The Beast is Slain!!!
170,632 words in Scrivener. 605 compiled pages in a Word doc.
And it’s done!!!!! I’m finally at a point where I can start sharing this draft with outside eyes. I already sent copies to my parents and one of my writer friends who was an Alpha reader for me and I bullied her horribly by only giving her 3/4 of the first draft and left her on a pretty whopping cliffhanger.
So, they were the first three on my list! I was supposed to start printing the manuscript tonight so I can mail it tomorrow, but Amazon decided to mess up my same-day delivery purchases and now my printing supplies won’t get here until tomorrow night.
Obviously that won’t work, so I’m planning on getting up as early I can manage and going to an office supply store for paper, ink, and probably a 4-inch binder since Google’s telling me a 3-inch can only hold 570 pages. (Psssshhhh….)
I’ll spend tomorrow printing and organizing and get this box to the post office first thing in the morning on Tuesday.
Good Golly Gosh I can’t believe it’s done!!! And it actually feels done, too. I already have some vague ideas for stuff that might change in a third draft, but for now I’m just excited to stick this manuscript in a drawer and take a proper break from it.
I realized earlier that this truly has been my entire year. I started this project in January and I’m finishing it now here in December. I’m really freakin’ proud of myself.
I’m taking a well-deserved break from writing through the holidays (2-3 weeks), but I have big plans for my next project. I think I’m going to start it in mid/late January.
I want to make a big resolutions list for 2024 specifically about writing. The fact that I’ve completed this massive project makes me so extremely happy. The amount of work I’ve put into this thing over the course of the year, and especially in just this past month, is just astounding.
My writing stamina has come so far, and I look forward to seeing what that stamina looks like in 2024. I won’t have the YLWP deadlines anymore, but I WILL have Bookdun and my writing buddies. Maybe I’ll start a proper writing group and drag my friends into accountability. We shall see!
The world is my oyster and I’m delighted to crack it on open.
I’m so phucking tired, though. Sleep, junk food, and video games are the entirety of my plans for the rest of 2023.
I deserve this break, and I’m so excited to take it!
And most importantly—it’s DONE, y’all!!!! I made it!!! I made it happen!!!
What’s the math here? The first draft was 131K, this second draft was 170k, so that’s 300k right there. But there were countless edits and rewrites along the way so I wouldn’t be surprised if my true output for the year is more like 350-400k.
Damn, what a year.
I’m so utterly grateful I decided to do this program. It’s been a delight and I’m going to miss it, and again, I am just so, so, so, SO proud of myself for sticking with it.
The crabs have been hermited. The mystery has been solved. A whole buncha people are on boats.
And life is good.
Til next time,
Mags