Weekly Writing Progress Report - M4 Week 7

The end of week seven... and I hit all my goals! That's right, I'm done with the first draft of M4! If writing is 10% drafting and 90% Revising/Editing, then I am so ready, because revising is where the story really lifts off the page.

But before revising, I need a break. Like a serious book binge while my story stews some more. Good thing I have some lovely ARC's loaded up on my Kindle!

Now onto the stats!

Week 7
Project - M4 YA Fantasy
First Draft

Word count this week: 11,987
Word count total: 74,134

This week in writing:

So... tired.... That's literally how I felt all week. Remember my sister weekend trip I've mentioned, but haven't blogged about (I know, need to do that soon!)? Returning from it and getting back into daily life was fatiguing. I'm also currently at the end tail of the busy season at work, so that also contributed to my exhaustion. But despite all of that I had to finish this draft. I had to meet my goals. After shelving M3, I refused to let the trend of shelving projects continue. I needed to break the habit, and I know deep down that this story really has something. So I pushed through it and got to work, and lo and behold at 12:17 p.m. on Saturday I tapped out these two words I've been waiting so long to write: The End.

Then I proceeded to jump around my home office shaking my tail feather while my cat and boyfriend gave me funny looks :P

Draft One Summary - Goals:

• I made the goal of a 70,000 word count draft in seven weeks. 
• I achieved that and more at 74,134 words in exactly seven weeks! This is now my personal record for drafting, my standard is 8-9 weeks for first drafts.
• Aim for about 10,000 words weekly.
• Definitely made that ;)
• Do not go back and revise chapters--write it completely, tack 'The End' when I get there, then leave it to stew a bit before revising.
• I didn't go back and revise, which was big for me. I ended up putting one word in front of the other and I eventually got there.

To see more about my goals and the beginning of this draft. Check out week one here.

What drafting M4 taught me:

• After drafting multiple times with different projects (complete and incomplete), no process has ever been the same. I guess I'm still at that stage where I am trying to find out what works for me. One thing that this draft taught me was to take it one chunk at a time, wether that was one chapter, 1,400 words a day, or simply taking one line at a time.
• You can't be a writer, unless you're an avid reader. For the duration of this draft, I've been constantly reading as I write. In these seven weeks of writing, I've read six books. More than I normally do when I'm writing/revising, and I must say, it's made me a more productive writer. By reading, I'm keeping my mind engaged with words, feeding off other people's stories, which gives me a sense of energy and encouragement for my own writing. Also, reading other people's work gives me an opportunity to learn more about story structure. Stephen King said in his memoir, On writing, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.”
• Write for the right reasons. Don't force yourself to write for the sake of recognition or publication. Write because you love it. Write because you need to. Write because it's your way of life. Write because you want to touch other people's lives with your stories. When you're writing for the right reasons, the words will come. Just show up and work. Don't wait for inspiration, because sometimes we can't rely on a muse to make it happen. 
• No matter how much you've written, no matter how many manuscripts you've completed, no matter how many novels you've published, there's always room for growth. There's always room for learning.
• Pursue your dreams. You want to be a writer? Me too. But wanting gets you nowhere. Doing, does. Actively pursue your dreams. Write a little bit. Write a lot. Take a break. Read some more. Enjoy life. Learn all you can, and just keep going. Because trying is better than quitting. And maybe trying will be just enough for our dreams and reality to collide. 
• Believe in yourself. So cheesy, I know, but doubt is one m***** f***** and will mess with your mind and keep you up at night. My best defense, believing in myself and knowing that I am capable of more. Because if we don't believe in ourselves, how do we expect other people too? Lucky for me I have a wonderful support system who believe in me more than I do. Anytime my 'believe' tank is empty. They're always there to fill me up. 
• I may not have the authority to give advice on the matter, considering I'm only an aspiring writer, but I learn so much from other bloggers, writers, and dreamers, so this is me giving back with some encouraging words. And perhaps documenting my progress and my journey will inspire you to do so too. And if your 'belief' tank is empty, shoot a message my way, because we've all been through it and sometimes we just need someone to talk it through with.

In the meantime, I'll be taking a little break from M4, and then it's time for revisions. And once I do, you know these Weekly Writing Progress Reports will be back :)

Happy Writing Everyone!

<3, Michelle

My 'Hell yeah I finished' smirk.