As a creature of habit who likes to work on one project at a time, flexibility is a skill I’ve really had to learn since becoming a professional writer. Sometimes you’re excited about a new story idea. You write up a synopsis. You get your agent’s blessing. You outline several chapters in excruciating detail. And then you sit down to write just as an email hits your inbox, asking you to work on something completely different instead! That’s okay. That’s what happens when there are multiple irons in the fire — there’s always going to be one that needs more immediate attention, most likely when you’re busy with one of the others.
This is all to say, after that last newsletter about looking forward to drafting Heart Book . . . I have switched to another project. (Ugh, this Julie Dao chick can’t keep it together! She has no follow-through! I’m unsubscribing!) HOWEVER, I will still be drafting. And Shining Book is going to be really, really fun. My pitch got enthusiastically approved, I spent all weekend brainstorming, and today I outlined the first few chapters. I’m going to try to pump out one hundred pages by the end of July. Let’s see if I can do it.
I made a word count spreadsheet that I have used for every book I’ve written in the past six or seven years. It’s one of my favorite motivational tools, along with the sticker calendar I still keep as a visual reminder of exactly how much I’ve worked — especially when it feels like I’m just trudging along or spending most of my time staring into space. I shared it on Twitter a while back, but I’ll post it again below for any paid subscribers who are interested.
You may remember that I wanted to write Heart Book because I was craving a gentle, joyous story. I needed an escape from darkness. I mean, just look at the state of everything. So go away, murder and spooky shenanigans! Well, murder and spooky shenanigans didn’t like that one bit. They whispered, “We’ll show her,” and crept up behind me before my head could fill with rainbows and butterflies, and now I’m obsessed with this new book. I hope it will be enough of an escape in its own way!
I’ve described the initial drafting process as my “honeymoon phase” of writing and I’m now experienced enough to know that it won’t last, and that is natural. There will be moments of doubt, self-criticism, and creative blockage, always around the 35K-40K word mark. Does that happen to anyone else? What is it about that specific point in a manuscript? Maybe it’s becoming real and that’s intrinsically frightening? Or it’s the point at which I’ve come so far that I know I shouldn’t just stop?
Struggling is just part of my process. Writing a book is hard. Notwithstanding all of the publishing drama and the public scrutiny I get as a woman of color, being an author is the relatively “easy” part of my career. Being a writer, on the other hand, is where I need my grit, stubbornness, and persistence the most. And strangely enough, as I cycle through woe and hatred and soliloquize on why I fought so hard for something that only wants to torment me, being a writer is also my favorite part.
I want to struggle. I want it to be a challenge. I want an uphill climb, because that’s the only way I will level up as a writer. I won’t learn if I’m writing the same story over and over, the same characters, the same beats, the same worlds. I won’t learn if I stay in my comfort zone. I won’t learn if I don’t try new things. Do it scared, right?
Now, without further ado, here is the Excel spreadsheet I use to track my word count, complete with formulas and a detailed description of what each cell tells me. A few disclaimers before you dive in:
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