What's the Word? ... Wednesday? (WWW #37)

It's time for What's the Word? Weekend Wednesday number thirty-seven!  :)



So I know that it's technically not the Weekend (at all ... in fact, it's Hump Day, which is as far from the weekend as you can get), but it's just been so long since I've post, so I wanted to update today:

The Bad News: 
No bad news that I can think of right now. :)



The Good News:
I've finished writing the second draft of Zulu Tribe!!!!!!!! :D :D :D
Aside from the fact that I was working at a summer camp all summer so I was really busy (minus the couple weeks in August I used to go on vacation from London to New York City), I had to make a conscious effort NOT to touch Zulu Tribe for a while--I "put it in the drawer," as many writers will say to do. Well I'm proud to say that I accomplished not looking at the first draft until the end of August, which means I kept it locked away for almost a solid two months! There were a couple times over those two months where random tweaks I wanted to make would pop into my mind, so I jotted them down so I wouldn't forget them ... but other than that, I really did try to turn my attention to something other than Zulu Tribe. 

So then, when August came around and I decided to start editing, I realized that I didn't LOVE Zulu Tribe as much as I thought I did while I was writing it. I was kind of scared the moment I realized this, because (besides being busy) falling out of love with Zulu Tribe was one of the reasons I decided to put it away for the summer (since I'd grown so attached to it). I was afraid it was going to be just another book that I would put off to the side. Although it took me a while to figure out why I was feeling the way that I was, it hit me while I was outlining an idea I had for another story (actually, it was a MAJOR edit idea for the second novel I wrote): it wasn't so much that I didn't love Zulu Tribe as a whole, it was just bits and pieces that I didn't like (such as plot points, character traits, and, most importantly, the ending). So ever since around August 22nd (because that's the date I have on the 1st second draft I started), I've been editing the second half of Zulu Tribe like crazy. The book ended up being eleven Chapters instead of twelve (plus a Prologue), because I ended up deleting Chapter 12 entirely. I learned that it's okay to make such HUGE changes to my book even after I've already finished what I thought was a solid-looking draft. With all of the major plot points that were changed, the character traits that were changed, and the ending that was changed, I can now say that I'm happy and proud of what Zulu Tribe has become, and there isn't that small sense of concern I had in my mind after I finished the first draft back in June.

The final word count of Draft Two is 52,412 words (which is funny because despite deleting a whole chapter, I actually went up in word count)!

My NEW Game Plan: I still want to go back and read through the whole thing so that I can make the general changes that still apply to the story (as well as look for grammar and punctuation mistakes). With all the hard work I've put into this story, I definitely want to make it as perfect as I possibly can before I start the literary agent search. It's still probably going to be hard for me to find time to read and edit my manuscript once I get into the swing of things with all my college classes starting up, but I think if I try to read it through once by the end of this week and then go through it bit by bit in the following weeks, I'll be able to handle it (that just means no more, or rather LESS, YouTube in my spare time). My goal is to get it in pristine condition so that I can send out query letters to agents BEFORE the chaos of NaWriMo ensues! 
With that being said, I still have a really good feeling about this book, so I don't want to rush anything too much. Taking the time to completely edit the second half of the book felt really liberating for me and really exciting and helpful and ... I'm just so glad I did it, and I know that I was only able to do that because I took the time to step away from the book and come back with a fresh pair of eyes. Anyway, I'll try to keep you guys posted about my progress with everything! :D

In other news:

I just finished my first day of classes in my senior year of college. 
SENIOR year ....that's CRAZY!!!! 
I'm like excited but scared at the same time, for multiple reasons. One reason I'm scared is that I have a huge thesis I have to write, which isn't going to be fun AT ALL since I have to write it while taking my four classes. I'm also scared because I feel like I know what I'm doing after I graduate, but then again I feel like I don't. "Plan A" is to do a premed post-bacc program and then go to medical school, but in the back of my mind I've always felt as though that was "Plan B" because I'm so passionate about giving my dream of becoming an author a try. Another reason I'm scare is ... well ... I'M GONNA BE GRADUATING COLLEGE IN LESS THAN A YEAR (but there's plenty of time to freak out about that as the time gets closer)!!!! But I'm also excited, because I can't wait to see what the future holds for me--whether I go to medical school, become a part-time (or maybe even full-time one day) author, or BOTH!

Well, that's all for this WWW folks! Until next time! :)

X <3 O
This is my year, this is my time, this is my now.



Never Forget 9/11/01