May 2020 WIP Update

From "The Craziness of Moriah Snell"

I'm so glad to see April go. It was a long and busy month. Thankfully, things here in Georgia are slowly coming out of quarantine. My "real" job is opening up soon, which is great! However, it also means less writing and blogging time, so there's that.

From "Writer's Life" in "Writing Help"

But despite all that, I'm here today to kick off my new blogging schedule. (See the entire schedule here.) Presently, I'm still working on The Dragon's Skin.

From "The Dragon Books"

At the moment, The Dragon's Skin has a word count of 42,642. I'd like to get over 50,000, of course, but I still have three or so chapters to write. Then of course comes the beloved editing part (insert sarcasm here). The characters are giving me a little trouble though, so it probably won't be that simple.

Via Pinterest

My word count goal for April was 2500 words. I blew that out of the water, thanks to quarantine and a 1100 word day. That was a great day. A normal writing day will usually end with my word count somewhere between 200 and 300 words. If I'm working, though, that number can drop to anywhere from 100 to 0.

From "Writer's Life" in "Writing Help"

My word count goal for May is 5000 words. I doubled last months goal, due to ease I met it with. So far, I've already written 800 words-ish. That leaves me with 4200 words for the month, or 1050 words a week. That'll put The Dragon's Skin at roughly 46,500 words.

Which would be excellent. However, since work is starting up soon and I now live about 40 minutes away, we'll just have to wait and see.

From "The Dragon Books"

At the moment, I'm working on Chapter 26-ish (chapters are wonky right now) of The Dragon's Skin. My two main characters, Crown Princess Ciara of Crosia and Aleksander Travick, are in a tough spot in their relationship. This, of course, leads to tension and trouble.

Ciara is desperate for support. The day when she will be crowned queen is fast approaching, and she's not sure she can lead alone. But stubborn as she is, she can't bring herself to consider that she may be wrong.

Meanwhile, Aleksander doesn't understand why Ciara is shutting him out. All he wants is for her to listen. If she will, he's sure that their conflict can be resolved. But at the same time, he knows he's made the right choice and won't give in.

From "Books, Movies, Coffee, Etc."

And yeah, that's where I'm at. I adore these characters, but it's a struggle to write this section well. I want it to be something that ends up strengthening them and their relationship, but the writing process is messy.

Anyone have thoughts on character relationship? Or on writing conflict from alternating points of view? Or on how to write a lot while holding down a day job?

Anywhoo, stay safe. Stay healthy. Thanks for reading. If you found this interesting or have an answer for one of my questions, drop a comment please. I'll have another post next week, so come back for that. (Or, you know, follow this blog and join the email list, and we'll come to you.)

From "The Craziness of Moriah Snell"