75,629 / 90,000 words written.
That was not my goal, so what to do now?
Well, here’s what actually happened:
I wrote a majority of my words over three days, which was about 22,000 per day. One day I wrote 600 words, another only about 3,000.
Friday night (technically Saturday as it was 2am) I finished the rough draft at about 67,000 words. A rough draft is rough because you then make changes.
It was halfway through my second day of heavy writing that I realized I hadn’t been doing descriptions. Not of the characters or rooms, or really any emotional attachment to anything. It was mainly dialogue and barebones.
So, I went back to the beginning and started adding it all in. I’ve only reached chapter nine in this endeavour, not even halfway through the book.
Reaching that 90,000 word count for this book is possible, I just have to backfill the stuff I skipped over because I knew it would slow me down. If I had done it, I would only be about 40,000 words and not know the end or the thread of plot through the book. I would have lost it.
Now that I’ve got it, I’m almost good to go. Yay.
Long nights and regular mornings can wear you out. If you want to try this yourself, you will need to figure out what writing method works best for you, and practice meeting the word count.
This was a stretch for me, I knew that. I did it to fill a staycation where I couldn’t afford to do anything or go anywhere. It was my break from reality, one that I planned so that when I woke up this morning for my day job, I didn’t feel dejected because I did nothing but play video games and drink.
Don’t get me wrong, those things still happened…
Halfway through the week, I realized that I had no plan in place to edit it. But I think I can place it in the edit spot for Seed as I’m not certain that will be done on time.
I should be working on that now, but two hours of sleep and a long day ahead of me. I need my wits, because I need my day job and there’s not much room for error today.
During my week off, yes, I was pretty well holed up with no contact with ‘real’ people. All I had, for the most part, was a writer chat that kept me company. They knew what I was planning, and called me crazy, but then cheered me on and participated in sprints when I was struggling to meet my word goal for the day.
Once I made that goal, I was pretty well set. I’d end up staying up another four to six hours and adding between six and ten thousand more words to the book.
I don’t think I could have managed it without that chat.
Anywho. Heading back to the day job today. Not enough sleep because of a combination of my sleep schedule for the past week and being a little manic of plans for marketing and such.
The one plus side of the late night is that I might have and line on the next D.o.t.A. book. Apparently Morgan is content without telling his story, so I’m not about to push him.
New Alphas, new city, with only one of the old crew making a brief appearance. It promises to be fun.
Aya DeAniege 