Notes from the Margins: My Week in Words

Weekly update on my first draft

Hi folks! I hope we’re all well. I thought it would be fun to do a Friday check-in regarding my work in progress. For those of you unaware, I am writing a fantasy novel heavily inspired by my life growing up in Cornwall. It keeps getting bigger and sweeping me along with it. I won’t say much more — spoilers and all that.

Something New:
This week was a big one in terms of my organisation. That might sound like an odd thing to be excited about for a writer. How does one organise a first draft? For 2 years, I have happily typed my ever-growing book into Google Docs, and now I find myself faced with a never-ending ream of text. I was feeling unmotivated just looking at it, and so I bit the bullet and downloaded Scrivener.

(Not-spon, but wow.)

This software has revolutionised my writing and enabled me to organise my book in a way that is easy to access and digest, all while giving me tools to make sure I have all the research and notes I need at my fingertips. I am so impressed and look forward to using it every day. (I’ve colour-coded every scene by how complete it is, and okie dokes do I need to get cracking).

Word Count:
Currently, we are looking at 78,141 words for my first draft. An incomprehensible number of words to me, and probably more than everything else I’ve ever written in my life combined.
And I’m an English Lit graduate.
I’ve set myself a 120,000 goal with the intention to cut, so I am over halfway to being finished and finding it easier and easier to write every day. (Most of the time)

Obstacles Overcome:
I was having an issue this week with working out how to present my FMC with an opportunity to demonstrate her agency. I had reworked the first chapter after finding a more me way of starting the book, pulling the timeline forward, and consequently ended up cutting a lot from the beginning. Hence, I needed to find a new way to show that my FMC is a force to be reckoned with from the off.

I was really stuck, and so I went back to good old printer paper and felt-tip pens. I worked out who I wanted to be involved in this scene, the setting, and her motive, and did the roughest hash of a storyboard ever seen — but it worked. I figured out who was where and when and why, and it came together in five coloured boxes.
A win for Crayola markers.

Things I’m Excited For:
After finding myself in a pit of author content on Instagram, I have realised I am so excited for the first draft to be complete, and for the rewrite to begin. I plan on completely rewriting my story when I start my second draft, which might seem like madness to some, but I believe it’ll be the only way for me personally to develop my story without being bogged down by what I have already written.
I am excited to get to this stage, and I have already purchased my flashcards for scene breakdowns, hehe.

I also started my serialised story; ‘a day in the life of Death’, which I have begun to post on my Substack. It’s something I’m using to prove to myself that I can still write other characters and settings, and is helping my creativity flow in different ways to those I’ve become accustomed to.

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I thought this would be a fun little segment for me to do now and again to keep myself accountable, but also to show you the importance of celebrating the wins and navigating the potholes along the way.

Are you working on a first draft? How did your week go?

Rosie xx

** You might have noticed my ‘Buy Me A Coffee’ link within my post. I am only asking for a little support for my writing if you are able or would like to do so. Please do not feel obliged to buy me anything. xx