Hello from Seattle!
Jill, Shannon, and I are on a writing retreat together in the Seattle area. This is the first time we’ve all been together since 2014!
Monday night, we taught at the Northwest Christian Writers Association’s monthly meeting. We had a great time! One of the highlights was getting to meet Ari! Jill and I had met Ari online through the One Year Adventure Novel Summer Workshop, and it was SO fun to hang out with her!
Now the three of us are hunkered down at the house to get some work done. I’m hoping to finish the first draft of a 1920s mystery I’m working on. Jill has begun the first draft of a new project, and Shannon is researching.
We’ll be writing today, tomorrow, and Friday and would love for you to join us! You can drop a comment in the blog post to share what you’re working on or how many words you’ve written and whatever else you’d like for us to know. Whether you’re drafting, editing, researching, or plotting, you’re welcome to join us!
Happy writing!
I working on wrapping up the first draft of my WIP – only 4 chapters to go!!! I think I wrote about 1K words yesterday, and hopefully I’ll write that many or more today. Good luck in all your writing!
May I just note that reading The Lost Girl of Astor Street greatly aided my writing productivity last week? I figured out how to motivate myself – I get to read a chapter of somebody else’s book every time I finish writing two pages of my own :). All the intrigue in The Lost Girl of Astor Street kept me going! Thank you!
*I’m
Hannah, this comment has made my day and is motivating ME to keep writing today! The book I’m working on now has some Lost Girl connections 🙂
I’m getting pretty close to the end of my first draft– I say close, though there’s still alot to write– I’m sort of in uncharted territory, because this is actually the farthest I’ve ever made in the first draft of a novel!!!! ? It’s got my head spinning just a little, but I can fix things in edits. I’m just excited I’ve made it so far! ?
P.S. Good luck on your stories, guys! I hope you are all having fun and getting lots of writing done! ?
Wow! Congratulations! I’m also rejoicing at being SOOOO CLOSE to the end of a novel. I wrote a middle grade mystery a couple years ago – it was terrible and had a meandering plot, and I now am embarrassed that I tried to get it published – but that was only about 31,000 words and my current WIP is 55,000 words and counting, so that’s exciting!!!! I already know that I need to rewrite the entire beginning in edits (way too rushed), but it’s still exciting to be so near to completion!
Thanks! Awesome! Haha, I have some old manuscripts I *tried* to write, but they got nowhere. My computer is screaming at me to clear some memory… I’d like to delete those old attempts, but I’m a little afraid to!
I’m kind of proud of my opening, though I admit, it needs a bit of work. There are some chapters that I had so much fun writing, and it took me forever to write, then I look back, and they’re only 2 pages! I need to do some bulking up there.
Riley, that’s so exciting! Yes, it’s normal to feel overwhelmed at this stage. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with mine too and just keep thinking, “I can fix it in edits, but i have to finish first.” Keep going!
Hi! It’s so cool that you’re all in the Seattle area–that’s where I am too.
I’m currently working through the second draft of my WIP (which I wrote the first draft of last spring). So far, it’s going really well, although I’m surprising myself by how much I need to change, and by how much I thought I would change that is staying the same. It’s also a little scary, because I’m having to make choices that will have a ripple effect all through my manuscript. (The GoTeenWriters book on editing is very helpful, though. It’s made me rethink several aspects of my work.)
I’m definitely getting in on this writing party! That house that you’re staying in looks AMAZING. I hope that you all have fun!
Hi, Naomi! It’s a gorgeous day here, isn’t it? This is the first day since we’ve been here that we’ve been able to see the mountains. You live in a gorgeous part of the country!
Congratulations on working on your second draft! That’s a big step. Just make sure to save a copy of what you already have, and then if you get into edits and decide to undo something, it won’t be so difficult. I’m glad to hear the Go Teen Writers book has been helpful!
Currently about halfway through the first draft of my WIP, having just gotten rid of a major case of writer’s block. Unfortunately, the idea I had to get rid of it requires rewriting everything I’ve written so far, so that’ll be soo fun to edit out. Cutting out major characters to reintroduce them later in the story is a lot of work, but hopefully it’ll be worth it!
Good luck to everyone else on their writing, no matter what stage your in!
Ugggggh, Maya. That’s so much hard work. YAY for busting through your writer’s block, though! I’m happy you’re writing with us 🙂
I’m working on the second half of my first draft (around Uni and work)! I recently added in several new plot lines, so I’m going back and changing some stuff around to make sense. Hope everyone is able to walk their procrastination on the head and be productive
It’s hard to fit writing in around school OR work, so to be fitting it around both is incredible, Eva! I’m in a similar place as you with my story. I spent the first day here trying to get some new threads added to the first half so that I could press into the second part of the story. Thanks for writing with us!
You should put a live camera in this room so we all can enjoy this view while we are writing! How amazing is that spot? 🙂
Isn’t it lovely? I’m landlocked where I live, so being able to see the ocean while I write feels pretty amazing!
Ahhh, that room is lovely!! I’m working on two stories at the moment: one that’s an old idea I’m dusting off and doing some planning and research so I can figure out how to rewrite it, and then one that’s a totally new contemporary, I’m just writing for fun to see where it goes. Both are, slowly but surely, making their progress!
Happy writing everyone!!
Alexa
“Slowly but surely” is a fine way to get manuscripts done!
That view is amazing!
Currently, I’m working on finishing my WIP. Only a few more chapters left to go! I’m so excited to finish, as this will be the second novel I’ve finished writing (in the midst of editing the other one).
Yay, you’re so close!!!