It is amazing, even to me, that I am able to write more than 40k words in a month and still feel like I failed, but that’s where I’m at. I started off the month extremely strong and was averaging 2k words a day, every day of the week. Then I got the flu IN MAY! It felt like hitting a wall that was completely out of my control.
Progress Bar
I often set a low goal, end up hitting it early on in the month, and then set a larger goal. I did that this month. The problem was, I’d already shifted to the larger goal before I got the flu. That was almost a bigger problem than the flu itself. Sure, I couldn’t write because my brain was foggy and everything hurt, but the larger goal coming into conflict with the flu was the real issue.
I also did not hit 100k in my draft as I would have liked. I fell about 8k short, which can easily be accounted for by the flu. At the pace I was going that should have only been four days, however, I’m still not feeling back to 100% even now two and a half weeks later, so I shifted my goal back to 1k a day, and some days I still didn’t hit that. I am trying to see the accomplishment through what I deem a failure, but I’m not very good at that.
As I said, I didn’t get quite as far as I would have liked but I still did make some serious strides. I’m about halfway through my side stories’ arcs, and past the halfway mark in the main story and then some. I might write the ending a little quicker than I intended for the first draft since there are some bugs to work out earlier on and I may end up rewriting most of the ending anyway, but that remains to be seen.
I’ve also made some wonderful connections between my side stories and the main story, one in particular that I came up with today that ties a lot of loose threads together. It is amazing when your brain is able to catch up in those little in-between times like when you are about to fall asleep or are sitting on the toilet then the perfect connection pops into your brain. That is one of my favorite parts about writing when I’m so steeped in the story that my subconscious is able to give me such a gift.
Reading, Research, and Relaxation
This section leans heavily on research this month and I imagine it will lean heavily on research with a bit of complementary reading next month.
As I approach the end of my first draft and prepare for my second draft, I shift my focus toward research. When I started this novel I had one time period in mind, which my writing group quickly told me that wasn’t the vibe of the story at all, because of that I have pushed my story back in time and now must do more research, since the story is set exactly a century before my own life. I am also doing many things in my story that relies on various myths around the world, so that will be an ongoing study should I publish and continue with this series.
Goals for the Next Month
My big goal for next month is to finish this draft. This is definitely a very big goal. I would need to write anywhere between 30-50k drafting words which at the upper limit will easily make this the most written month of the year. However, I think I can do it (barring no more flu or other such illnesses). I am going back to part-time in mid-June and hopefully, that will give me an extra 6-8 hours of writing a week. For me, that is anywhere from an extra 3,000-12,000 words a week so that could make all the difference.
My small goal is still to write 1k per day but I will most likely push myself harder than that in order to finish this draft. I am also planning to take part in a 24-hour write-a-thon. However, I’m hoping to take a brief break from the novel to write some short stories. We will see how that goes too.
Beyond
Assuming I finish this novel next month, I will have a week or two before my writing group finishes critiques. If I write a couple of short stories, I’ll take this time to revise them. If I don’t have any already, I’ll write them then. Either way, I hope to have some short stories to give to my writing group after this novel. Then it’s straight into a hefty revision, much heftier than I had hoped and expected. This novel has gotten complicated and I want it to be the absolute best book it can possibly be, so if that means it takes an extra month I’ll take that necessary time.
All in all it’s been a rollercoaster of a month, but honestly, when isn’t it? I hope to increase my writing speed more, however, there are those who think I push myself too hard. Well, maybe I do. It’s also possible that this is the way I’ll succeed at writing. Either way, I get anxious when I don’t write. When I had the flu I was more concerned about not writing than anything else and there was only one day this month that I didn’t write any words. It might be insanity but at least it keeps me sane.
