Zaria Fierce

Writing book nine has taken longer than I expected it would, so I started a writing journal to help keep track of my writing sprints.

2024-02-24: Wrote 300+ words today.

2024-02-22: I spent a lot of time in the weeds of research back into my own books. It’s amazing to me how much I can recall of my favorite books, but how much harder it is to recall what I’ve spent hundreds of hours writing and editing and reading and hearing when it’s my own series. I made sure to take copious notes. I am officially done with chapter 8. It is 5,089 words in this first draft. TBH I forgot to take note of the word count before I started, so I’m estimating between 300-700 words for today. I am glad I took the time to end it well so there’s no holes or gaps. Onto chapter 9 of book 9 tomorrow!

2024-02-21: 700 words tonight. The end of chapter 8 appears to be in my sights. Maybe one more day of writing. We have some returning faces from previous books and the second half of book nine is underway.

2024-02-19: Forgot to update about yesterday. I made my daily goal. It took a long time but I kept at it until I hit the goal. Today I reached the goal much quicker. We’re 4K in chapter 8 and 37K in the book. The pacing keeps surprising me but that is not a bad thing.

2024-02-17: Wrote 600+ words today and which were harder to write (transitions always feel difficult because you don’t want to break flow but you want to get to next big moment). I’m 36k+ words into book 9. Still working on chapter 8 but getting close to finishing it. I’ll see if I get inspired for another writing session before the end of the day.

2024-02-13: Scene setting today and a little slower paced but here’s to 500 more words 💪

2024-02-08: Another 1000+ words tonight. I ended up stripping out about 50 or so words because I didn’t like the direction the story was taking for one of the kids. Everything’s on track and chapter 8 is even further along. 35K

2024-02-07: A little research done and 1000+ words written tonight, bringing us to 34K in the book. Chapter 8 got a good start tonight.

2024-02-04: I tried honestly I had the laptop open after church and was sitting there telling myself to open the file and I just felt sad (not about the book) but missing mom so I prayed a little while and took a nap. I tried again after dinner but I focused instead on something else. It felt right even if I still feel a little guilty about it. Tomorrow is a new day and it’ll be ok.

2024-01-31: Officially halfway done (33K)! WOO! Also I changed the chapter name. Original chapter name and final chapter name both contain the word “arms” LOL

2024-01-29: 600 words tonight and still somehow not near the end of this chapter even though I’m 3K+ words into the chapter. Just got to keep telling myself I’m almost halfway done with the book! Even if the bar for half way and this chapter keep moving lol in addition I’m Trying to figure out how to link the chapter title with the contents of the chapter, but this chapter just might need a new chapter title. Decisions, decisions.

2024-01-28: 1600 words written today. 32K words total to date in the book. We are leaving Malmdor and heading north to Stabbursdalen National Park. Does anyone remember who is located there? Hint – we know about them but haven’t visited them yet in the series.

2024-01-24: Finally settled on that fourth requirement. Yay! Moving on to the next steps. Approximately 2100 words left to go for this chapter / to reach the halfway point in the book.

2024-01-11: No writing tonight. Decompressing and working on that 4th idea in a list of things for the book. I had some good sounding boards with Josh, Tammy, and Michele so I think I have a few good options to ponder.

2024-01-10: Eh… some words on paper still trying to noodle out this fourth item so I can continue the story. About 100 words tonight and some research.

2024-01-09: Officially at 30K words and counting! I made my daily word quota by a factor of x1.6 (800) and the new chapter is off to a good start. I am noodling what to make as a 4th thing in a list of things. Is that vague enough? lol!

2024-01-08: Made a little headway today and avoided a rewrite catastrophe lol the lesson learned here is counting is fundamental!

2024-01-07: Finished chapter 6 and exceeded my word count goal! Woo hoo! Time to reward myself.

2024-01-06: I was making a push to finish chapter six, which I haven’t done, but I did write more than double my word goal (1000). I connected two parts of the chapter together which is great and in the process had to edit who said what as characters shifted around with what they were doing but that was easy enough. I am at 138 pages in and almost 29K words and the chapter currently sits around 3.2K words. Taking a break and may return to knock out more writing later.

2024-01-04: A couple of starts and stops today but I got there. Some research had to be redone because I couldn’t find my old research. I had a lovely helpful chat with Michele Carpenter and got some motivation to keep going. Finished tonight with 1500 words written. Yay!

2024-01-03: Finished a pun off in the chapter I am working on. It definitely stretches the noodle. Hit word goal (500).

2023-11-15: I got a little bit of research done tonight did a forensic dive into my previously written books to ensure that I had all of the correct information that was kind of fun. It’s always interesting to see what you still have in your head that hasn’t made it to paper versus what’s already made it to print, this trilogy has taken a turn that I was not originally expecting but in retrospect, I really should have because I’ve put all of the groundwork in and laid all the clues for it just goes to show you that everything is new when you give yourself a little bit of a break, and it makes it fun again.

2023-11-12: Hurray! I managed to get in some writing this weekend and met my goal for today. Glad I settled in tonight to try because I got past the next transition.

2023-11-07: Small progress, not as much as I had hoped. I did not meet the daily writing goal. Maybe got half the goal (250)? I wasn’t able to focus on it tonight. I spent time cleaning up some of the writing from yesterday and other parts on visual research. I will try again tomorrow.

2023-11-06: Finished a chapter! Wrote 1.5 times the daily writing goal (1500). I’m two chapters from the halfway point in the story. Things are starting to pick up.

2023-11-02: Slightly less than my daily word goal. I made up for that with a little bit of research.

2023-11-01: Wrote again tonight. I wrote 1.5 times my writing goal (750). 50% more than I planned. It feels good and now we’re getting to a really fun scene that I can’t wait to write. All the prep work is in place. Now it’s time for a show!

2023-10-26: I wasn’t up to writing the last few nights, but tonight I made up for it by writing double my word count goal (1000). Zaria and Christoffer just had a heart to heart. Now they’re up to a spine chilling task.

2023-10-23: I exceeded my word count for the day! Hurray! Not as much as yesterday, but a solid respectable number. I’m about halfway through a chapter at this point. I am 2.5 chapters from reaching the halfway point in the book.

2023-10-22: It took a long time to find the motivation to start today, but I told myself I had to write something. Even if it was small. Even if it was just 100 words. Something. Anything. I am so proud to say that I committed the time and sat down to write and when I did not only did I write that 100 words, I crossed 100 pages into the manuscript, and I met twice my normal writing goal (1000). I guess the characters knew what was going to happen and were just waiting for me to be ready. Writing is definitely about perseverance, commitment, and dedication. It is good to get back into the habit of it again. I am very grateful.

2023-10-18: Today was a good day. I didn’t get new writing done, but I re-read and finessed another chapter. One last chapter to review before I continue the story in earnest. Somehow the word count in the document went up again. I call this “potatoes” when I flesh out the story where the “meat” was before.

2023-10-17: I did manage to get to the manuscript eventually. I logged about 30 minutes of edits. I will take wins where I can get them.

2023-10-16: I am working on writing book nine again. I took a very (very) long break to focus on other personal matters and I’m hoping this will help me get back into the right headspace to be consistent in my efforts. I listened again to all my books (1-8) by the talented Michele Carpenter. I have jotted down some reminders to myself to include. I have reread and lightly edited (nothing plot specific, just sentence structure) the first few chapters. This actually increased my word count slightly. It always amazes me when I hear writers have to cut things out. I tend to always add things in! My hope is another update tomorrow.