Every year has its ups and downs, but I think 2024 had more ups than downs. I continue in my joyful pursuit of each new story and even when it is difficult I enjoy the process (my accountability partner may disagree on this, but I’m afraid she gets much more of the commentary on what is going wrong than the joy I experience when it goes right). Storytelling truly is something I enjoy so much. I get to build upon the stories before me and pull new inspiration from my own thoughts and experiences. Creation is one of the purest activities and imagination is its own kind of magic. I use my magic daily.
Last year I talked about how I wrote 40k words of a manuscript then started over, wrote another 40k from the beginning, and then gave up on it. Well, history has a way of repeating itself, though I don’t intend to give up on the new manuscript. Cut Throat will end up as one of my crowning achievements, mark my words, but it will stretch me in the process. I wrote 13k then scrapped it all. Then I wrote about 50k and now I find myself going back to the drawing board yet again. But, I do not see it as a failure, merely a step along the way. A foil in the Fichtean curve of my story.
Did I Reach My Goals?
My main goal for the year was to finish and query Mushroom Dragon, draft one new manuscript, and write 1k a day on average. I succeeded on two out of three, which is better than I thought I’d done.
Mushroom Dragon has been querying for nearly the whole year and I’ve pretty much pulled the plug on it. The feedback I’ve gotten is that it is too long, which is not something I am willing to change as it would ruin the story. The only thing that has kept me from feeling too sad about tabling this project is that one of the agents was very clear in saying that Mushroom Dragon is too long to sell as a debut, which leaves it open to being published later when I have a couple of books under my belt already, and who knows, I might even make it longer and expand on things like my beta readers wanted.
I drafted one new manuscript, Project A, and nearly half of Cut Throat though it needs a heavy rewrite before I can finish it, so in some ways, I exceeded this goal. I am happy that I was able to keep up with this goal even with it being a shorter project.
The last goal was the one I had no chance of hitting this year. Drafting 1k words a day with all the revisions I end up having to do is a tall order. In truth, the number below is all added words (so including rewrite words added during revision). If I were to hit this goal that would mean drafting 365k words a year which is closer to four books than it is to three and I don’t expect to hit those numbers until I am writing full time. That being said, I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish in terms of word count, as I am working full-time now and this year was heavier on revision than in past years. Even with all that though, I do intend to keep with my 1k a day goal into 2025, but more than anything I want to beat this year’s word count total. If I can steadily build from here each year, I will be on track.
Monthly Stats
January
Wordcount: 18,698
Daily Average Word count: 603
Mainly: Rewriting (52.1%)
Main Project: Mushroom Dragon
February
Wordcount: 10,369
Daily Average Word count: 358
Mainly: Drafting (87.4%)
Main Project: Pixies (short story)
March
Wordcount: 8,976
Daily Average Word count: 289
Mainly: Brainstorming (53%)
Main Project: Cut Throat
April
Wordcount: 2,871
Daily Average Word count: 96
Mainly: Brainstorming (50.1%)
Main Project: Cut Throat
May
Wordcount: 17,554
Daily Average Word count: 566
Mainly: Drafting (82.1%)
Main Project: Project A
June
Wordcount: 24,663
Daily Average Word count: 796
Mainly: Drafting (91.4%)
Main Project: Project A
July
Wordcount: 21,069
Daily Average Word count: 680
Mainly: Drafting (71%)
Main Project: Project A
August
Wordcount: 13,619
Daily Average Word count: 439
Mainly: Drafting (100%)
Main Project: Project A
September
Wordcount: 13,582
Daily Average Word count: 453
Mainly: Drafting (89.9%)
Main Project: Cut Throat/Morgan Le Fay
October
Wordcount: 37,380
Daily Average Word count: 1205
Mainly: Drafting (80%)
Main Project: Cut Throat
November
Wordcount: 26,466
Daily Average Word count: 882
Mainly: Drafting (82.9%)
Main Project: Cut Throat
December
Wordcount: 19,093
Daily Average Word count: 615
Mainly: Drafting (82.7%)
Main Project: Cut Throat
Year Total: 214,340
How I’ve Grown and Developed as a Writer
In some ways, I feel as though I’ve ended the year worse off than I started it. I know that this is not actually true, but because of how much trouble I am having with Cut Throat, I worry. My belief is that this is a growth opportunity for me in terms of skill. However, my timeline is tightening and Cut Throat both needs and deserves more time. I would be doing a disservice to both the manuscript and myself if I don’t give it the time it deserves.
One of the women in my writing group and I have discussed how you feel the worst about your skill whenever you are being stretched and growing the most. She went through it with her last manuscript and I am going through it with Cut Throat. I know this means that Cut Throat will be a better manuscript than the last one, but I also realized I need to write a different project before I go back to it, which brought me to start working on Project B. Starting on Project B, which I finished the first chapter of yesterday, showed me that I was right about Cut Throat stretching me, but also showed me that it has grown more difficult to jump into drafting after finishing a solid fourth draft manuscript. I still enjoy drafting, but I find it more difficult to turn off the critic in my head. With Project B I can turn it off a bit more because it is a far simpler story and the vibes (which are details made up in drafting) are much more important than the deeper level worldbuilding. Project B is vibe heavy and Cut Throat is esoteric philosophy and metaphysics heavy. One of the two takes a lot more brainpower and thus a lot more time to get right.
In essence, I am learning about the difference between stories and genres and how each story affects my mental health and headspace. I have learned how to manage writing with a full-time job a bit better. And most importantly, I’ve written more books. That is the best way for me to develop as an author and the more I transition between books and revising and drafting, the more it will feel less fraught and more natural to me.
The Year Ahead
I’ve worked hard to plan out my next four years of writing (though I have left months here and there for unforeseen setbacks) and as it stands now I plan to write three and a half manuscripts in 2025. I plan to completely finish three of them through all stages of drafting (though one is Cut Throat which I’ve already written half of and needs a rewrite so it may be faster than usual, though I’m trying not to rush it.) and the half will be the one I will start but not finish. I know it is a lot to put on myself but I do believe I can do it.
Sometimes I forget how young of a writer I am. I expect myself to have it all figured out when in reality I am still extraordinarily new to all this. I’ve only gone through all drafts of revisions with two manuscripts, so I fully anticipate that I will get faster at that as I go along. Which means my goals and pace should become more and more realistic as I increase my skills over the coming year(s).
This year I am definitely ramping up my writing. Part of the reason I am doing this is because I feel pretty stable in my job and personal life and should all things remain the same it is fairly doable. That is not to say it won’t be a push for me, because it will. The other reason is that it is time for me to treat writing like a business, like a job. The only way I will get to write full-time is by writing as close to full-time as I am able. This means I will make some sacrifices, but in the end, it will be well worth it.
Conventions
I plan to go to two conventions this year, Boskone 62 and Seattle World Con. I attended Boskone 61 this year and had a blast. I got to meet my dream agent and talk with him for a while, and even though I felt like an absolute idiot, I did have fun. I met some editors and newer authors and other aspiring authors like myself. I went to interesting panels with interesting people. Mostly though everyone was extraordinarily nice and welcoming. It was a great opportunity to network, and I hope that I will be less anxious the second go around and thus be able to do more work in terms of building my authorial network.
While at Boskone, I was asked by multiple people if I was going to World Con in Glasgow, and unfortunately, I was not able to go for a multitude of reasons, but I did tell myself that I would do what I could to go to the next one. So, this year I will be at World Con in Seattle and I am about as scared as I am excited. My hope is that I can make some connections at Boskone that I can hang out with at World Con so I won’t feel lost as World Con is much bigger. The people that go to these cons are my kinds of people and are far less draining than other humans I’ve encountered.
Goals
- Write 365k words (aka write 1k a day on average)/beat 2024 word count
- Finish Cut Throat and start querying it.
- Write and revise Project B
- Write and revise Project C
- Start drafting Project Rose
There are a couple of other secret goals I have, but I won’t post them here because they are . . . well . . . secret.
Next Month
Now to focus in on January. (I do feel a bit bad for December because it doesn’t get its own blog, but to be fair I often don’t do a whole lot in December due to the holidays.) Moving into this next month I would love to draft all of Project B and get the year off to a great start. My goal for both Project B and Project C is to get them done in 4-6 weeks, which is tight but they are significantly easier and shorter so it is possible.
I have some back-burner things I am working on, music, art, etc. I dabble in some other areas, but drafting this manuscript is at the top of my to-do list. I am excited to see where this story takes me. I already like where it’s going after one chapter and it’s already forming into something a little different than I outlined. Which, to be fair, is highly usual. Take Cut Throat for an example. I’ve outlined it three times so far and it is still changing like water running through my fingers. That is part of the beauty of writing. Often, it tells you what it wants to be.
This year has been one of stability, something I’ve been lacking for quite a few years now. I am beyond grateful for that. I also know that I am in too deep. People talk about giving up on writing and doing something else. I don’t think I’d ever be able to do that. Writing is so much a part of who I am. It is not a thing I do, it is a thing I am. It makes me happy even when it frustrates me. When the ideas fall into place it brings me joy. Sometimes I lose my way, but I eventually come back to this beautiful thing I get to do.
I am ending the year in high spirits, with many accomplishments under my belt. Even with at least a hundred rejections this year, I am beyond happy. (in fact, that is another goal I have reached, collecting 100 rejections. Perhaps I should celebrate).
What I know, is that I am excited for the next story, and the next, and the next, and the one after that.
Happy New Year!
