Total Word Count: 16,448
Do you know what is terrible? My word count at the beginning of the day was 17,200. I write using Scrivener, which has never been an issue before. When I opened up the document today, I somehow made words disappear.
In Scrivener, there is a function where you can use your Project Targets and you have the option to set your target for the book as a whole (35,000 for this project)and your word count for the day (3,100 for today). I decided it would be interesting to instead change my total word count from the 35,000 to what it would be after I wrote 3,100. So, I typed in 20,300 and suddenly my word count dropped by 17,200 to 16,120-something! I tried to figure out what happened and frantically scrolled through my scenes. I didn’t notice any missing. So, I tried to set it back to 35,000 and nothing changed.
It was a little discouraging to start my writing day at a negative word count. I wrote a few hundred words then decided to take a step back.I was feeling frustrated, so I decided to listen to the newest Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast (not sponsored) on Youtube and do some reading for a critique swap I am doing.
As for the project itself, it is actually going really well. I decided to write whatever came to mind for my main character and found a pretty interesting way to finish getting from Point A to Point B. I have two side characters where I am able to bring the story back to reality a little and explore different personalities and perspectives.
The best thing about writing the final book in a trilogy is that every character has a back story in my mind. I’m not just thinking of a character that needs to complete a task, but I think of the character and their family. Their struggles from each book, where I want them to end up, what great victories will be able to overcome the sadness that followed them. And I realize that some of these characters have very little dialogue, but I still know them well. I hope that one day a reader will get to know them too.
I’m not done writing for tonight. I have two more scenes I want to make sure I get done, but I wanted to give an update before the holiday madness begins. I hope everyone gets their fill of pumpkin pies and mashed potatoes this year.
Happy Thanksgiving and good luck!

Thanks for the practical article. The points were helpful for readers comparing options and planning the next step. Ref bosp6h.