August is done. Now for the rest of the year…

So August is done and with help of K. C. Dyer’s achievement-generating hashtag game #ProjectAugust, I am now two-thirds of the way through my draft of my project-with-a-deadline (currently at 108,000 words, baby!) and have reached the second of the two plot turning-points which means I am now officially gearing towards writing the ending. Yikes!

This has stirred up the already mixed sea of emotions: I can’t believe how far I’ve come, I don’t want it to end, I wish it was finished, I’m terrified of what it will end up like and I can’t wait to start editing.

However, either way, I achieved the goal I set for myself, proved to myself what I can achieve, and am determined to keep up the pace. Thank you K. C. Dyer for setting up this challenge and monitoring it so well to keep me motivated!

The icing on the cake of this little venture is that for every weekly goal met by all those who joined in, K. C. is donating a book and $10 to a local library devastated by fire. Read all about it here and do show her some love on her blog or on Twitter (@kcdyer) for this wonderful project and its results that have benefited so many.

Now there’s just the little matter of keeping it up. There may not be an official #ProjectSeptember, but I have one in my head: finish the draft. I’m hoping this is achievable, as daunting as it is. I means I will have drafted a 100,000+ words novel in three months, which is a scary thought and doesn’t seem to equate to a reality in my head. But I’ve already got this far and I have my plot breakdown: I know blow-by-blow what’s left to happen. It can be done. Can’t it?

The only thing I can imagine hindering me at this point is a) the challenge I have never faced before: tying up the plot and making sure the book ends with a satisfying amount of closure, but without being contrived or predictable (eep!) and/or b) getting sidetracked or certain plot points taking longer to write than expected. I do have a couple of weeks’ wriggle-room as the deadline is mid-October, so if I aim to be done by the end of September I hope it will all come together with time for some editing.

Keep an eye on The Path to find out what level of emotional breakdown I arrive at each week during September. It’ll be tough…I just know if I get there, whether the book goes anywhere or not, it will have all been worth it just because I have proved to myself, yes, I can write a book.

Whether writing a good book will be an achievement yet to be reached or not remains to be seen. But I have enjoyed this so much, I cannot be negative about it, whether it goes anywhere or not. I obviously hope it does: I hope it gets out there and that people read it and I even hope people enjoy it. But that is something time will tell and I cannot control so I’m not letting myself worry about it yet.

What a great month it has been for progress. There’s nothing quite like achieving something you set out to achieve to give you confidence and satisfaction.

I hope you have also achieved something this August, whether you joined #ProjectAugust or not, that has boosted you to continue and got you geared up for the longer nights drawing in and set your sights on something to be done in the near future. Maybe it’s put you in mind for what you might want to do with this year’s NaNoWRiMo?

Is anyone else thinking about this already? If all goes to plan/keeps on schedule, I’m hoping to draft the sequel to the project I’m on now in NaNoWriMo. Too ambitious? Let’s find out.

Happy writing!