Monday, Day 258
Writing during the summer is harder for me.
I feel restless.
Unfortunately not in the « diving into work and writing 5K words a day » kind of restless.
Restless like being in the house feels uncomfortable.
Restless like just going out for a normal walk around the block is uncomfortable.
Yep, fellow writer, I think you are absolutely right: I need to take some vacation!
Not from the writing. I need a break from the day-to-day.
I want to venture a little further down the road, dive into a landscape I haven’t seen in a while.
I need a somewhere else to be. Even if its just for a couple of days.
Since we’re not going anywhere this summer (because, pandemic), I might just go ahead and dive in a new project.
As soon as I finished the first draft of this writing project. Of course.
Then, one thing left to do: write !
Tuesday, Day 259
Yet another sunny, sunny morning, that will be followed by a very warm sticky day. The kind of day I would have spent in a pool when I was a kid.
Today, I spend the beautiful sunny day inside working on the novel. My writing goal of the day is to ACTUALLY to write. Because yesterday was not productive and I’m a bit disappointed in myself, for I kept finding excuses instead of sitting down and write.
Fellow writers, I’m happy to announce that I had, at long last, a pretty productive day.
I really hope to finish the novel this week. And it seems like I might be able to do just that.
Nothing is set in stone though, because I might just relapse again… Anyway, let’s see what tomorrow brings.
Wednesday, Day 260
It has come, yet again.
Heatwave. The second one before the Summer Solstice.
Not a fan of heatwaves, especially when it gets to the too-hot-to-be-outside point. Or especially when the action of your writing project takes place during one of the coldest Winter in recent history!
Thursday, Day 261
Waking up to a winning kiddo is not fun.
A mom blog would say: find the reason behind the winning, and LOVE.
The reason: the kiddo is not happy with the angle of the cousin put on the floor in order for the said kiddo to watch TV in a comfortable manner.
And it alllllll crumbled down from there. For twenty minutes.
It’s not 6:30 am yet.
I just hope it’s not a bad omen for the writing day to come!
A few hours later
At 84 615 words, the first draft of this writing project is complete.
I wrote a novel.
Friday, Day 262
Strange feeling last night.
I didn’t have to think about my current writing project ! The first draft is done.
There’s a TON of work still to be done, but I (re)wrote the end and this time, I’m happy with it.
In the second draft, I’ll probably start by the end. I really want the end to be as strong as the whole novel.
No doubt you’ll agree, dear fellow writers, sometimes the end of a YA or MG novels seems rushed, almost confusing sometimes.
I recently read a middle-grade novel without an end ! (I did enjoy it though!) It simply stops, without a resolution of any kind. It was traditionally published that way, so there’s probably a literary reason I did not understand behind it.
Fellow writers, I finished a novel !!! I’m super happy but it feels strange.
For such a long time, I was constantly aware of that story, those characters. It was always at the back of my thoughts. A refuge when things were rough, tough, pandemic.
The world left to do, revising, editing, copy proofing is more… can I say technical?
Now, what’s left to do is dive deep into the words, the grammar, the pace, and oh, everything else!
It means, this diary for this writing project has come to an end too.
It took me 261 days to write this novel. Wayyyyy past the 120 days deadline!
Fellow writers, it’s been such a joy to share this crazy quest with you. Thanks for reading.
Regarding the fate of the novel, well, I’m still debating, traditional (my life -long dream) or self-publishing… since it cost a lot of money I don’t have. Finding a good beta reader (I can’t find one), a good editor costs a bunch!
Dear fellow writers, I say bye for now, but not for long, since I’m about to start another writing project.
May all the good words be on side, dear writers.
Marie Alice Writes & Reads 