This month of July I survived the heatwaves and while joining Camp NaNoWriMo finished the second draft for the first prequel to IN GOOD COMPANY (a.k.a. SALT)! I set the goals low so they remained attainable instead of intimidating so much it’d become hindering. Counting only words written for WIPs, I wrote about 16.000 words this month. 

Another month has passed and boy was it a hot one! We’ve had temperatures that broke records from 1944, talk of super heatwaves, and days which I couldn’t miss taking my asthma meds, stayed indoors and under a fan or airco as much as possible because doing anything else would amount to being covered in sweat and mild sensory overload. 

Despite that I had some challenging weeks at my job and my wordcounts aren’t as low as they have been before. I’m pretty happy with the progress. I blogged about 2.530 words, added 3.850 words to my worldbuilding file, and wrote about 13.500 words for the prequel to IN GOOD COMPANY. That makes a total of about 22.500 words written this month!

Which gets me to this months Camp NaNoWriMo. I don’t regularly join NaNo’s but thought I’d join a friend. As you know me, I set the goal low, at 10.000 words and actually won this time!!!

Now I have to decide if I want Scrivener, since I have a 50% off now… 

About this second draft

Well, actually I did mention finishing a second draft earlier, I think. Thing is, I didn’t finish it but started a third draft when I was about halfway. Because that makes zero sense, I switched back to this second one. 

So let’s talk about this project. I wrote a bit about it during my previous writing progress update. It includes the first paragraphs of the WIP, so check it out if you’re interested!

Some facts about this project:

• Had no business thinking I could keep this short and is now a full novel;
• Is the first book in a trilogy which started out as one novelette;
• Is a NA romance set in a fantasy setting with rich worldbuilding;
• Has the protagonist explore relationships, intimacy and consent as an asexual person;
• Has the protagonist explore expectations from those around her as a neurodivergent person (ADD/ASD);
• Will feature a triad (f/f/m) between the two main characters and a character introduced in book 2, in book 2 and 3;
• Will feature a demi-sexual hero in books 2 and 3;
• Has the protagonist learning magic and more in college during book 2;

I will be taking a short break before starting the third draft. During this draft I plan to turn book 1 into dual POV by adding Amias’ POV. This will lead to a more diverse portrayal of the setting, since Khalida comes from a middle class family while Amias’ is less wealthy, and from a “backwater village”. She’s got a very different family dynamic as well, having a big and involved family. Aside from that Amias has her own set of struggles which influence her and Khalida’s relationship which was the main reason I realized they needed to be added to the draft. It’s incomplete without them. 

As I add new chapters for Amias, I’ll also need to edit or even rewrite some chapters I added during this last draft. Many are very rough so they’ll need plenty of work. 

Then there’s the worldbuilding I expanded on which needs to be added and me having become an underwriter, I really need to learn to explain things better in my WIPs. Stop being afraid of telling sh*t! 

All in all, plenty of work left to be done. Wish me luck XD