It's the YAB Bootcamp halfway point! If I'd had one big goal for the three months, I'd be excited to see if I was halfway there. Since I didn't start with one overarching goal, all I have to report is that I met last week's goal: to finish my WIP synopsis and send it to my agent. I have also started changing the rest of the existing draft from 3rd to 1st person. So what's next? I checked my stats in Scrivener this morning and discovered that I have approximately 49,000 words of this rough first draft. That's actually about three-quarters of a manuscript! However, since most of it was written in 3rd person, and before I changed the role of a major character, I have to do some serious revising before I have a draft that's even remotely ready to show to beta readers. What I would LOVE to be able to do is finish the rough draft by the end of the Bootcamp—i.e. by the end of May. Given that that's six weeks away, and I have a mix of revising and new-drafting on my plate, I think it's doable...
Except for the tiny issue of how crazy the month of May will be for me. The first weekend in May, I'm going to the New England SCBWI conference with my friend Ghenet. Then I'll be back in NYC for a few days, only to fly to Nashville the following weekend. I'll be in Nashville for a week, and while I want to work (actually, I'll need to work at least a little) while there, I'll also be getting in some much-needed family time. My brother and sister-in-law are expecting their second child, and I'm hoping to be there when he arrives! And of course, I want to spend as much time as possible with my adorable nephew Turner, who is about to become a big brother. But back to travels: from Nashville, I'm flying to the DC area for a weekend with my husband's family. We'll be attending birthday parties for both of our nephews on his side—the seven-year-old's on Saturday and the four-year-old's on Sunday. Then it's good old Amtrak back up to NYC for a week at home in Brooklyn, followed by a road trip to Massachusetts over Memorial Day weekend for a dear friend's wedding.
Basically, by the time June 1 rolls around, I'm going to be ready to collapse. So much revelry! So many trips, and different modes of transportation! Will I have time to crank out the rest of a first draft? That remains to be seen.
I'm not going to be too hard on myself if I don't make it. All of these trips are for good reasons, and they all involve activities and people and events that are just as important as word count—especially since Justin and I don't get to see our families as often as we'd like. That said, I'm going to work toward a May 31 goal! Each week, I'll share my progress toward the finish line, whether that's word count or chapters revised.
How's everyone else doing with writing goals and such? Go Team Mazama!
The fabulous YA Bucklers are: Kate Scott, Emma L. Adams, Winter Bayne, Riley Darkes, Angel Leigh, and Tonette de la Luna! Visit their blogs or follow them on Twitter to see other writers in action. And if you're new to this bootcamp business, learn more at the YA Buccaneers' website!
~Kathryn