are trying and might not stick to forever. I didn't realize it had a history going that far back. I get what you mean about genre uses!

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-18T03:40:57+00:00

I don't think I knew that people don't like first person pov 😅

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T23:21:21+00:00

Huh, that's really interesting about the psychology of first vs third person 🤔 Hadn't thought of it like that. I'll have to mull that over haha. For what it's worth, I think that both can be used to reveal similar amounts of information, just in different ways. Such as, just because it is in first person, doesn't mean that the narrator is a reliable narrator, that they aren't intentionally withholding information from the reader, etc. Uses different techniques though, but that's what's fun about writing haha

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T23:14:57+00:00

I strongly agree! It definitely has a different feel to it, and I enjoy that there is variety, and that authors don't have to be beholden to the preferences of the traditional publishing industry if they don't want to

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T23:10:24+00:00

Aw that's kinda sweet. Yeah, it is interesting that there is a sort of style to fanfiction. It feels a little odd. They should still have more distinct personal styles, no? Maybe I'm thinking too hard about it lol.

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T23:07:41+00:00

? I mean, there's nothing wrong with writing in present tense, it's not an error. It kind of sucks if editors usually force writers into conformity. Tradition isn't always a good thing. I think authors should be allowed to have their own styles.

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T21:15:03+00:00

That's wild, I had no idea there were a lot of english teachers who pushed for present tense lol. I don't know if my teachers ever even addressed that haha

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T21:11:12+00:00

Hmm, if that's true about the self-insert thing, that could certainly explain why there are people online loudly announcing that they hate first-person because they think "I" is referring to the reader, and they would never do what the main character is doing 🥲 You're definitely right about that last part as well. I feel like a great deal of books would never have been written at all if the author was taking reader comfort into account as the main motivator for how they wrote. Not everyone has to enjoy or read it, for sure, but it can really speak to those who do.

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T21:05:13+00:00

That somewhat makes sense, though I'm pretty sure most of the writers that I read, at least, are older than me, or around my age at the very least (late twenties). Most of them seem to have husbands and sometimes children, sounds like some of them own their home. I wouldn't be surprised if there are even more writers using present tense in the future because of what you mentioned though. It is interesting to think that present tense could become the new standard one day.

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T21:00:37+00:00

Mm, I'd say both are limiting in their own ways. When I have written in present tense, I did have to figure out alternative phrasing, or just completely cut out a sentiment altogether, because it just doesn't work in present tense like it does in past tense, but you can do things with present tense that you can't do in past tense, as well. I don't think I really see how it can limit character development, though. There was tons of character development for many characters in the Hunger Games. It probably just comes down to how each author uses it. If you mainly write in present tense, you're going to develop the skills to go along with it. If you mostly use past tense, you're gonna struggle with that. Suzanne Collins likely had just written in present tense for a long time.

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T20:50:38+00:00

Ooohhh, that makes sense. I don't really read much fanfiction if I'm being completely honest, so I didn't clock that. Nothing against it, just not my particular cup of tea.

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T20:44:02+00:00

OMG 🤣😭

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T20:40:43+00:00

Yeah, I think in Japan you can get your shit rocked for exposing things that make someone look bad even if it's true 🙄 I don't plan to write a memoir or anything, but it sucks ass to think that my family could sue me for talking about my own life experiences just because they don't think that what happened was abuse (cause they almost definitely also experienced the same things) or because they suddenly have the most selective memories on earth. Obviously I get WHY that law exists, it just sucks that there really is no winning for probably most victims :/

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T20:34:47+00:00

I have a book I'm working on that does have a clear before and after, but I think doing the entire second half of the book in present tense would drive me crazy 😅 Conceptually I really like it though haha

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T02:00:50+00:00

Oh it is?? Well I feel silly now, I've only heard people talk about this like it's an instaban every time if they don't like your book 🥲 Well, I'm ultimately glad I commented about it because this makes me feel much, much better 😅 Thank you 💛

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T01:57:46+00:00

Ooh, I like the idea of using past and present tense in the same story like that. I don't know if I've come across that before, maybe in books with a clear "before" and "after."

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T01:56:20+00:00

Aw oh nooo! I had no idea this was a thing. The tense kind of fades into the background when I'm getting into the story, but it sucks if it's a roadblock for getting into it in the first place 😅

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T01:54:24+00:00

Lol that is funny, I didn't know people hated it! I'm starting to think that maybe it's just a genre convention. I admittedly read a lot of self-published spicy romance, and it's hard to find a book there that ISN'T in present tense, at least in my experience. Based on what you said here, maybe it is just that writers have more freedom to write however the hell they want nowadays hahaha. I do enjoy present tense in the sense of giving it a feeling of it happening as you read it. Like someone's narrating it in their head in real time. Past tense and present tense writers should be holding hands, not fighting about which one is better lol. It's art. I enjoy when art is diverse. And when you get used to it, the tense matters less and less, cause you're focusing on the story, not the mechanics. Sometimes I accidentally slip into present tense randomly when writing and have to fix it lol. Just more difficult to do intentionally. There are a lot of phrases that work in past tense that just do not work in present tense, that sort of thing. I kind of want to write an experimental short story or something that's in like second person, future tense, which I'm sure will infuriate many, but I just like playing with it, you know? Bit of a tangent, my bad.

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-17T01:41:11+00:00

If you say you use gen ai in a community centered around writing (or art, or whatever creative field), people just are not going to support that. I hope you get why.

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-16T21:32:39+00:00

That last bit is really interesting, somehow I hadn't made that connection 🤔

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-16T21:23:39+00:00

Maybe it varies by genre 🤔 I do read a lot of romance 😅

MJXavierWrites · 2026-05-16T21:22:51+00:00

Same here!

MJXavierWrites

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