⋆. ̊⟡ ࣪ ˖ Halfway Drafted at the Rough Draft Challenge Finale ༄.
I had extremely hopeful intentions at the beginning of the month to have a completed novel that just needed to be spiced up for publication by the end of July 2026. A tale as old as time for me it seems. This is not the end of the road, however, I have to be real with myself as I’m figuring out my process. I started this month at the halfway mark in the story and about 7,000 words. Since then, I have written about 3,000 savable words landing myself around 10,000 of the necessary 20,000 to call the story a novella. I’ll give myself the credit that this number does include hundreds, if not thousands, or words that I deleted along the way which were more part of drafting the plot than actually functional for the draft.
Most importantly, know that I’m not abandoning this project by any means. As I’m trying to make more clear on this site, my publishing journey is an ongoing work in progress that I started in elementary school and have been striving to lock into, especially for the last five years, since I graduated college. Once I pin down my honest process as an author that actually works, I still believe that things will start flowing and falling into place. Summers are crazy, but also lead into the time where decisions need to be made and survival isn’t as easy as showing up every day. That being said, the emotional toll generally goes down around Fall/Winter time for me and picks back up like clockwork every Spring/Summer. At this stage of my life, though, everything seems to be luck of the draw.
With all this in mind, I am happy with where the story is right now. I think that it’s shaping up to be of higher quality than I allowed myself to expect when the words finally started to flow back in January. If this book IS going to come out this summer (2026), then I need to write at least 10,000 more words before, maybe, mid August. Since, publishing isn’t as simple as writing a complete story. Though, I’ll admit, to me, August feels more like the beginning of fall, most would argue that it’s the final stretch of summer, so that’s what I’m taking!
As soon as I finish this book, which I am committed to being my first actually finished, published, and consumable novel(la?), I’ll be moving into the spookier side of my writing, which is where this all literally began, while also working on this one’s sequel with a revised process
That’s all stories for another time, though.
For now, be well and best wishes,
-Melody LeeMarie ♡☆
