My new manuscript is coming along at a pace I had hoped for. Yet I am still so surprised that it is being achieved. Seriously. My goal is to have the first draft of my new manuscript finished by the end of the summer. At this moment I would say I am about three quarters of the way done with about three weeks left of August. My mind is blown. It isn’t necessarily that I didn’t have faith in myself but I know my writing history. My last manuscript took me six years to write. Yes, this included about four drafts and working full time during the writing process. Also, the manuscript is massive at 171,000 words. But six years is a long time (if you didn’t realize that….glad I could be of obvious assistance). After realizing nobody would likely publish a manuscript that large from an unpublished author I accepted that I needed to reign in the novel length.
I have done so with this new manuscript and have found that, as long as I know where I want to go with this story, cutting 171,000 words in half for it has been so liberating. Granted, this story didn’t need the length my first manuscript needed for its tale. But still…a finished manuscript (word length aside) in four months. For me? Epic.
Being aware of my word count has completely changed the game for me. I tried not to put boundaries on myself the first time. I didn’t want to scare myself away from the creative process. This go round I wanted a little more structure going in and found that it is helping rather than hindering me. Also, I have found that going from a plot driven story to a character driven story completely changes the feel, pace, rhythm of writing (and all the writers of the world cried out, “No duh!”). I’m enjoying it immensely.
Having goals and meeting said goals feels wonderful. If I can keep my confidence up and the negativity and self doubt out … I know I can do this. I WILL do this.
The Writing LEOW 