#WIPMarathon Update #6

Last report wordcount and chapter count/scene count: I was waiting for all the feedback to come in on my MG fantasy, and I was also at 35K of my WIP.

Current report WC + CC/SC: Dare I say it: my MG fantasy is...almost ready! I've done everything I can, incorporating feedback from 9 different readers, tweaking and tweaking...and I'm reaching the point when I know I need to let it go. (Cue Frozen singalong.)

Meanwhile, I've finished last edits and the final proofread of Walking Shadow (Darkworld #2), the last step before publication later this year! I've also been working on pre-edits on Books 4 and 5, but I'm being offered contracts for both! :D

And I'm at 45K of my draft. I also wrote 10,000 words of a new novella! So, 20K total. It's been another low-word count month, but this time, due to edits!

WIP Issues this month: Project-juggling, unpredictable editorial emails, inconsistent progress and a lack of inspiration. Also, after I escaped from the first mire of Edits, the Inner Editor followed me and made it tricky to get back into drafting!

Also, finishing MG fantasy edits, and being petrified at the prospect of letting it go. All my books are different so I can't really compare, but it's one of my favourite things I've written. I've worked so hard on it, and after my less-than-stellar performance in the query trenches with my last project, it's hard to subject this book to the same process. The only real path for this book is traditional publishing, so this is the only chance I'll get, but I've been dithering (even though the book's polished and so is the query!). *clings to precious MS*

Four things I learned this month in writing:

• It's impossible to plan your writing life around the whims of Publishing. I knew this already, but sometimes, it's really hard to concentrate on a draft when an edit letter for a different project is supposed to arrive at any moment. Except, things get delayed, and can drag out for weeks, if not months, which makes it a tiny bit tricky to have a  life outside of publishing! (Especially when Important Emails of Doom tend to arrive the second you make non-work-related plans!). But writing is always my escape, so now I try to always have a draft I can work on if the email doesn't show up. Next step: get a handle on work-life balance...
• Related: setting goals for writing is great. Setting goals for publishing is not (unless you're self-publishing). You'd think I'd know that by now, but nooo...  Because nothing is set in stone, and setting up expectations is also potentially setting yourself up for disappointment (as I've done SO many times). Yet this lunatic is still dreaming of getting an agent before the end of the year. Apparently, the fact that I've been dreaming of this constantly for the past seven years is not enough to stop the wishful thinking... *sigh*
• Apparently I need to re-learn this one every time I finish edits: it is impossible to have a perfect first draft! *headdesk*
• Some books are easier to write than others, but it doesn't mean they're better or worse.  Having written, um, a few books (I'm on my 14th o.O), I now know that I tend to write two kinds of books - fun and quirky (with dark moments thrown in when you're least expecting *muahahaha*) and dark, often intense (with some lighthearted moments to lull you into a false sense of security before.. *ahem*). I have absolutely no idea why, but the DARK books seem to be eaiser to write, even if they turn me into a gibbering wreck. Maybe because they're in first person. I wrote 5K in one day on my last YA post-apocalyptic, for instance. Yet my MG fantasy was one of the most stubborn drafts I've written (and actually needed rewriting from scratch!) but I've had amazing feedback on it. So...it's a mystery!

What distracted me this month when writing: Uhhh...waiting for emails. And waiting. And hair-tearing. And more waiting. Also, YALC (which was amazing! :D).

Goal for next month: Query my MG fantasy. *gulp* And finish this draft. Then I need to figure out which project to work on next!

Darkworld Book 3 is with my editor, and it looks like I'll be diving back into the editing cave soon, too!

Last 200 words: Things are a bit spoilery with my draft, but I'll share an excerpt from Chapter 4, aka, the point of no return...


Saffron’s mouth fell open. ‘No way. Mum and Dad will kill…’ She trailed off as she caught sight of something on the other side of the room. One of the canvasses, which had before shown a half-painted, grumpy-faced man, now showed two other people.

A very familiar two people.

Saffron’s jaw hung even wider. ‘No - Mum! Dad!’ She ran over to the painting and pressed her hands against it, like there was a way she could get them out. Her parents looked like they’d been drawn - every brush stroke could have belonged to the original artist. Dad.

Saffron sank into the nearest chair, her head in her hands.

‘Oh God…’

‘Saffron.’

Damn. Dorian was still there.

‘Help,’ she said. ‘Tell me - please. How do I get them out?’

Between her fingers, she watched Dorian walk up to the painting, press his hands to it like she had, examine it from corner to corner. And she watched his expression grow bleaker with each passing second.

She didn’t need him to tell her.

Mum and Dad were gone.