Hello everyone! So, once again, I skipped a week for this Writing Update. However, it has less to do with inspiration and more to do with life. I have actually had a very good writing week. Although I am still in Act 1, I am pretty pleased with the progress I have made.

Up until this point, I was concerned with moving through the story and with my word count, that I was not letting the scenes or the characters breath. This left me very unsatisfied with some of my writing. I am doing my best to shave off some words from my word count in this draft, but I do not want to sacrifice the characters and the story in the process. This draft is supposed to be all about strengthening both the characters and the plot and if that means making the chapters a little longer and letting the characters explore their feelings, then so be it. Word count can be a concern for a later draft.

Part of the reason I didn’t update last week was that I had to re-outline some chapters to fix the pacing. So I spent the previous weekend planning out the next few chapters. Hopefully that outline will remain solid throughout the rest of Act 1.

My goal is still to have Act 1 finished by the end of March. Then, I will look over it once or twice, make some minor changes, and move onto Act 2. Once I am done with this whole draft, I plan on doing a draft 3.5, which will focus less on strengthening the plot and more on making the writing better (and cutting words if possible).

In the upcoming week, I am hoping to complete at least one more chapter. I should then have three or four more chapters until I break into Act 2.

Until next time, kill your darlings, slay your dragons, and keep writing!