Will I Have the First Draft of Fury Done By Halloween?
It all comes down to commitment and effort
As I am gearing up to publish the first book in a series, Kingmaker, I am already working on the second. The plan is to have the first draft of Fury done by October 31st. And due to the events of the past couple of months, I have fallen a bit behind schedule.
If you’re unaware, I offer monthly members of my Buy Me a Coffee account to act as beta readers. Essentially, they get to see the drafts as I put together my next book. Not to mention helping me structure a better story. Kingmaker is far better now than it was in the first draft.
So, what is the plan to get this book done and ready for my beta readers?
Expanding My Writing Goals
First, I’m expanding the amount of time I spend specifically writing Fury. Originally, I was focusing on a Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule. Since I’ve fallen so far behind, I am now adding Friday and Saturday to the mix.
Weekly writing goals are how I’ve developed such a successful freelance writing career. Since my days writing for Textbroker, I’ve used them to help me write A Freelancer’s Tale and finish Kingmaker. I schedule a two-hour block of time that I use specifically for writing the book. This means I don’t work on blogs, client orders, YouTube videos, or anything else other than the book itself.
Since I am using the Reedsy writing app, my goals are always available and can be shown at all times. Though, I usually just write until I am done within that two-hour time frame. For the most part, I average around 2200 words within that allotted time.
As of this post, I only need 1,274 words per day to hit my deadline. That means I’ll most likely be done with Fury long before Halloween.
Maybe.
Get it into your head that the first draft is merely meant to get the story out. Then, you can spend time polishing it up and making edits. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just legible. Too many potential authors get hung up with trying to make the first draft perfect. It’s not going to happen. There will always be something that you’ll want to fix or clarify. So, just write the first draft, get the story out, and then worry about edits later on.
Prioritizing the Book
One of the things I wanted to do differently in 2023 was to spend more time being creative. In fact, I’ve gone so far as to label the last two years as “The Year of the Book,” and “The Year of the Book Part 2,” respectively.
The idea was to increase how many words I write for my creative works as opposed to blogging or client jobs. So far, I’ve written more this year for my books as opposed to the last. But it’s not nearly what I wanted for my goal.
To make sure I spend adequate time writing my books, I prioritize them immediately after working on client stuff. That means that as soon as I am done working for clients on any particular day, I start working on the books.
It’s all about taking yourself seriously as a writer or author. Do you want it bad enough to prioritize your books over something else that may be trivial? Are you able to dedicate quality time to create something you’d love to read?
The reason I prioritize writing my books in the middle of a workday is to ensure that I am able to put in that quality time. I don’t have the best memory and usually have an incredibly chaotic life. So, by adding my books to my “workday,” I schedule a block of time that helps me reach my writing goals.
Of course, this works great for someone who has been working from home as a freelancer since 2013. But what about someone who has a traditional job but still wants to write books? You still need to find adequate time to focus on your manuscript, even if it’s just for an hour per day or for the week. Without finding that time for yourself, it’ll be years before your first draft is complete, if ever. In fact, I personally know several people who have been working on their first “book” for the past 20 years. Are you waiting to publish posthumously?
Am I afraid that I’d start looking at my books like a job since they are part of my “workday?” Absolutely not. For me, scheduling the two-hour block of time like it was part of my job feels more like a two-hour break where I can really enjoy myself writing the next part of the story.
Well, that is as long as the chaos subsides for a moment.
Not Focusing on Perfection
As I’ve said earlier, the first draft isn’t meant to be perfect, just written. Subsequent edits are when you polish up the story and make it presentable to the general public.
When I write my books, I’ll make notes about things I know I want to change once I have completed the first draft. But I don’t stop to make those changes until the manuscript is completed. If I went back and fixed all of the things that stand out most, I’d never get the first draft written.
Currently, I have 16 notes in Reedsy of things I’d like to change before I hand it off to beta readers. And I’m sure I’ll have plenty more before this book is done. After all, I’m only about a third of the way through the manuscript.
My point is that you don’t need to slow yourself down by striving for perfection or “fixing” parts of your book that you feel are weak right off the bat. Getting the story out of you is the primary goal, and then you can spend time making things right.
How Is Your WIP Coming Along?
As long as I don’t have to sacrifice time in my day for the inevitable chaos, I should have no problem with finishing Fury before Halloween. My only real concern is that the book is going to be much longer than anticipated. Mostly because of how much is actually going on in Fury as opposed to Kingmaker.
If I don’t meet my deadline, that will most likely be the reason why. Currently, I’m aiming for around 85,000 words. But I write until the story is complete, and I think this one will probably reach closer to 100k. In any case, I have goals set in place and am confident I can at least finish the original 85k before Halloween.
Regardless of whether you’re a blogger or novelist, how is your work-in-progress coming along? What have been your greatest achievements?