Hello hello! I'm back again, after taking last Friday off to binge-watch Shadow & Bone. Which I did, gleefully. Excellent use of literally an entire day; I love it so much, I've already started to watch it again.
But we're not here to talk about that! We're here to talk about writing! Which I did a lot of this month! But now Camp NaNoWriMo is coming to a close (how is it almost May already what the hell), so I thought I'd share my progress from this month and a few things I learned along the way.
So, I started April with the intention of finally drafting my Necromancer Book, but after the first week of struggling to get more than a hundred words on the page, I realized that was not going to work. My brain wasn't in the mood for drafting. So I set that godforsaken WIP aside, and instead turned to my completed first draft of my book TRUTHSEEKER. Diving into a round of revisions of that book ended up being a great use of my NaNo energy. I was productive without wanting to stab my brain every day. I flew through a second draft of this WIP and ended up with a much more polished version where the plot actually makes sense and there aren't quite as many inconsistencies. It still needs some work to make the words pretty and sprinkle in those good good worldbuilding details, but I feel so much better about the story now. I plan to let it marinate for a few more months while I work on some other stuff, and then I'll return to it when it starts bugging me to write it again.
I got through my second draft of TRUTHSEEKER by April 20, so for the past ten days I've been slowly getting into what I can only refer to as the Secret WIP (bc it's a secret, shh). This book had kind of a rough start, but it's getting better! I just hit 15k in it, and I'm finally getting into the meat of the plot that I've been excited about since I first outlined this book. So I'm finishing out NaNo with this one, and then it'll be my main focus for May and June too. I'm aiming for a complete draft at 100k (kind of a stretch goal but you never know) by the end of June. Now that my semester's ending, I think that'll be a doable feat!
I've said this a hundred times, but NaNoWriMo really does wonders for my productivity. Tracking my progress every day keeps me accountable, and encourages me to get at least some words on the page. And I do love a challenge! There's no better feeling than hitting that word count goal at the end of the month. But I have this terrible habit of feeling lousy if I don't write, or if I struggle with a project and don't end up hitting my goal. But that's ridiculous, because writing is hard and life gets in the way and sometimes it's just not the right time for a certain project (*side-eyes my Necromancer Book*).
My mistake this month was trying to work on three projects simultaneously, as I drafted Secret WIP and revised TRUTHSEEKER and also poked at Necromancer Book. My logic there was that if one thing wasn't working on a given day, I could turn to the others and still feel productive. But switching my brain over from one plot to the other and back ended up being less productive, because by the time I got going on one of them, I had to stop and go to work or do something else. Trying to divide my attention between three projects made it so that none of them got my full attention. As much as I like to pretend I enjoy multitasking, I truly do better when one project is my focus for the duration of the month.
So what's next? Like I said earlier, my focus for the next two months is Secret WIP, which I already know is going to kick my butt, but I really want to get a full draft down so I can revise it and my life will be easier. I'm determined to crack this one!
After that, well... it'll need revisions, and then TRUTHSEEKER needs revisions and two sequels, and then there's Necromancer Book, and then there's another new idea rattling around in my head that I'd love to fast-draft this summer if the braincells allow. We'll see. I'm not committing to any certain schedule; what I work on depends on what I'm most excited about at the time. But I'm excited to see where the next few months bring me!
Now for some other updates...
What I'm Reading: I am literally still in a reading slump and it's the WORST!! I'm working my way through Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko, which I actually need to read faster because I have to finish it by next week for class. I do enjoy it a lot, I just have had 0 motivation to read lately. I'm also getting into Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley, and Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli is sitting here on the table waiting for me to start it. On the indie side, I started Amulet of Wishes by Rita A. Rubin, which I'm loving so far, and I just finished Futures, Friends, and Other Firsts by Amara J. Lynn, which was such a sweet little story!
It looks like I'm reading so much but it doesn't FEEL like it!! I miss zooming through books in a matter of days!! What happened to that energy?? Someone re-teach me how to read please!!
Okay, rant over. I think that's about all I've got today, but watch this space (and my socials) for some REALLY EXCITING THINGS coming up soon that may or may not have to do with The Oracle Stone. I can't say more than that yet, but 👀
In the meantime, The Oracle Stone is still only $0.99 on Kindle for the rest of today (April 30, until midnight)!! Grab it before the sale goes away!!!
See y'all next time!
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