TG: Weekly Status Update (25% Done!)
I hit the 25% complete mark tonight! That’s always a fun one. This is when it starts to really get going for me. Of course, I’m speaking from the experience of only one completed novel before this one so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. 
But if experience from the last one speaks at all, it was around this point that my pace started picking up. And then by the time I hit 30k words, I was writing like a madwoman until I reached the end. Every book is different though, and this may not happen for TG.
|
|
TG: YA Paranormal
20,406 / 80,000 Words (25.5%)
This was another 6k total week, just like last week. It’s good progress, but if I spent just a little more time on it, I could be hitting 10k per week instead. I’ll try again this week and see. I don’t want to force it. I’ve written 20k in the month of June. Not bad! This first draft is coming along very nicely, and I want to continue in this zone. If that means writing slower and spending less time editing it once I’m done, no problems with that!
I discovered something interesting this week. Usually, I have a tendency to listen to a small number of songs on repeat when I write. For this novel, I keep listening to one, just one, in particular. I have ah-ha! moments when I listen to it. It jump starts the blank page writing block syndrome I sometimes get when I first sit down to write for the day. Perfect words pop into my mind for dialogue and scenery descriptions when it plays. I’m starting to get superstitious and may end up wearing out a song with the next 60,000 words. Hey, if it helps me write, then I’ll listen to it 1 million times if I have to.
How is the query process going for Shadow Guardian? I have ceased querying. I’m going to see what happens with the queries still out there plus the one partial in the hands of an agent. If none of these pan out, I’m thinking of doing a major edit on it once I’m done with TG. I really do love Shadow Guardian. It might not be the one to get me an agent, but I’d still love to see it in print one day. It holds a special place in my heart.
I tend to be an “endless repeater” music-wise when I write, too. But, what song’s had such an energizing effect on your creative fecundity? I might have to start listening to it, too!
Hi Jen! I found you through Jen Blom’s blog (Jaekaebee) and, since I listen to songs on repeat myself when writing, I had to come check you out!
I totally do this too! I tend to have a song per scene or per character. My itunes keeps track of the times played, and I was horrified it took me 94 turns of Storm (by Lifehouse) to write two chapters of an accident scene. Each of my characters has their own song…. I think of it as the soundtrack to the movie!
My last book ran 234 times of the one song I listen to when I am focused on the main character. Yikes! That’s a lot!
But I love music… I think it helps set the mood and helps me visualize the people and locations. And by putting one song on repeat I am keeping a consistent mood and I can sort of “tune it out” and not be distracted every time a new song comes on.