Oops I Did It Again
I think I might need another hobby…
So…remember how I decided to start another manuscript while my current title is out on submission?
Going off of my last book’s timeline, I figured it would take me about 8 months to get a draft I was comfortable letting other people read. Granted, I was much more familiar with this story than the last one, and I’d already written a half-finished, semi-realized draft back in college, but when I started this project back in April, I was still a little unsure of myself and how I wanted to tell this story.
So when I finished Draft 2 last week, I kind of lost my mind.
I started my rewrite in April, and by June, I had finished Draft 1.5 and was preparing for Draft 2. By the end of Draft 1.5, I had a sense of the story I wanted to tell and themes I wanted to touch on. The problem was adding them in, and (for once in my life) pushing my limits to hit a word count goal instead of overshooting so bad I have to cut thousands of words.
I still thought this process would take at least another month. There aren’t any federal holidays on the horizon, and I wasn’t planning on using any of my upcoming or past vacations as writing catch-up. My entire plan was to steal time here and there (not even on the weekends, too!) to write what I could and finish at some distant, undetermined date.
And now I’ve finished Draft 2.
To be honest, I’m not entirely sure how this happened. Yes, I’ve had this idea “in the works” for a couple years (but not any longer than my first manuscript), and yes, I did have pretty well-thought-out story beats (but I also had that the first time around, too). I’m actually scrambling to find any reason I was this productive. Dare I say, too productive?
My current suspects are:
The writing playlist I used (on Draft 1.5, not Draft 2, though)
The previously mentioned federal holidays
Too much caffeine?
My unfortunate ability to fixate on one hobby at a time while completely ignoring any others
Any one of these reasons could be to blame (like it’s a bad thing I’m doing something I enjoy and seeing results, lol). But now that the initial shock of excessive productivity is wearing off, would it be too cliche to say how excited I am?
Not only did I write a second manuscript, but I did it in less than half the time of the first. Either I’m really getting the hang of this writing thing, or I’m about to have a rude awakening in the not-so-distant future.
I’m hoping for the first.
Just because I’ve written this manuscript doesn’t mean it’s anywhere near finished.
This is, of course, the part where people with opinions read what I’ve got and offer feedback and critiques to make the story better. It’s nerve-wracking, yes, but it’s also absolutely essential to creating something people want to read. It’s the difference between a story I like and one everyone likes.
So that’s where I’m heading now. I’ll send this new manuscript to some readers and writing partners and not-so-patiently await their feedback. They’ll give me some much-needed opinions and suggestions, and then that whole editing process will repeat itself as many times as necessary until my agent decides to give it a go herself.
The question now becomes: what do I do in the meantime?
I could work on other projects, but I always hate working on too many things at once. It falls in the same category as reading more than two books at a time. The most I can see myself doing is the prep work—tweaking story beats, creating another writing playlist, maybe thinking up a mood board or two.
Otherwise? I think it just might be hobby time. As I said earlier, I have a bad habit of hyper-focusing on one thing and ignoring everything else. Instead of writing, I could break out some videogames. I also have some new recipes I’ve been teasing for forever now. The weather is supposedly going to cool down this week, so I could even rack up some miles on my new bike.
The point is, I guess I’m just going to have to find something else to do. Your next favorite author is just too good at what she does and needs to slow her roll.
End of Week Writing Stats
Days Worked: 2
Chapters Edited: 4
Handfuls of Motivational Snacks: ?