Tomorrow is the day it all starts. One full month of writing every day, minimum goal of 2,000 words per day. Estimated to take, at my current speed, 2 hours per day, or around 60 hours across the whole month, a week and a half of working a full-time job in addition to working my regular full-time job.
To achieve this, I have, over the course of the last two weeks, shifted my sleep schedule considerably. I now will be waking up at 4 AM every morning in order to write for nearly an hour and a half before I have to get ready for work each day. This of course still means that I have to find an extra thirty minutes each day, which shouldn’t be too difficult (foreshadowing is a narrative device), but I also intend to write a bit shortly before bed, so I can have a nice jumping-off point each morning.
Also of note, I will have a full week off of work due to my workplace closing for a brief period in the middle of the month. These days, in addition to my normal off days, I intend to aim for 3 hours of writing. This minor increase should prevent me from going so hard as to burn myself out, but should also allow me to get to around 500-1,000 additional words on each of those days. Those minor bumps will be lifesavers during crunch time at the end, because from Thanksgiving onward my workplace will be slammed, and I’ll be expecting much less time to dedicate to myself.
You can expect updates from me on the tenth, the twentieth, and at the end of the month, though I do anticipate them being brief, only really covering how the process is going for me as well as substantial updates.
But what will I be working on?
I will dedicate the entire month to making substantive progress on my historical fiction trilogy, which I have been kicking around for well over a year at this point. From its inception, it has gone through numerous large changes. It originally began with one book idea with 70,000 words written for it, to me changing the POV of that book and having to scrap most of what I had written, to a trilogy idea, to that first book becoming second in the trilogy, leaving a lot of what I had written with loose ends, to me working on the last book first to see if it was all even worth it, to me only finally touching the first book in the trilogy within the last month or so. I see a lot of promise for the series, and I find myself excited to work on it every day, but there’s still a lot left to be discovered as I go along.
To say it in so many words, the next month is dedicated to attempting to get 60,000 additional words into the first books first draft, of which I already have 11,000 words. 70,000-80,000 is how much I anticipate it taking to ‘complete’ the draft, so in theory I can take a break come months end to re-read and edit the whole thing.
At the moment, I am still unsure as to whether I will begin querying agents after this draft is finished, or, if I can hold out long enough, if I will wait until I have the entire trilogy ironed out completely. Part of me thinks three complete manuscripts ready for an editor is an undeniably sweet pot to resist, but the short-term rewards side of my soul knows I will want the feedback quick. These are the kinds of thoughts I mull over, at least. First, I have to put the words on the page.
Knowing I cannot be perfect, I will now be good.
Happy Halloween everyone, and please vote in the coming days. See you soon.
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