2022 was a bit of a mixed bag, but here's to you!
You made it through. Thank you for all your support this last year. It's meant the world to me. Every comment, like, or reaction to my posts has kept me going. I hope you have a fantastic New Year. I hope that 2023 is kind to you, and I hope that you find the good things outweighing this coming year. All my love and best wishes to you for 2023 Ari xx
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Seasons greetings, and happy holidays
Can you believe we've only got 8 days left of 2022? How is it even December already?! How is it Xmas Eve tomorrow?! This might be the most wonderful time of the year, but it's also the busiest! So, do you wanna find out what I've been up to? Alright then, let's dig in... You may have noticed, since I haven't posted an update on my Nano Word Count since day ten, that my Nano isn't going well.
I had plans to beat my July record of 74k in 30 days, but honestly, I forgot how chaotic the November Nano always is for me. I've only completed the November version of Nanowrimo once, and only then by the skin of my teeth. Between family members having to go for unanticipated hospital check-ups, a series of migraines I've suffered myself, and an unfortunate case of writers fatigue, I'm wasn't even on track to hit 50k, let alone my stretch goal of 90k and a completed manuscript. Then I had a solid week where no writing. During that time I did some more editing on Changeling, so managed to get another 2 chapters sorted. And then I went to book my editor... Hello everyone, it's been a hell of a month! Ready for an update? Let's dig in... Since my last update... Since my last update, I've been taking part in Nanowrimo. I had plans to beat my July record of 74k in 30 days, but honestly, I forgot how chaotic the November Nano always is for me. I've only completed the November version of Nanowrimo once, and only then by the skin of my teeth. Between family members having to go for unanticipated hospital check-ups, a series of migraines I've suffered myself, and an unfortunate case of writers fatigue, I'm not currently on track to even hit the 50k, let alone my stretch goal of 90k and a completed manuscript. But I have made some progress, around 10k words. Small, but still progress. I'm sitting comfortably at chapter seven, and if I can get to just chapter 10 over the next couple of weeks, I'll consider it a success. Plans for the coming month... As I mentioned, I'd like to reach and complete up to chapter ten of the Darkling first draft this month, despite my delays so far. That should get me another 10k or so, and hopefully I can continue writing into December, although at a decreased rate. If November is busy, then December, for me, is chaos. I don't anticipate getting too much work done next month. I am hoping to order the cover for Changeling around the end of November, however, and I'm greatly looking forward to seeing what the design ends up looking like after I've talked it over with the designer. I also want to really crack down on the final self-edits of the remaining Changeling Chapters. So I've got coming up too! Want to see more?My newsletter subscribers get to see sneak peeks first, hear my updates earlier, and gain access to an exclusive flash fiction sent straight to their inbox.
If you'd like to never miss one of my updates, and see these exclusive pieces of bonus content, consider sign up for my newsletter via Sign Up Page! And... we're officially well behind lol.
It's okay though. There's still time. And even if I write nothing else this month, I've made 5k progress! I have plans for making this weekend a 10k weekend to try and catch up. Gonna set myself up with a Social Media ban, and just write all day on Saturday and Sunday, and see where I end up. The last five days weren't a complete collection of zero days though. Although I didn't count any of it for nano, I did spend some time editing another chapter of Changeling. That needed some rewriting. So I've got some words in, just none of the words I actually needed. The 787 words I did get were done between 11 pm and midnight on the 10th, so right at the 11th hour. I'm hoping that's a sign of things beginning to pick up again. How's everyone else doing? November is always my worst month for writing. It doesn't matter how carefully I plan, something always crops up.
This year, that something was a hospital checkup for my mum that I had to help out with. She's fine, the outpatient procedure went well, and she's recovering at home, but it's made the start of Nano a slower one than I'd like. Not only haven't I managed to get the 3-4 day buffer I prefer to have in place by the end of the first week, but I've actually fallen a little bit behind. And considering this year my goal is bigger than I've ever aimed for, I'll admit to being a little concerned. But the thing is there's no point stressing. All words are good words, and all forward progress is good progress. And if I have to keep writing into December, then I do! How's everyone elses words coming? On target? Ahead? Or behind, like me! Let me know in the comments <3 Day One...
We're trying to break my own record this month. My previous record was set in July of this year, when I wrote 74k in 30 days. But to complete Darkling by the end of the month, or close enough, I need to hit 90k. 90k in 30 days. 3,000 words a day. Can I do it? Who knows! But even if I fail, I'll be drastically closer to the end of the book than I am right now. Day 1 we're already under target, but I've been editing since August, so it's going to take me a little time to get back into the writing mindset. I don't transition between one and the other very easily. I'll be posting updates every 5 days across my social's for accountability, and now it's time to dig in. What's everyone else working on this month? What are your wordcount goals? The traditional 50k? Or have you upped/lowered your goal for your lifestyle and project needs? Hello everyone! We're slap bang in the middle of autumn, and on the lead-up to spooky season. It's also the lead-up to Nanowrimo! So I'm all sorts of busy! Do you want to hear about what I've been working on? Alright then! Let's dig in... Since my last update... I have been stuck in an editing spiral. My self edits have five layers I have to go through for each chapter. This means I can spend anywhere from 2-6 hours working on one chapter at a time. If I wasn't literally watching the final product improve, and tighten up, right before my eyes, I'm sure I'd have given up by now. But it is improving. The prose is getting tighter. So I just keep on keeping on. I don't have a whole lot more to say about the editing. It's taking me painfully longer than I estimated. That's something I'm going to have to keep in mind moving forward, and for future projects. While I'm a little over 50% of the way through my edits, I did have to battle lots of health problems at the beginning of the process, and I have sped up considerably since the beginning of October. Plans for the coming month... Simply put, I plan to continue editing until the end of October. But once November 1st hits, finished or not, I'm gonna be switching gears to continue working on Darkling. My Nano record word count is 74,000 words, and I'm hoping to beat it by trying for... well, honestly, I'll be trying for as many words as I can possibly cram it. But I'll treat myself to a nice bottle of White Zinfandel if I can hit 100k in 30 days. Just like I did in July, I'll be updating my word counts every 5-or-so days on my social media platforms, and my website. If you'd like an opportunity to see some early sneak peeks about Darkling's story progression, you should consider signing up for my newsletter too! Want to see more? My newsletter subscribers get to see sneak peeks first, hear my updates earlier, and gain access to an exclusive flash fiction sent straight to their inbox.
If you'd like to never miss one of my updates, and see these exclusive pieces of bonus content, consider sign up for my newsletter via Sign Up Page! It's September! It's officially autumn!
It's also my favourite time of year! It helps that my birthday is at the beginning of the month, but it's not just that. I love the sharp crispness to the air in the early mornings. I like how the sun is still bright, but you often get a cool breeze to even out the heat. I love watching the leaves on the trees change colour, although it's still a little early for that here at the moment. Autumn has always seemed such a magical time of year for me, and I find it very inspiring. That said, I've been busy tapping into the creative energy this time of year always fills me with, and I've been making excellent progress on the Fey Touched trilogy. Do you want to hear what I've been working on? Alright then! Let's dig in... This updates a little later in the month that I usually like, but we're on the final day of August and I wanted to keep you all in the loop on the things that are happening right now. Are we all ready for this update? Oh good! Let's dig in... Since my last update...I gave a brief update on the progress of Changeling at the beginning of August, but the last time I did a proper update was the middle of July.
I was neck deep in Camp Nanowrimo, and the UK was in fighting through a record breaking heatwave. I'm pleased to say I survived the weather (just) and that Changeling's first draft was completed! I got a huge majority of the words down in July, a nice 72k, and finished up the final five or six chapters during the first 11 days of August. Since then I've been alternating between Changeling Edits, and the first few chapters of it's sequel, Darkling... *Crawls into the room, panting...* *Staggers over to the desk...* *Slams down a stack of papers...* Fucking did it! The manuscript for Changeling, Book One of the Fey Touched Trilogy, is complete at 108,623 words.
I started working on Changeling in July of 2021. I wrote up to chapter 16, which was about 30,000 words and then stalled. So this June I went back to that first 16 chapters, and I rewrote what I'd already done from scratch, and then launched straight into Camp Nanowrimo in July. But I've been tracking my numbers since July 2021 and these are my final statistics...
Now I just have to edit the monster. I'll be taking a day off today, and then continuing on with the sequel, Darkling, tomorrow. And to celebrate, there's a tiny, final, sneak peek from the last chapter of Changeling, beneath the read more... Greetings, and happy July! I thought I'd combine my monthly update, with my Camp Nano update this time, so this post might get a little longer than usual. Are we ready for an update? Oh good! Let's dig in... Since my last update...Honestly, this month being a Camp Nano month has been a relief, since my main PC decided to die on me, and the rebuild has been scattered with nothing but problems.
The RAM arrived damaged and I had to send it back. Then I discovered my Power Supply was too old, and didn't have the required connectors, so I had to wait on a delivery for that part. Then the build kept flagging up various errors, so the motherboard and cpu had to get sent back to the suppliers, and I'm now waiting on testing of those parts. Being able to sit in my living room on a chromebook and just write to avoid my troubles has been a life saver for my mental state this month. It was sunrise at 4am this morning, and what a beautiful sunrise it was. Dawn, a new day. A new MONTH in fact... and this month, is Camp Nanowrimo once more. I always try to take part in the Nano events because I feel that whether I meet my target goal or not, I've still made progress. And all words are good words! Having said that, this Camp Nano is important to me. I am officially on a tight deadline for completing Changeling in time for publication next year. I must have the final draft complete before the end of July. That makes my 70k word count for July all the more important to focus on, complete, and hopefully get a little ahead of. I work well on tight deadlines, and this isn't the first time I'll have made 70k in a month but I've got to admit; I'm still nervous! I hope everyone's successful in their projects this month. Let me know what you're working on in comments, tags and/or reblogs! ... And wish me luck! May the odds be in our favor! <3 ;-) P.S It really was a beautiful sunrise this morning.
For more images, click the Read More and take a look at some of the shots I got! Time for a check-in on the writing front! I said, on my website, that I wouldn't be doing a writing update until July but I've sorted out a bit of a schedule for myself in an attempt to manage my time better, and it's allowed me to slot in an update here in June.
So let's have at it, then! I realise that my Writing Exercises and Updates have been a little sparse since March. I've been particularly busy and haven't had as much opportunity to write as I'd have liked.
I'll be putting all new Writing Exercises and Writing Updates officially on hold until July, at which point I'll be changing up my regular posting to give myself a little more breathing room... Hello everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful new year! It’s the first weekly update of 2021, can you believe it? I can’t!
For those of you who might be new here, welcome! Every week, on a Sunday, I post a short update. What I’ve been doing the previous week, what I hope to work on in the coming week, and (where possible) a snippet of something I’ve been working on, or a piece of behind-the-scenes world building. I figure Sundays are the best day to start these update posts. What I did last week, what my goals are for next week, and a tiny snippet of something from whatever I've been working on So, last week was focussed on editing my "Stolen" manuscript. It was going well, until I discovered that I need to do a complete overhaul of chapters 11 and 12 for certain, and possibly chapter 13 and 14 as well. I took a couple of days away from the manuscript so I could come back with fresh eyes but it's just confirmed the need for the overhaul. That said, that's what I intend to focus on this coming week. Obviously, not much is going to get done on the 24th/25th of December, but I'm hoping to at least get through Chapter 11 on the 20th/21st and Chapter 12 on the 22nd/23rd, and then I can tackle Chapter 13 on the 26th/27th. If I get a bit ahead, all the better, but I certainly don't want to rush. That will only lead to another overhaul on my next pass through the manuscript. As for the social media side of things, I got all my pages up and running now, and while my website is also up and running it's easily 90% Lorem Ipsum text right now. If I get stuck in editing I might take some time aside to write up some small pieces for the website, but in the meantime it'll just stay Lorem Ipsum, probably until the new year. For a little 'Behind the Scenes' Sneak Peek, I wanted to show a small section that I encountered in my edits. I initially wrote this from Reilly's POV, but the chapter is in Stella's, so I had to switch it around a little. "Before we do that; where's that hug you owe me?" the guild master continued, and although Stella could hear the playfulness in his voice, she didn't hesitate. Dropping her now rolled up map onto the table, she stepped around the table and towards Reilly with a grin, letting her arms curl around his waist. Her swift response had surprised him, she could tell from the way he hesitated to return the hug, but Stella let her forehead rest lightly against his shoulder and a moment later Reilly's arms wrapped around her. |
Arista Holmes
I'm a writer in her thirties, who is based in the South East of England. Archives
March 2024
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