#67k

[tiggymalvern]

Guys, guys, I have a completed first draft :-))) I'm so excited! Editing mode engaged!

[strxnger-things]

Happy 67k Byler Nation!

next… world domination

[tilldeathdousart]

Only 15 followers until I hit 67,000 guuuuuuys!

[thatsunnyalien]

So, a little In Memories of Fire and Blood update. More to keep myself accountable on finishing it, with no spoilers, but I never expected it to go where it has. The hardest thing about writing this spin off has been trying to decide how to connect two different pieces of plot that I've had running this whole time without rewriting too much that's already written but I think I finally have it. So thank you anyone who has been waiting on this, when it's finished it'll be posted all about the same time like the original was, so no long waits.

Sitting at a current word count of 67,091. Which for anyone who has read In Dreams of Blood and Water will know this approximately two thirds the length of the original story. So uh... idk what to do with that information except apologize that it's taken so long. I want to finish it in the next few weeks because I feel so close and I think with a few of the breakthroughs I've made recently I'll be able to do that.

[ticklefighthockey]

okay: i rough drafted a very long three-part scene this morning, which was one of the big Important pieces remaining. so that feels good! but then i spent the entire afternoon (agh) slogging through my big list of agonizingly slow in-the-weeds revisions and small fixes. ALL OF WHICH WERE NECESSARY but aghh it’s painful to glance up at the clock and realize you just spent a huge chunk of your limited writing time/mental energy on detail work. but sigh it’s done, it’s over, time to move on.

hmm okay. i can feel myself kinda circling around some of the big important scenes that i am nervous about tackling, so i think tonight i am going to spend a bunch of time writing on my phone in bed. that is usually a pretty good way to trick myself into writing loosely, without putting pressure on myself to make nice sentences. i think this will be good because... i am definitely in that frame of mind where i feel like all of my sentences suck!!! trying to remind myself that not every sentence has to be beautifully crafted and in fact lots of books and stories are just made of fairly ordinary sentences that nevertheless manage to create a strong emotional effect.

i am also trying to remind myself that with each project, i deliberately choose to focus on one or two aspects of writing that i find difficult or haven’t mastered yet. if i tried to make progress in literally every single area of my writing simultaneously i would get overwhelmed and would stretch myself way too thin, thus making it impossible to do the kind of focused, carefully scaffolded work that will help me actually make demonstrable progress towards mastering a new skill. the skill i am focusing on in this project is not beautiful sentences! i am focusing on developing a set of skills around writing very long stories that unfold over a much longer narrative timescale than my past fics. i am trying to teach myself how to plan large projects, write in a sustained (and sustainable) way over long periods of time, manage character development over a 67k (!) word story, and revise a large project in stages. if i really want to prioritize writing beautiful sentences i can focus on that in my next project.