I’ve been fighting all month long to write something for this newsletter. Three separate drafts, all trashed. I was going to talk about my writing group’s NaNoWriMo replacement, but every time I tried, it fizzled out. November has been an odd month, between the future of the USA and all the corporate BS I’ve been dealing with. I try to write every day, but… it’s hard, sometimes. My motivation has never been lower.
So instead of writing a whole newsletter, I’ll just toss you all a few of this month’s stats so far and call it a day. It’s not the most eloquent or professional, but that’s what my 100% looks like right now. So, here we go!
My unnamed November challenge project:
Current word count: 8,403 words
Plot: A court jester is framed for murder.
General notes: This project is on hold, as I’m struggling to grow attached enough to my characters to make the story worth writing. There’s a major part of me that feels guilty for setting it aside—at the beginning of the month, I had my friends vote on which project I should prioritize, and the majority voted for this. So to set it aside makes me feel as though I’m slighting my friends in some weird way.
Highlight of this project: I may have figured out how to work a different little plot-bunny in, once I pick this project back up again!
My graphic novel, Tournament Ace:
Current word count: 2,003
Plot: Sapphic superhero competitors-to-lovers!
General notes: I wrote this script in undergrad and haven’t touched it since. My work on this project has not been any actual drawing—just retouching the old script. My hope is that if I finish script revisions, maybe I’ll feel more motivated to start drawing it.
Highlight of this project: Revisiting old characters is always such a joy!
Blood of the Gods:
Queries sent this month: 0
Rejections received this month: 3
Current word count: 105,000! And to think my first draft started at 150k. Whew!
General notes: I paused queries because an agent wanted me to revise and resubmit. Once I finish revisions, querying will resume.
Highlight of this project: one of my proudest achievements this month is that I started with 550+ instances of the word “that” in the manuscript, and now I have 25.
DoD (Blood of the Gods’ sequel):
Current word count: ~5,300?
General notes: I’m hand-writing this draft because I’ve had so many issues with committing to an opening. I may not hand-write the whole thing, but I’ll be writing at least enough to trick my brain into moving on, haha.
Highlight of this project:
Thanks for reading, as always! I hope next time, I’ll have a more substantive newsletter prepared.
Wren Rivers
@corvidarcana [Bluesky, Tumblr]
@corvid.arcana [Instagram]