April Camp NaNo 2020 Wrap-Up (actually just a writing update in general)

Via Tenor.com

I'm back, y'all.

Thanks for all your kind wishes on my last post. I'm doing quite a bit better now that I've had some time to sort though things.

A few weeks ago, Nicole posted a writing update and it reminded me that I haven't really given a proper update in a long time. Sure, I give brief updates on my seasonal wrap-ups, but I never really go into any detail. I'm hoping to remedy that here.

I'm just going to give updates on Camp NaNo, my major WIPs, and all that jazz. If you're new and haven't yet heard of some of these projects, check out the "About My Books" tab in the menu! I have info about each of my books, what the inspiration was behind it, and where they stand in their drafting/editing process.

~Camp NaNo~

Camp actually went really well, despite me not actually reaching the word count goal I set. I didn't end up needing 50k at all. I wrote one book and finished another, plus did a bunch of plotting and other misc. stuff. So instead of pushing myself to reach that goal for no other reason except to say that I did it, I decided to be happy with reaching my actual goal. 

Yes, I know I could have changed the goal, but the whole thing where the website announced EVERY. LITTLE. THING to your entire cabin was so annoying that I just didn't want to bother. Like, no, I don't want the entire world knowing that I reduced my goal, thanks.

That was my one complaint with the new site. I get why they included the feature because milestones often get glossed over in the cabin and having the announcements encouraged the cabinmates to cheer each other on, but it got real annoying real fast. 

Overall, I enjoyed my Camp experience. It was fun to see the changes that they made to the website. I liked that I could be in more than one cabin. I ended up in three, actually, which was fun! 

So yeah, that's what happened there. 

~The Reylance Trilogy~

Back in January, I started querying The Dawn of a Hero. I'm doing just a few agents at a time. I sent out a batch of five then and I plan on sending five more this month. It's been...interesting. I thought rejections would hurt more?? But I just kind of shrugged them off? I was telling Jules over the phone one day that I had sort of coached myself on how I was going to respond and I guess it's working. But anyway, no measurable progress there, but I am finally in the querying process. It'll probably be a long process without much to update on, but that's what's happening there. 

I also made notes for The Fall of Chemmit and had planned on starting my edits back in March, but just wasn't able to because Jules and I were working on finishing up edits for SSaS and I didn't have the time/brain cells to focus on two projects, so I'm hoping to start them this month. I'm really excited about adding more to the political structure of this world. World-building is something I struggle with, but after working on Ships, Secrets, and Survivors and creating an entirely different world, I feel like I have a lot more tools in my tool-belt to beef Reylance up. 

Anyway, I'm hoping at least get through half of the story in May. It entirely depends on how much work I have to do on other projects, but I'm pretty confident that I can get a good bit of it done. 

I also started my rewrite of The Rise of the Prisoner earlier this year, but set it aside for little while. I plan to just pound it out in July during Camp, Lord willing, instead of dragging it out over the course of the year. It's bound to be an emotional book and I really don't want to have it drag on and on if I can just finish it in a month.  

Lately, I've felt a lot of weird emotions over this series, both positive and negative. On the negative side, I'm kind of getting burned out over writing it. I've gone through and edited the first book 8 times and I feel like I could stand to do another 1-2 on my own before I even start working with a publishing company. A part of me gets discouraged about it, but I often have to remind myself that this book shows how much I've grown as an author. Yes, it still has a ways to go and I have things I still want to change, but I should be proud of how far its come and that I even stuck with it this far. 

But also, positively, I'm encouraged that I'm starting this next step by querying it. It's been so long since I got to do a "next step" with this series that it feels nice to push out of my comfort zone and try something new.

So anyway, I'm pressing onwards and I can't wait to see what happens in the future!

~Ships, Secrets, and Survivors~

The beta read for Ships, Secrets, and Survivors is done-ish!! I'm so happy that this little story has reached this point. Jules and I worked double-time to get this story all polished up and we're so happy that it reached the hands of other readers.

We'll be diving back into edits for Ships now that the beta read is over.

~Monsters of Our Making Series~

Miracle of miracles, I finished The Gingerhaired Girl during Camp as well. This book wasn't quite done in November, so I had to go through and write a couple thousand words more. I'm really happy with it!

I also ironed out some details for book 3, which I'm soooooo excited about. I've got quite a bit of research to do for this book, as it's set in a country I know next to nothing about, but I can't wait to see how it comes together!

~Overall Writing Things!~

I crested my 10th first draft novel when I completed The Gingerhaired Girl! That's only including novels I wrote by myself. It would be more if I included SSaS, but I count that differently.

I also decided, after a lot of prayer and discussion, that I won't be attending Realm Makers this year, which I thought I'd be disappointed about, but I'm actually kind of relieved because it's one less thing to stress about. I am hoping to go next year, Lord willing!

So anyway, it's been a good time for writing! I'm really proud of everything so far and I can't wait to see what happens in the near future!

Onto y'all! What have you been up to? Did you participate in Camp NaNo? What sorts of things have you managed to accomplish in the quarantine? Or are you struggling to find inspiration? Let me know how I can cheer you on down below!