It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged, which means it’s high time for a self-appreciation clap-myself-on-the-back post.
Right after I completed Bride Behind the Mask, I felt so amazingly confident and optimistic about my writing ability that I thought I could finish drafting the standalone sequel within the next year, even with a baby coming along.
Alas, I’d terribly underestimated just how troublesome and fatigue-inducing a baby was. In the year after I completed BBTM, I’d drafted a grand total of five chapters on the spin-off sequel, The Cursed King's Bride, and continued to struggle with finding the inspiration and motivation to keep writing.
From retrospect, the best decision I made was to say ‘Fuck it’, and start posting those draft chapters on my Wattpad. The pressure of having active readers (even though it feels like a small handful only) who waited for regular updates has turned out to be the kick I needed to get into the zone of writing continuously. I am still a slow writer compared to many, but for my standards personally, I really can’t complain.
As of today, I have published just over 20,000 words (and drafted a bit more than that) on TCKB, which I think is a pretty decent headway into the story. This WIP is also closing in on hitting its first 10,000 reads on Wattpad. Yay! 😊
There are many issues I can pick with it, including the pacing at the start, which I feel is slower than what I personally prefer. However, I am learning to cut myself some slack for having flaws which are bound to exist in any first draft; move on and Just. Keep. Writing.
So far, it’s worked, and I’m excited to see where this story takes itself. Being a plantser, I have planned an outline of this story from start to finish, but the story and characters write themselves, and more often and not, they simply don't want to stick to the plan. What can I do? 🤷♀️
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