THE YEAR SO FAR… #ANNUWRIMO | HOW FAR HAVE I GOTTEN IN MY FIRST DRAFT IN 2022 SO FAR?

Baleigh Shortreed
3 min readFeb 20, 2022

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It is nearly the end of February, and I cannot believe that almost two months of the new year has come and past with rapid speed. As I try to continue on my journey toward finishing my first draft of one of my many manuscripts this year in hopes of completely my first debut novel for publish, I have come to have the desire to record my writing behaviors and statistics to not only share across my platform for my audience, but also to record my progress as well. My hope is that I can maintain this recording process daily and to craft more content about my journey as to better share my experiences on writing for future readers & viewers, as well as to have a personal reflection for the years to come.

JANUARY RECAP

In January, I had managed to start crafting my new podcast DON’T TOUCH MY WRITING, but I also got some writing done on one of my “umpteenth” draft of my other WIP (work in progess) Empathy. I estimate that January had totaled out to be around 2,000 ish words for that draft, until I had to put it away again due to my mental health deteriorating over that WIP being a 12+ year long journey at this point in time and no real progress had been made in it being ready for publishing. My hope is to finish it one day, when I have more time & patience, and when I am a better write, equipped with the necessary skills to craft such a hefty project. Towards the end of January however, I became inspired by a song I had heard countless times, but felt compelled to start a draft of a short novel about the two characters in the song/music video. That has since turned into the manuscript for At The End of The Night, a novel about two characters (Mary & Evan) who meet one evening while going to a concert, fall in love, and must part ways the following morning. The novel (in my head as I am still currently writing it), takes place over a 24 hour time span, and is told from both Evan & Mary’s point of views about their version of the 24 hours together and apart. I am very excited for this manuscript, and thus started working on it in late January. On January 29, 2022, I wrote 926 words about Mary & Evan’s journey, and finished the first two chapter by the end of the next day. Needless to say, I love the roll I was and still am on with that draft.

FEBRUARY RECAP

Earlier this month, up until today, the 20th, when I am writing this blog post, I have since made my way up to finishing chapter five of At The End of The Night. My hope is that I can keep up the momentum that I have built up over the last two-ish weeks, and book out a short, fast draft of a chapter per 1–2 days, and have a 30–50 chapter manuscript by the end of May. This goal leaves me a little wiggle room for the days that are not appropriate for writing or I find myself with writer’s block, as well as helps me build my habitual practice of regular writing. My vlogging experiences, the most recent on February 16, 2022, I aim to continue, but in a more irregular fashion like this monthly blog recaps on my writing. By vlogging and creating content, however, I feel it keeps me more habitual while also maintaining my bill paying, full time job.

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My life is nothing to me without my writing and content creation, and I couldn’t do it without you my loyal fan base. Thank you. :) <3

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Baleigh Shortreed

Writer, Author, & Entreprenuer teaching you to advocate for yourself through written, verbal, and digital means.