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Saturday 31 August 2013

Final #WIPMarathon Check-In!

It's time for my final #WIPMarathon update! It's been so much fun, and I've met some fantastic writers! I'm going to miss it! But here's my last check-in:

Last Check-in Wordcount + Chapter Count: I couldn't update last week as I was away after a grueling week of edits! At the last check-in, I'd reached 19,000 words of both Darkworld Book 5 and my YA fantasy.

Current WC + CC (or SC):  I made it! 30,000 words of Darkworld Book 5 are done, which means I'm over halfway! Meanwhile, my YA fantasy is at 23,000 words, meaning I've exceeded my goal by 3K!

WIP Issues this week: And how you fixed them, if you did. If you didn’t, we can help you solve it!

Moving to London, recovering from edits...all the stuff mentioned in my What's Up Wednesday post, really! But I'm back into making solid progress now, so it's all good! Working full-time means I have to sneak in writing whenever I can, whether it be before I leave for work or during my lunch break (plenty of nice cafes to take my laptop to, though!). Once I snapped out of Edit Mode, I found the words came more easily, although I've had to push back my YA fantasy to focus on catching up with Darkworld Book 5, which is still my priority!

What I learnt this week in writing: Anything new you learnt from a book on writing, or a blog article that helped you improve your writing. Even if there’s nothing new you learnt, share one writing tip with us!

I worry about my first drafts being too short (they usually are) but I found this great post on Tumblr with some tips for making sure your plot is enough to sustain a full-length novel!


What distracted me this week while writing: Any fun or not-so-fun thing that happened, or that you did. Just share!

Moving to London, starting my internship, trying to switch off the inner editor, and playing online games with my boyfriend. :P And tiredness. Commuting an hour a day on the tube wears me out, and I have only about 4 hours of "free time" every day. But I'm determined to keep up the writing momentum!


Plan after the marathon

Finish both my books! Then focus on revising and editing my YA fantasy until (eventually) it's ready to query...

With Darkworld, finish Book 5, send Book 2 to my editor, and prepare for the release of Darkness Watching!

It's been an amazing month, and I've loved meeting so many new authors on Twitter and forming such a supportive community! I'm a very goal-oriented writer anyway, but during the weeks I wasn't travelling or editing, I doubled my productivity! 50,000 words in a month is a new record for me, and as I tend to edit and re-outline as I write, this is some achievement! I'd love to do it again in future! :)

19 comments:

  1. Congrats on meeting your goal! Thanks for the link to that article on making sure a plot is enough to sustain a whole novel. There's some helpful tips there.

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    1. Thank you :) I found it really helpful, too!

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  2. Congratulations on the progress you've made!
    I worry about the lengths of my first drafts, too.

    Good luck with the new stories and your internship!

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    1. Thank you :) I think every writer either worries about them being too long or too short!

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  3. Yikes, new job, moving, turning off your inner editor, that is a lot. Awesome job on the word count, congrats, that's a huge accomplishment!

    See you on twitter! Post pics of London for all of US gals who can't afford to cross the pond right not :)

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    1. Thank you :) I'll be sure to take pictures when I get the chance to explore!

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  4. Congratulations on meeting both of your goals, that's great news!

    It can get a bit hard writing while working full time but you'll find you adjust soon enough.

    Good luck with your edits and finishing up your YA story.

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  5. Congrats on meeting your goals! I still can't believe you can work on two at once, wow!

    Best of luck with the new job! You sound so busy but you have a good plan for continuing to work on the WIPs. Keep it up! :D

    Enjoy London!

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    1. Thank you :) It's hard work, but neither of the WIP's will leave me alone! :P

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  6. Good job with your goals! It's a lot to balance writing two novels at once. Darkness Watching sounds really good. I'll definitely keep an eye out for it.

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  7. Congrats, Emma!
    I always say it and I don't mind saying it again- you're such an inspiration!

    Keep plugging away and good luck with all your plans after the marathon!
    Also, thanks for being a part of this! <3

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  8. That's so awesome, Emma. Way to stick to it and exceed your goals!

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  10. Congrats! So many big accomplishments!

    I'm going to be in a similar situation with the tube rides in a couple of weeks' time. Sort of dreading it (and the inevitable tiredness!) but I'll try to use it to catch up on reading! Was great to 'meet' you! Well done again on meeting your goals. :)

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    1. Thank you :) Nice 'meeting' you too! The tube's definitely a good chance to read, even when you're caught in a crush of people!

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  11. Wow! Congrats on keeping your writing goals even with moving and all the excitement!!! Way to Go!

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