It’s early. I’ve been up for hours. It’s time to put a bow on February.
Monthly Stats:
- 30439 words drafted
- 7416 words revised*
- 1 project submitted
*It should be way more than this. I got so deep into revisions I stopped accurately tracking my progress.
February was a month of obsession. Fitting, I suppose, with Valentine’s Day and all that.
On January 16th, I submitted Draft 2 of [REDACTED ADULT ROMACE]… and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’d been consumed, possessed, by this story and needed to finish it.
By January 23rd, I was losing it. I reread my draft three times! Three! Just for fun! I needed to be back in the world so that’s what I did on February 2nd.
I officially completed Draft 3 on February 22nd. In less than twenty days, I wrote over 25k new words and revised the entire manuscript. You can imagine how much the rest of my life suffered. I barely did anything else except write**. The morning I finished I was a bundle of nerves as I emailed my editor to ask if I could swap drafts. This one was so much better! I’d changed so much! It had a proper ending I was proud of! Luckily, she said yes 🙂
Was I supposed to do that? NO! I had plenty of other work to finish! I didn’t do it in favor of this! I genuinely don’t know what happened–I decided to switch gears and went hard for twenty days. And the thing is, I’m so much more in love with it than I was a month ago. With the exception of one, I’ve always fallen deeply in love with my books. But this one? There’s something different about it. It’s never felt like this before. And now, I’m back to waiting for notes…
I began work on the revisions for “Bonne Nuit” , my short story for Queer Beasties anthology.
(It was due March 1st so it’s already off my desk! Woo!) Here’s a tiny, tiny hint of what inspired my concept:
During my revision fever dream, something wonderful happened. **One of my oldest friends (who I’ve known since middle school) had her first baby. I live about an hour away so I was flying on the freeway, back and forth, to get to her when she went into active labor and after the birth. I’m smiling as I type this because I’m so overwhelmed with joy. I can’t believe she had a baby–I CAN’T–but she really did!
(Sorry I can’t post photos but S.L. is the cutest!)
I paused my revision marathon for her because there was no way I was missing that moment.
I talk a lot about how much I gave up to make my dream of becoming an author come true. Writers get mad when people say, “I wish I had time to write a book” because most of us don’t. We make the time. I made it by giving up any semblance of a social life. I know I made the right choice for myself, but that doesn’t mean I never wonder about the milestones I never got to meet.
When someone asks me if I have any advice for aspiring writers, my usual answer is “write your books but live your life too. Don’t be like me. Don’t give up everything.”
Due to my possession, I failed on all of my February goals and am bumping them to March.
March 2023 Goals
- Finish revisions on 2 Suite 2 Hearts
- Revise and submit sample pages of DBAND – Adult Romance #3
- Insert other edit letters/revisions/deadlines here because I know they’re coming
I’m trying to learn how to use Instagram properly. If you’re into that kind of thing, you can join me on my fumbling journey to social media literacy @KannClaire
Until next time,
Claire ❤
kannclaire.com 