So, my last “Operation Write My Novel” update was at the end of March. Eeps! Three months later, and I don’t have a great update to give. I didn’t write at all in April or May. Most of my free time in April was spent working on my Ireland itinerary and planning for my first big international trip. And, in May, it took me some time to get back into the swing of things (+ I had a big freelancing article to complete) so I told myself I could take the month off and get back to it in June.
And I did get back to it in June! I wrote… just not as much as I wanted to. I never hit my weekly goal of 3,000 words but I did make some progress in my novel in other ways. Let’s discuss!
June 2-8
- Words written: 488
I spent part of the end of May and the beginning of June doing some soul-searching about my novel. There was just something that wasn’t right, some plot point or character that needed to be changed. I read over my plot summary a few times and then one morning, while I was in that weird state between dreaming and waking up, that time when you’re not asleep but not fully awake either, it came to me. It’s like I had been waiting to receive the right puzzle pieces – they were just outside the periphery of my mind – and finally, they appeared and the whole plot of my novel clicked into place.
While I won’t get into what the exact change was, I will say that it involved reconstructing the background story of my hero and switching the romance trope to something that makes so much more sense for my two main characters. This change will require going back and reworking some of my earlier scenes (and scraping some of them entirely because they no longer fit the plot), but it’s going to be so worth it.
Once I figured this out, I got so excited about my novel and the work I’m creating. It’s nothing life-changing (I’m writing a romance novel, after all), but hopefully, it will put a smile on people’s faces.
In the end, I wrote just under 500 words this week because I spent more time reworking certain plot points than writing. I finally forced myself to open my WIP and get some words down, and it felt so good to get back to this world I’m creating.
June 9-15
- Words written: 836
A disappointing writing week for me, especially coming off my brilliant plot change from the previous week. I only made time to write during my writing date and didn’t get as much written as I’d hoped, as my goal is always to write 1k words during these dates. The writing also felt so hard this week. Every sentence felt so difficult. I think it’s mostly due to being out of the habit. Hopefully, once I’m writing more regularly, it won’t feel so hard.
June 16-22
- Words written: 1,659
- Things researched: funny trivia names, hard trivia questions, high school plays
Woohoo! This was a good writing week for me, even though I’m still not hitting the 3k word count like I want to. But this was a good writing week for me, as I got >1k words written during my writing date as well as an extra 500 words written earlier in the week. I’m finally feeling good about my novel again and excited to see what’s next.
June 23-29
- Words written: 736
Another lackluster writing week, but I’m actually proud of myself for getting some words down this week since I didn’t have my usual writing date with my friend, M. (She was out of town.) I had a very busy week, though, and a busy weekend and it was hard to find the time to sit down and write. I really need to make writing a priority again, like I was doing at the beginning of the year. Right now, it’s more of an afterthought.
June 30 – July 7
- Words written: 940
This was a tough week for me, writing-wise. I wrote about 500 words on Friday night, and then during my writing date on Sunday, I wrote just under 500 words. But, it took me an hour and a half to write those 500 words during my writing date! The writing was just not flowing and I kept getting distracted by all the people at Starbucks. I also had a lot of self-doubt as I was writing. I hated my story, I hated my writing, and I hated this goal I set for myself that I’m never going to achieve. It was a lot of, “Who are you to think you can write a novel?” It’s part of the writing process. Even Taylor Jenkins Reid herself says she often wants to throw all her writing in a fire at times, which is comforting. Writing is complicated and messy and hard! And it’s okay to feel like I’m the worst at it, as long as I keep pushing forward and writing even when I want to throw my WIP in the fire.
Hey! You are Doing The Thing! I know it’s not going as fast as you hoped but you are making progress and that’s GREAT! Keep at it! I can’t wait to read it!
Oh man, we totally had the same kind of month on the novel writing front! After feeling super stuck on my WIP, I also had a HUGE epiphany — that resulted in totally reconstructing a large part of my plan. It really felt good to make progress (even though it hurts the soul to think about the amount of re-writing there is to be done).
Love these progress updates, girl! Can’t wait to read whatever it is you end up putting out there, as I am sure it’s going to be awesome 🙂
So I write grants, not novels. 🙂 Trust me, you do not want me writing fiction! but I just wanted to say that 1) don’t discount romance novels! they are, in my opinion, an overlooked source of joy and fun in peoples’ lives, and 2) this is soooo how the writing process is for me, too. I will be on a ROLL one day / one week / one month, and then…boom. Wall. Forcing words and dithering and doing and undoing and redoing… Sigh. Some days, when that happens? I just go and do something mindless, but productive, like clean out my downloads folder. I guess it just comes down to: writing is HARD. You’re doing awesome.