Update on my writing goal
I set a goal. It was challenging, but doable if I could just write 2000 words a day, five days a week for all the weeks of June and July. I would have a new Regency Romance novel to pitch to agents and editors at an upcoming writers’ conference.
I did set the week of July 4th aside. That’s a big holiday for our family, and I knew I wouldn’t write anything while we celebrated the birth of our nation.
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That left me eight weeks to write a full-length novel, and a week and a half to polish it. It would require everything I had. And until this last week, I was on target.
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But then life happened.
Renovation setbacks, a death in the family, family birthdays and parties (at my house), out of town guests. And more.
My writing slowed down. Way down. Even though I’ve written more than 3/4 of the novel, I only have eight days left. Can I write five chapters in that time?
Yes. If that’s all I did, I probably could.
But the obstacles and interruptions of my life must still be addressed. And even if I finished, it wouldn’t be a polished manuscript. At least not to a standard that I would be proud of.
I am sorry to say that I had to readjust the timeline of my goal.
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I will finish this novel, and very soon. Then I will take the time I need to polish it and have it editing until I feel it is ready for you to read.
After that, I have a few options. 1. Publish independently. the first novel in a new regency romance series. 2. Save the file until the next writer’s conference and pitch it then. 3. Go through the query letter process and see what happens.
I’ll decide after the romance is 100% written.
It would be easy to get a little depressed about not reaching my goal in the time I set, but I choose to look at it through a different lens.
I wrote nearly an entire novel in six weeks. For me, that is unprecedented! And I love William and Christiana’s story.
I tried a different writing process, and honed my craft a little more .
I also have a whole new series, with at least two additional books, to look forward to.
And I’ve discovered some things about myself as a writer, about why I write, what I love about writing, and how I measure my success as an author (I’ll blog about this another time).
I’m sorry to disappoint, but I hope you will bear with me as I finish this project, and bring William and Christiana to a happily ever after.
Then I will write my short Christmas novel (part of a multi-author project),.
And before the end of the year, I will finish writing the fourth novel in the Rebel Hearts series, Lord Harcourt’s Heist.
I have to slow down my writing for a minute to take care of some life things, but there is still a lot of romance coming your way in the last few months of 2025.