Writing Journal - Week 4 July, 2025
Month (week) in review
Only two specific entries for this week because, spoiler alert, I REACHED MY GOAL!!!
By reaching my goal it meant it was time to pivot my attention back to substack. I have the month of August to get all the articles written for both August and September so that I can then focus my attention back on the novel in September and actually finish it.
A couple other updates that I didn’t journal about, first is a title change. Now, I love the title On Thin Ice. So do hundreds of other authors on Amazon. So if I was to release this book with that title, it will be buried beneath the literally hundreds of other books with the same name. What’s more, a lot of the books seem to be MM romances and, because my book also has two male protagonists, I don’t want readers getting the impression that mine is also a MM romance. There might be some of that in the future, but for now at least, there is no romance and if people go into it thinking there is, they’ll be disappointed. I don’t want that.
I have a few ideas on the title, but currently the front runner is The Rival Solution. I know it sounds a bit… boring, but it makes a lot of sense for the story. I’m hoping that that combined with a cover that depicts it’s a figure skating story will help convey what the story is about.
The second piece of news is I’m applying for a grant to support my writing endeavours for the next two years. It’s for a whopping $50,000!!! It’s a slim to none chance that I would get it, of course, there have to be thousands of others also applying, but I have to at least try. And at the very least it’s good practice for other grants I can apply to. If I get it, I have no doubt there’ll be an excited update and blog post about it, explaining the process and encouraging others to go for it. I’ll find out by December.
The next update like this will be at the end of the month (unless I finish all my articles early) and that will outline my plans for September as well to get this thing done!
Journal Entries
Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Total words: 1,564
Finished the Christmas scene today! It’s a hot mess and I love it. The mother’s dementia might be coming across a bit too heavily, but I know it’s accurate for a bad day and Mik, Mik, Mik, you love making things worse, don’t you!
I heard back from the second editor on Reedsy and his prices are WAY beyond what I can afford. I may need to sacrifice the edit if I can’t find an option for under $1,000 or ideally under $800. I know editors deserve to be paid, but my budget is tight.
I also need to research ARC readers this afternoon. I start writing Act 3 tomorrow, so only 25% left to write, and hope will be restored to my poor characters.
My anxiety about this project is pretty high, largely because I really want to hire an editor but I just don’t know where I’ll get the funds for it.
Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Total words: 1,520
I win! I reached my goal of writing 25,000 words in July today and wrote about 1/3 into the first scene of the third act. Feels fantastic!
My mum’s book club has agreed to beta read in October / November so now I have a hard deadline to finish it, the major edits, and basic formatting by then. It should be doable but from tomorrow I’ll be focusing on Corporate Shadows. I may keep touching this one so forward momentum continues and I’ll definitely be working on the rest of the scene beats so when I can focus on it, the words can really fly.
I have found a place that does basic covers for US$35, which I’ll probably use and I’ll likely use Pro Writing Aid’s manuscript assessment for US$50. That means it’ll be published for under AU$200.
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