I know, I know, you're all wondering. "Z.D., did you do it? Did you meet your self-imposed deadline of completing your first draft by the first of April???"
And the answer is: No. Alas, I did not. But I came damn close.
How close? On the last day of March, I had precisely three chapters left to write--the climax of the story & the immediate aftermath. On the 31st, I knew there was no way I'd have the time to write all of that, so I used that day to write a detailed outline. One good, long afternoon in a coffee shop* & the draft will be complete. So I'm feeling Ok about the whole thing. Had this been a hard deadline for an editor or agent, I would have taken the last week off of work to focus on writing & had time to spare. Self-imposed deadlines can have a bit of flexibility, so long as the spirit of the venture is met. Right?
So on April 1st, the draft stood at 103k words, 40 chapters--but that's a rough draft. There's nothing like spilling out a raw story to help one understand just how badly it needs refinement. I've got tightening to do, some scenes to scrap entirely (don't be afraid to kill your darlings, my friends), & some theme clarification to polish throughout. Ultimately I don't want this to be more than 90k words in length, preferably closer to 80k. As a debut author, I can't risk an over-long manuscript.
Here are the goals for the second quarter of 2021:
Today I still have the last two chapters to write, but that's been a deliberate choice. Writing a climactic finale is something I do best when I have an uninterrupted chunk of time to focus; lucky me, I have a four day weekend, starting tomorrow. The idea is to finish my rough draft by Friday night, then use Saturday to review, complete my chapter summary, & sketch out my current outline to help with revision later. I already have a couple comp books waiting on my bedside table. So keep cheering for me across the universe, folks! New quarter means new set of goals, & a building wave of excitement!
*Not an option at this point in my pandemic life, but when you've done it often enough, "long afternoon in a coffee shop" becomes a measurement of time in the writing world. Michael Munz would back me up on this.