First up: I TURNED IN MY DRAFT!!! I wrote a (54K-word draft of) a book! Significant edits are up ahead (I know this for sure, as my editor has already sent me back a bunch from prior sections!), and I need to do all of the manuscript-adjacent things such as:
- create list of endnotes (I did not do this as I went, and perhaps may live to regret that)
- write an acknowledgements page
- create drafts of all the graphics that are needed so the design team can turn them into something pretty
- probably 87384 other things I don’t even know about yet
So, I cannot say I am anywhere near the finish line. But still! I want to take the time to feel content for a moment because ~6 months ago, there was no book draft (actually at that point, there was no finished proposal!) and NOW THERE IS. This is wild!
I really like my book’s content! I feel like it has been many years in the making, being refined and churned and tested before anything actually hit the page, and that delay (I THINK) will make it better than it would have been compared to a scenario where I banged it out in 2020 (you know, instead of starting a podcast or something).
Second up: WOWWW the next few months are going to be wild. I feel like I said this over the fall, and then it ended up being wild but also sort of terrible. I hope these upcoming months will feel packed but also mostly good!?
Josh asked me for dates to help him figure out when to take call and until putting this into writing I didn’t recognize what a minefield the calendar is. It basically looks like:
WORK TRIP
SOCCER TOURNAMENT or BACK TO BACK WEEKEND GAMES
GYMNASTICS MEET
MORE WORK TRIPS
CALL (thankfully mostly for him; I have a week in Feb and another one in April)
REPEAT / JUMBLE AD NAUSEUM
The work trips are speaking engagement I said yes to, and I’m honestly very excited about them (one is at this conference, if you happen to have CME money/time burning a hole in your pocket – it looks like it will be fun and relaxing and we can hang out). But wow! It’s just a lot. There are no quiet or “free” weekends. I am going to have to treat my work travel AS the down time, which I think will be a nice way to frame things. (Obviously giving a talk is WORK, but once I’m done I can build in some chill/catchup time.)
I’m hoping to do a 1:1 day one weekend with G and will work on figuring that our once Josh finalizes his call schedule; she’s been asking for this repeatedly and I want to make it happen.
All that said, I think it *will* be a fun stretch, and then June / July / first half of August will be the chill release afterwards.
BOOK TALK:
I just finished both my F and NF books and I have to share the bizarre combo I have going on right now:
and
PS: The GOALS SERIES is not over. Will it ever be!?? We are getting close. Will resume tomorrow!
13 Comments
That’s incredible, Sarah! I’m so impressed by how much you’ve accomplished! Definitely take a break while your editor works on feedback. I’ve had a lot of other writing deadlines so have set my book aside for a few months and I’m looking forward to getting back to it (March hopefully).
Oof to that spring though, I think using the work travel as personal time makes a ton of sense. I travel a lot and use it as an opportunity to go to different yoga classes etc (Classpass is useful for this). We’ve got a busy spring – I’m trying to host more Sunday night dinners and am finding I’m blocking time weeks in advance. I’m off to Paris next week, and T is off to my parents for spring break in February, but we’re not doing any other travel until Easter. We’ve got a week in Stockholm and I’m really excited.
Wow, how exciting to see this phase of your book complete! I can’t wait to see it ready for preorder! I’m curious, do you use any kind of special writing software like Scrivener, or just a regular word processor?
Microsoft word on my laptop. I’m sure there are fancier but I asked the editor and she said word was totally fine.
Sarah, this is such a big deal! It’s truly incredible how quickly you’ve pulled this draft together. I know you’ve been honing the work for years, but the sheer act of getting that out of your head and on paper (screen) is an amazing accomplishment. Yay!
Congratulations on finishing your draft! That’s a huge accomplishment, especially on top of all of the other things you are doing. I look forward to reading your book!
CONGRATS TO YOU, what a phenomenal accomplishment. You couldn’t have 87384 things to do without getting this done first, wohoo!
congratulations! how amazing!
Editing is so much easier than writing the first draft. At least for me. I am so impressed!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! I can’t even imagine the amount of work that goes into writing a book. I’m looking forward to the day when we can actually read it (I know- there’s still a lot to be done between now and then.)
Your next few months sound insane. I’m going to remember this when I’m tempted to complain about being busy!
YAY Sarah!! What a huge accomplishment of turning in your draft, and one you worked so hard to complete! I am so inspired and cheering you on.
Also – I read Annie Bot in two days last week and can’t stop thinking about it and recommending it. It was WILD and also seems totally plausible?? (gulp) So many thorny ethical questions that I think we’ll be facing sooner than we expect.
Well done Sarah on finishing a book draft! A huge achievement.
Such a busy time ahead. I definitely treat work travel as personal time, and treat myself in small ways while I’m away, to make the most of it 🙂
Does it make sense to hire someone to do endnotes for you?
Congratulations, Sarah–DO take at least a few moments to bask in the glow of completing a draft. So many people don’t get that far (she says, staring at her own unfinished manuscript). Can’t wait to see how your book journey plays out!