A little update on my manuscript: I didn’t finish on time. The last couple of days I put a lot of pressure on myself to finish by my deadline and that’s all I could think about and struggled with the next words. Coming off a vacation would hopefully leave me ready to finish the last 18K words.
Did I finish my novel on time?
No.
I originally planned to finish my novel Dec. 15. However, a graduate school application was due on the same date. In the beginning, I attempted to do both. It was a little stressful; I was trying to rewrite the beginning of Torque as well as finish the current draft.
So I decided it would be better concentrate on making my writing sample the best it could be. During my lunch break at work, I would hack away at it—mostly with editing, making sure I used the correct words and so on.
And those that read my previous post about school, know that it didn’t work out in my favor. So now, this brings me here: a couple of months into the year with a new deadline. March 28, 2018.
I’m thousands of words behind my writing schedule, according to the days I marked in the Scrivener app, which are Monday through Saturday. Sunday was intended as a rest day, but not so much now.
In order to combat this, I’ll be dedicating my mornings to writing sessions until the deadline. There will be a couple of days where this may not be possible, but I will make it work.
In the past, when I participated in NaNoWriMo, I journaled about how the sessions went and where I stopped if I had go somewhere. I thought it would be best to pick this little habit back up, just to document how this all went.
I decided to keep the short entries contained to my bullet journal near my new word count tracker.
I’m also taking the approach of writing in scenes and out of order. The scenes are things that have been on my mind for months or days and are easier to get down on the page. This allows me to fill in the blanks and spur motivations to link what’s written.
I should’ve started writing out of order months ago. I am a little over 94K words in, with about 40K to go. It’s a little overwhelming to think about, but I have scenes written down for the majority of my remains chapters.
When the deadline passes, I’ll make another blog post in April about how finishing my manuscript went.
In my head, I’ve kept up with my word count and I’m breezing along to finishing my novel by Dec. 15, 2017. In reality, I’ve skipped at least 14 days of writing due to being tired and not knowing what’s next (trying to make each scene mean something for the end product). When I restarted, I was stuck on chapter five and six for the longest time, telling myself I will get to it later. But certain events in my life pushed me to stop messing around and set a goal. 130,000 words here I come!
I am now in chapter eight (of 18…maybe) in Torque. The last month has been the fastest I’ve ever gotten chapters done, and had less slumps. It’s clear I need to keep the momentum going so I don’t have as many.
I’ve been using Scrivener’s word count tracker to help push me to write between 750 and 900-plus words, for the days that I’ve selected as writing days. Since there have been days that I didn’t plop a single word onto the page, it adds words for the next day so that I can make up for it. Which is nice in a way, but if I wasn’t committed to being done by my self-made deadline, I’m sure that my word count would be way higher. And looking at my goal for the day can be a bit overwhelming sometimes, but as long as I split the writing to before and after work, I reach my goal.
I’ve also been using my book map to keep me on track plot wise. I noticed the other day when I went to Starbucks that I never really finished my detailed outline; breaking each chapter down by characters introduced and mentioned, and a detailed look at three important/ focal points for the book.
While I am all for planning, it’s not realistic of me to try and finish the outline. In the book map, I break it down with a one sentence summary (for both of my main characters, chapter conflict, storyline notes, characters introduced and mentioned, and if there are any important plot points for it.
I know this sounds like more work than the detailed outline, but it works for me. I did my best in the book map to keep everything brief so it wouldn’t take so long to do. As mine is in Google Sheets, it’s easy to adjust and change and I always have access to it.
Since I am trying to write 130,000 words by the end of the year, I need to keep my focus on that, but I will do my best to do one full post and a writing prompt for the rest of the year.
I will eventually have a second Write Reads post on here soon, but until then, check out the first one and let me know what you think.
-Keep Writing
This past week was crunch time in writing. I went from 12 pages to nearly 30 pages. It was a lot and it was exhausting. 
A couple of weeks ago I started making writings goals. And they’ve already failed, which sucks because I want to finish my novel by the end of the year or at least half of it.
In my planner I put word goals – of how many I would achieve a day starting Monday and ending Saturday. I decided that Sunday was my rest day.
I was doing well for a couple of days after I started – I was ahead of my writing goal for a day or two and close to getting to Sunday’s total word count.
I hate making excuses on why they fell off the wagon. So, I won’t. I will start again this Monday. 50 words per day for at least a week and a half.
It’ll be less overwhelming when I think about the finished product. Would you rather look at 50 words per day or 600 words by a certain day. It will be easier to focus on a small amount.
And yes, 50 words per day is really small and seems like you’ll be getting no where, but I stand by what I said about it being less intimidating.
If you have writing goals/ plans comment below what you do.
XO Arisa
Recent Posts:
Character Profile | Cori Baudin-Woods
Romance and Agess
Writing Playlists and Music
Hello All, I hope you enjoy the very short post of my main character Cori from my novel, Torque. Until Wednesday.
XO Arisa
Birth Name: Cori Ava B-Woods
Sometimes in order to get in the mood to write, I like to turn on my music. I use it to focus and block out the background noise. I usually listen to my playlist that I made for my fanfiction more than the ones I’ve made for Torque or my works.
The music sets the mood for the scene I am going to write, whether it be for my fanfiction or writings. There are times when I get so obsessed with finding the right song for an “epic” scene, that I would spend at least a hour looking for the song. Sometimes, it takes longer to find it, which makes it harder to write.
There are some authors that create playlists for books – something that they listened to while writing. The only author I can think of that has done it is Stephanie Meyer for Twilight. I remember when I was into Twilight, I would go on the website and listen to music. I think she used to express the feelings of her characters throughout the book, but I don’t remember what it was specifically for.
I think ever since then I started creating playlists for my characters or just for the entire work. I find it fun, but I feel like it does more harm than good. Like I said above, it’s distracting; next thing you know you’re searching for the right song(s) for three hours and it’s past midnight. (Haha, me.) I think I spend so much time trying to find the right music is because it makes writing a little less lonely.
I’m sure this is something that I will continue while I’m writing.
Do any of you use music to help with writing, or nah? Let me know in the comments below. If you want a link to one of my playlists, let me know!
Until Sunday, Ciao!
XO Arisa
Recent Posts:
Below is the evolution of my novel’s title, Torque.
Click the image, it looks better.
I’ve come to realize why it’s hard to write, and why it may be hard for others to write. The expectancy of x amount of pages for chapter or book.
When someone expects a certain amount or as a writer, you pressure yourself to get the amount you want or need, it can take the fun out of writing. It can make your writing area into a stressful environment. Which is not very productive.
It’s all some writers, like myself, can think about when writing. It started to make me feel unmotivated when I tried and write Torque.
Continue reading
I’ll be making short updates about my novel and possible short stories. I will be keeping track for my own reasons and in case you are interested. This post will be a lot shorter than usual, but I wanted to update something for Sunday/ Monday before I post on Wednesday again. (If posts are not up Sunday, Monday is the day.)
In my previous posts, linked below, I may have talked about my novel that I am currently struggling with. I am not sure if I mentioned the name, but I did post about the starting words of chapter 1. But I have named it Torque. The reason why I chose this title is because of the physics definition: a twisting force that causes rotation. I wanted to make a connection with physics to my main character and I also like the idea that torque could be an idea for catalytic events. In my novel, my main character (of course) is that catalytic force – that twisting force.
And her name is Cori.
When I had explained what my novel was about to others, I had a hard time trying to tell them. Mainly because, like other writers,I am protective of my work. Recently, I finally made a little summary for my portfolio director – it’s not exactly what I want to say, but it gets the point across.
Cori is half human and half of an experimental vampiric-like race. She is aware of the strange things happening around her and her own abilities but only to an extent and becomes a catalytic force in an impending war.
I know, the word vampiric stands out, but that’s how I originally started it. After so many changes to the plot, character, names – I wanted to keep it. I also have not thought of a name for the vampiric-like race. Well, a new name. I had several before, but that can be a separate post.
I intend for Torque to be a fantasy/ action series (four books) for adults. I currently have 3,089 words for chapter 1. Keep checking the bottom bar for current word count.(Or my struggle of the same word count.)
But until Wednesday, comment below.
XO Arisa
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