it's too late to stop me; i know we're gonna get down;

[tiny_ninja]

I should really get better at updating this journal more regularly.

Anyways! Camp NaNo for July is over. I ended the month with 58,032 words. This is well over my initial goal of 35,000 words, which I attribute to two things: one, my vacation and my writing retreat days, where I wrote 11k over the course of two days; and two, hosting word sprints for my NaNo region. We decided against doing full write ins on Discord, since they weren't that popular, but I did have some people pop on for the scheduled sprints.

On the story front, I am almost finished with the first draft of the sequel to With These Hungry Eyes. I am seven scenes away from the end - assuming, of course, I don't feel the need to add anything extra. This is the quickest I have drafted anything this long since I cranked out the first draft of A Hero Lies in You in 2019, which was slightly longer in length and took me two months. I'm almost done in three weeks' time, which leads me to believe that I should keep up the word sprints on Wednesdays and Fridays until I finish up.

I also restarted So Boycott Love. I adapted the scene order to fit the Save the Cat! structure, which I hope will strengthen the story. What I found, though, was that it is a heavy story to write. Which isn't a bad thing, but given my mental state sometimes, writing something that's an angst fest 24/7 doesn't always do me any favors. Still, I'm proud I worked on some original stuff, even if I didn't get as far as I hoped.

Hungry Eyes 2 still needs a title too. I keep debating a few options:

- Canyon Moon, after the Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness song; it's one of Julianne/Darill's theme songs and it can apply to the story, but not in a very obvious way
- No Place Like You, after a Backstreet Boys song that also fits
- What's Meant To Be Will Always Find a Way, after "She's In Love With the Boy" by Trisha Yearwood

Eventually I'll need to decide, but probably not until I finish the draft.

Next on my to do list, aside from finishing up this sequel in time so I can actually edit, is my Press Start assignment. I have my idea, and hopefully it won't take that long (lolsob we've heard this before). I am also toying with what ideas I want to work on for November, as I've proven that I can write quickly if I actually outline a story ahead of time.

....I should probably also get back to posting Angel of Mine too. I can give up my "heavy" editing of every chapter and just... fucking do it. I'll get there.

Comments

[runicmagitek]

Hot damn look at those words!!! That's amazing bb! And what amazing developments too! Really love that you were able to pick up an older piece and figure out what to do with it. That's an amazing feeling. Also, I've been glancing at the Save the Cat! structure to see how my own longfic is looking (not too bad!). That's a really solid plot structure. So many of them feel too rigid and forced, but this one really gets it.

Ooo and I love the title options! I'm vibing with the last one, but they're all solid.

and hopefully it won't take that long (lolsob we've heard this before) I'M IN THIS PICTURE AND I DON'T LIKE IT but maybe this time it will be quick lolsob

Also best of luck with Angel of Mine. I know that one's given you some stress, but I also know you love it and wherever you take it will be amazing, haters be damned. You got this! 💕

[tiny_ninja]

Thanks bb! At some point I'm going to finish So Boycott Love, especially as I have an idea of where to go now. Reading Save the Cat! reminded me of that story so much, because it was the first time I could look at the plot structure and go, "Oh shit, I know what the A story is, I know what the B story is, I know where the fun and games are and how they intertwine, and fuck now I have to write it." It's been really helpful!

Also the last title is the one I keep coming back to, so I think that's a sign~

I still have every intention of finishing Angel of Mine. I probably have 20k already written that just needs to be edited and posted. Just need to remind myself that it's okay if it's not perfect, or that I didn't spend 10 hours+ editing each chapter. Progress over perfection.

[runicmagitek]

I support all of this! 💕💕💕

Also, I don't know if this is helpful, but figured I'd pass along some wisdom or whatever after editing For So Fucking Long - however long it took me to write the first draft of that scene/chapter/oneshot/whatever is typically how long I'll also edit it, give or take an hour or two (this can be per editing pass or total, whatever your story needs imo). Granted, if a draft looks like a ceramic store after an earthquake, it's going to need some more time, but if you've got a solid foundation, you're golden. So if I've got a 6k fic and I write roughly 1.5k an hour, that's 4 hours-ish I spent on it, so if I can edit it in 4 hours, then awesome! If I'm spending 8 or 9 hours on it? I know I need to light a fire under my ass and just fucking ship it.

The hardest part for me with editing was telling myself that I needed to aim for "good enough" and not perfection. It's so hard! D: but you got this 💕 and I'm always here if you want to vent or bounce anything off of me!

[tiny_ninja]

Honestly, I just need to get over the "it must be perfect before I post" thing. It's not like I'm getting comments or anything on this anymore - that could change with a more consistent posting time, I'm sure, but I also know that I've probably lost some readers. I would just like it done, because I happened to enjoy writing this story even if it ended up being for no one but myself.

At this rate, if it's out in the world then I won't sit thinking about it on my harddrive. And maybe then I can write a chapter at a time or something. As a gift. I was going to try and finish AoM in April and uh, that didn't happen lol