Chipping Away at a First Draft

I’m currently chipping away at a first draft. It’s a contracted Love Inspired book, and I love the story. The middle chapters aren’t coming together smoothly for me, though, and I’m not writing as many words each day as I want to.

That’s okay. I’m used to this. I typically have to fight for the words at this point in the book, and I’ll have to fight for them in later chapters, too.

To keep the first draft from stalling out, I write every weekday. Sometimes I don’t meet my word count goal (Monday comes to mind!), and sometimes I exceed it. I try not to get mad at myself on the days I come up short.

Part of being a writer is accepting that there will be good and bad writing days. Some books will be harder to write than others. Some writing seasons are busier than others. Sometimes my schedule is so packed I can’t fit another thing into it, and I’m still excited to write. Other times my schedule has nothing on it, and I struggle to even open my laptop, let alone get my word count in.

One thing I’m sure of? Being consistent gets me through a first draft. I write through the what-in-the-world-needs-to-happen-in-this-scene until I know exactly what has to happen next. Each and every day.

All part of the process.

If you’re a writer, are you chipping away at a first draft? Revising? Plotting? I’d love to hear how you’re getting through!

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This Saturday, January 27, 2024, at 5pm EST, I’m joining seven authors of Christian fiction for a Fireside Mingle on Zoom. Get to know us better, and if you’re a US resident, you’ll be entered to win our books! This event is limited to the first 100 people who sign up.

The link to the Google Form is below.

Register for the Fireside Mingle

I hope to see you there!