Day 2: January 3, 2017

My plan is to finish the first draft of KINGDOM by the middle of February. I typically write at my desk after work with a goal of 1,500 words. That’s fairly easy for me to do in about an hour and a half, depending on circumstances. I have a good idea of plot arc, a basic idea of scene sequence, and I know the ending (though some specifics need to come out of the writing process).

I am allowing myself too much stress about finishing this project. I wanted the first draft to be done by the end of 2016. The delay, however, allowed me to think further on the development of one of the main protagonists, Aubrey. Her actions, or non-actions really, weren’t sitting right with me until an epiphany about how the confrontation with the antagonists would truly affect her.

There is a brutal truth that underlies this story, about how our expectations, for both ultimately terrible fates as well as glorious ones, are often illusions. Aubrey and her innocence provide the foundation for that, the eyes through which everything unfolds. I struggle to keep her grounded as the plain farm girl she is and yet amplify her role as transcendent change agent. It’s not an unfamiliar theme; still, it requires a balance that I sometimes let teeter.

My effort today was solid. I completed half of chapter 36, the first chapter of part 8.

Words written today: 1,353
Total for this manuscript: 83,103
Total for 2017: 2,203