Writing Worries

Fourth book troubles! I'm at over 90,000 words and the end should be nigh.... however, it feels like it keeps slipping away from me and I fear I won't get it finished next week.

The first two weeks of the summer holidays, the boys always go off with their dad, which enables me more writing time, before I have to play 'mum' for the other four weeks - and the writing really does become non-existent. And this time is usually great to allow my first draft to rest.

I have one more day tomorrow, then I'm back to work also. This means I'll only have three days next week, and one of those is going to be used to catch up with my editor in London.

Argh!

I sort of know how I want to make this book end. It's not like the others though. The ending really will be the hero and heroine getting together - for the first time.

I just hope it works! And the readers enjoy it as much as Meet Me At Wisteria Cottage...

I'm lacking confidence in the book though, as all writers do at some point in writing their first draft. This is completely normal, I tell myself. I've just decided to bash this first draft out. I suppose it can always be jigged about at the editing stages - right?

New Year New Book

This is what I think I should do to plot a book... 

New Year, new resolutions and all that.

I'm not very good at making those, but I have started writing my next book.

What with my four years of online dating experience, I have been urged (by my current beau #TheBoss - who I met through online dating) to write my online dating story. I mean I have so much material!

I've noticed writers say they're going to write 1000 words a day, etc. and for me that's no good. It's not possible. I'd be failing before I even started. There's no point setting yourself something unachievable. It's not motivational.

I work part-time, so on the days I work, I don't tend to get to write. I have two kids, so I try not to write during the evenings, and use that time to relax and read. And now I have a new man - who takes up my weekends, so there's no way I can sit down every day and bash out 1000 words.

Anyway, I got to thinking; what if I try to reach 5000-7000 words a week. I have three days a week where I try to set aside writing. Although even I don't get write on all of these days sometimes.

At the moment I don't think even this is possible, as I am in the throws of researching (which I tend to do a bit as I write because I'm the pantster type writer apparently...) I'm just not very good at the whole plotting thing. I just end up writing and research as I go. I make notes, don't get me wrong, and make sure I put the main points I need to get into the book, but I like how the story comes to me from my head through my fingers on the keyboard, and onto the screen.

Then I got to thinking, well what if worse case scenario, I only got 3000 words written a week, in those 3 days... How long would it take me to write approximately a 90,000 word novel. So I did the math.

Basically, it would take 30 weeks, which is around 7.5 months (if they're all 4 week months!). Well that's not so bad. I could be looking at by the end of July having the first draft finished.

So that's my plan. It might be a bit longer than that as we need to factor in school holidays - but some weeks, once this novel really takes off, and I don't have to think up new names, or sneak off to the internet for some research, I'll get more than 3000 words written a week - easy.

I do use a spreadsheet to see how many words I write a day, so I can monitor my progress and see if I'm on target. I've marked off the 90th day. So let's see if I can do this.

Currently it's working title is The Golden Rules To Online Dating.