The past month has honestly felt like a blur. From the holidays to covid to my birthday, it’s all been exhausting or fun. I think exhausting was mostly the covid though.
I’m finally getting back into my routines slowly but surely. I had my first proper strength workout this weekend since my covid bout and have started drafting and editing again. I’m currently working on finalizing plot beats and pacing for Saving the Music, and plan to do another developmental edit on my Magick Forest novel later this year.
Unlike other years, I don’t have massive plans around my writing this year. But, there are some goals and “dreams” in mind. Ideally, I would love to have Saving the Music posted, scheduled, and completely finished for March. As I mentioned before, my serials tend to not be as rigorous a time as my larger projects. This is fun writing to me and I try to keep it light so that it stays that way.
I would also love to have Magick Forest in a pitch-able state by the end of the year. I’ve never pitched to agents before, but I’d love to give it a go and see where I land.
I’ll be happy to just get my serial out into the world this year.
How am I going to do that?
Saving the Music:
- ~30,000 words left to finish the draft
- 1 month of work, but probably more like 2. Giving myself the last 9 days of January, 28 in Feb, and 31 in March that’s only around 450 words per day. Very doable. Even not counting March it’s around 800 which is probably also doable, just not as confidently…
- Edits of at least the first 10 chapters
- Already finished Chapters 1 and 2 🙂
- Posting those chapters
- I release the first 7 chapters and then roll out from there, so I want to be a bit ahead with 10 ready to go.
- Finishing edits and scheduling the rest for release
Magick Forest
- Reread previous draft
- It’s all printed and ready to go. I just need to have some brain space and time for it.
- Collect beta feedback into one place
- Already had 3 beta readers take a look. Good feedback so far and all critiquing some things I was already prepared to fix.
- Make edits as necessary
- I’ll go again with developmental stuff, fixing plot holes or repeats, and really making sure the backstory of the characters is woven in well.
- Reread again
I’ve heard some people say that they never realized how much goes into writing a book. Every book is different and every author has their own process. Sometimes authors have multiple books in the works and they roll out as they
Books are one of those strange beasts that take years to create but days to consume. Never be afraid or ashamed to reread books.
Happy Writing and Reading! 🙂
Rachel
Subtle Stories 