Death caps and exploding angels! I can’t read that phrase without a Scottish accent. The first time I heard of those mushrooms was reading a book called Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. Then on a trip driving all around the western United States, my family decided to listen to a book on tape (yes I do mean tape, the kind you had to rewind to the beginning when you were done). The narrator used a Scottish accent for the brownie character who was obsessed with mushrooms, Sorrel. She was and still is my favorite character from the book and just like her, I have a feeling, mushrooms will become a recurring theme in my life. If nothing else, they are heavily featured in my current WIP (work in progress) that I have named Mushroom Dragon (though that is likely not its last name or even close to it.)
PROGRESS BAR
This month has been a little bit strange as most Februarys are. Though only 3 days shorter than most months, it has flown by. For this particular February, I ended up working almost exclusively on one project, which with my ADHD is a feat in and of itself. Over 39k words of my over 41k words, this month was on one singular project (both drafting and outlining. I will have to do a post on my process in the future). My first draft of Mushroom Dragon is sitting right around 35k words which are about where I wanted to be with it. I had hoped that 35k would be closer to the midpoint but I have pushed it to a YA book rather than MG so I imagine it will be between 90-100k words and not the 70k I imagined when I began drafting.
My plans change often as both a result of the nature of art and artistry and also because my mind tries to go off in many different directions at once (and sometimes succeeds). It is almost a full-time job keeping myself on task and on track with my writing. In the end, my stubbornness won out and I was able to focus on my primary project with only a couple of short brainstorming snippets for my next projects (which I will discuss in the “Beyond” section of this post).
THE HARD TRUTH
I can’t do it all and no day, week, or month will be golden. As I’m writing this right now, I am feeling burnt out. That’s why I am writing this. For some reason, when the fantasy words don’t come, I am still able to write non-fiction. The two forms of writing reside in different parts of my brain, but even still, there has been a lot of starting and stopping and I could fall asleep right now if I tried even a little bit.
I’m struggling with this draft. I’m not struggling with getting words on the paper. I’m struggling to keep myself from ripping up the paper and starting again. The problem is I need a first draft to get to a second draft. The fact that I see how bad the writing is, is actually a good thing. It means I know what to fix. However, it’s still tough to get through and I am in the muddy middle which is hard for any piece. I know where I’m going. I know the end of the book. In fact, I know the end of the series, but that doesn’t really matter yet. What matters is just getting the words down and having a draft to edit.
I slowed down writing the last few days. I could have pushed to hit 100k for the year but it wasn’t worth it. I needed the break, so I only wrote 100 words yesterday, went through my memory box of notes and pictures, and walked 3 miles at the gym. It was just what I needed. I feel refreshed to start March and tackle the muddy, and sometimes bloody, middle.
THE GOOD
I know who my characters are now, and that is the first thing I am going to focus on in my second draft. In fact, I’ve already started writing down the little bits of dialogue and description that fit my characters. I could only get to know my characters well, by writing them poorly as I tell myself the story. The second draft should really show who they are. I know who my characters are because I know who they aren’t.
The first draft (of this book because they are all different in how they form) is very commercial and lacks description. That is okay because I can add my voice and description in the second draft. This draft is simply to tell myself the story, get the nuanced plot down, and show the world I am creating. That is more than enough to attempt in one draft, believe me. I’ve answered many questions that I couldn’t in the worldbuilding and outlining phases. There are so many things that can only surface when I walk beside my characters and see what is going on in the world around them or even how the world works. It’s the first step of problem-solving that is required throughout the who process of getting a manuscript to print.
READING, RESEARCH, AND RELAXATION
I am one of those people who finds it very difficult to relax (call it ADHD, Autism, or Anxiety. Take your pick). There are always so many things to do, especially since I have a full-time job and treat writing, at a bare minimum like a part-time job but most likely closer to a full-time job. That means most of my reading comes in the form of research and I rarely finish the books I read.
I’ve been working my way through The Night Circus for over a month now but I’ve gotten so distracted by my non-fiction reads that I’ve neglected it. Those non-fiction reads include The Hidden Habits of Genius by Craig Wright, Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake, and The Fifth Kingdom (which is a mycological textbook). I am enjoying all of them and like always, it takes me a long time to finish a book because I often pick writing over reading (I’m not a fast reader either) and I read many books at once, so I don’t get very far in any of them.
The problem with being a writer is that writing occupies much of the same space as reading does. This means I have to choose and most of the time I choose writing.
GOALS FOR NEXT MONTH
As I mentioned in my progress section, I am fast approaching the halfway mark of my current WIP. I’m not sure what the exact word count of the midpoint will be but I know the moment and I’m between 3 and 6 chapters away from that. My goal is to finish this draft by the end of March and I am still on track to do so. However, it will be a heavy drafting month if I end up going closer to 100k words for this draft. I’m hoping for 90k, which would mean I need 55k new draft words in March which is still more than January. I am okay with finishing this draft in the first week of April if need be. It really depends on the middle because the end should go fairly fast.
BEYOND
Once I finish this first draft, I will make any notes I want to remember and then put the book aside for a month or so. During that time I will work on another project that I call Alexandria (which is the MC’s name). I already have a first draft because this was the second book I wrote to completion. However, it needs a lot of reworld-building and outlining. So, that is what I plan to work on in April and probably part of May. I am very excited to get back to this project but I imagine it will be almost a full rewrite. The first thing I will do with Alexandria is a readthrough, though I have a lot of comments from my writing group already.
Once I finish the Alexandria outlining and worldbuilding, I will go back to Mushroom Dragon and do a readthrough and revise. Once this is done, I will submit it to my writing group which should take two and a half months or less. I will be bouncing back and forth between Mushroom Dragon and Alexandria throughout the majority of the year so I will get fewer new words as I get further in the year. That is part of why I’ve frontloaded so heavily on drafting because I know so much revision is coming up.
I’ve already written almost half as much as last year in just the first two months of this year. I am super excited about my projects even though they drive me crazy sometimes. Thank you for sticking around to read this update and considering subscribing to my newsletter through the homepage of this website. Any publishing news will go through my newsletter and I might put these updates there as well at some point.
