A full month of FallFic has come and gone, you guys! And though it doesn’t officially end until November 15th, I am here to share how this fourth week went down. Hint: ‘Twas good one.

I’m kind of in complete and utter shock that a full month has passed us. Like??? It feels like it just started. While at the same time I feel like life has only ever consisted of words and coffee and nothing came before that. But it’s fiiiine. Words are being written and that’s what matters!

ALSO.

This fourth week proved to be the best FallFic week. I leaped out of the Lack of Motivation Struggle Bus right into the Write or Die Bus and WHEW BOY. What a frenzied week this one proved to be. But it was amazing. And had a surprising twist at the end. I am excited to tell you all about it so LET’S. GET. TO IT.

FALL FIC FRENZY ’22 WEEK FOUR

SATURDAY: DAY #22

FACT: Rainy days = the BEST writing days

Week 3 started off spectacularly with rain all day and WORDS. Lots of words that came (mostly) easy and were just FUN. Man, I thought my characters had been bringing the chaos and sass before. But NOW. Someone should probably stop them. (But it sure ain’t gonna be me.)

Also, someone got to punch another someone. I was proud. A bit of stabbing may have been involved too. It was just a great day.

Honestly, the past 3 days have been incredible writing days and I’m just so, so grateful for that. I wonder if now that it’s November my brain is like, “Okay now it’s time to write.” It’s not used to doing a NaNo’s pace of writing in October. XD Or it could be that I thiiink I’m in the last third of my book which always, always goes faster and is the most enjoyable for me. Whatever it is, I’m truly having fun again with this book. And oooh man, you guys, we’re actually right at the edge of climatic stuff??

I’M EXCITED.

Being as how this is the finale, there is a LOT to cover in the climax and then quite a bit of wrap-up. So I suspect I’ll still be writing for a while. But all the big reveals and insanity is a’comin’ and oooh boy.

WORDS WRITTEN: 4,248

SUNDAY: DAY #23

Today was full, so I only got in a few smaller writing moments than normal. But despite that, the words were continuing to flow and I had funnn with today’s scene. Writing from the POV of a grump muffin is most enjoyable, that’s all I’m sayin’. *grins*

I also discovered some PRETTY INTERESTING plot threads today. See, I had made a completely random reference to something at the very, very end of book #2 that even I didn’t know what was. Like, when reading back over book #2 to refresh myself on the plot before writing this one, I literally made a note that said “Where was I going with this?!” because yeah, I hadn’t a clue. XD WELL. Apparently, it was indeed going somewhere and I discovered it today and BY JOVE IT’S COOL. I am pleased.

This is the life of a pantser, you guys. Just throwing out random elements and plot points hoping something will come from them and more likely than not something does and you’re just like, “Wow, I’m so good at foreshadowing.” Except it was on total accident…

Writing is weird. I love it.

WORDS WRITTEN: 2,499

MONDAY: DAY #24

What can I say about this day? Other than the fact that it was one of the most fun writing days I’ve had with this book thus far. And the fact that I wrote not one but TWO scenes that had me just sitting there grinning and squealing at my laptop like the deranged writer I am. And that one of those scenes may have surpassed my previous favorite scenes and made its way to #1. Possibly #1 of, like, the entire trilogy.

JUST.

Any lack of motivation for writing this thing seemed to have utterly dissolved. Today was so fun, you guys. SO FUN. I want to talk about everything that happened but I cannn’t. So I shall just have to squeal with myself, alas. But MEEP. I am so pleased with how certain things went down. These Daystars… *shakes head* Gracious, I love them, disasters though they are.

ANYWAY. Today made me so very happy and reminded me why I do this crazy writer thing and why I love this book and the chaos children that inhabit it so very much.

Oh, also? Climax things may be going down as. we. speak.

WORDS WRITTEN: 4,018

TUESDAY: DAY #25

I didn’t have the best day physical health-wise which made the words much more of a struggle to get out of me.

BUT.

Things happened. Like Big Things (capital letters required). Climatic things. Things I’ve been looking forward to getting to for ages. (I may have squealed a little.)

I’m bleary-eyed and tired and my emotions and brain both feel like they’ve been on a loop-de-loop today but I’m also EXCITED. It’s coming along, guys. It’s coming along.

WORDS WRITTEN: 3,408

WEDNESDAY: DAY #26

UM.

I had my wordiest day since day #1 of FallFic today??? Like. The words just kept coming and I pretty much just had to force myself to stop and actually go to bed after a while. I’ve had some good writing days with this book but TODAY was something special.

It may have been because I was basically bringing the climax to its conclusion? And then just writing post-climax wrap-up stuff?

UM.

THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. THE END IS AT THE TIP OF MY FINGERS.

WORDS WRITTEN: 6,530

THURSDAY: DAY #27

Beautiful weather made for wonderful writing sessions on the porch and hammock and something very significant happened at 5:30 this evening…

I FINISHED MY BOOK!!!

I DID IT. It’s done. It’s actually for reals fully written and just— I can hardly process the fact. The words flew from my fingers today and I’m pretty sure I was grinning the whole time as I wrote the wrap-up scenes and sent my characters off into the sunset.

I was NOT expecting to finish my book so early. I figured I’d still be writing for most of November to wrap this thing up. But somehow in 27 days I got the whole thing done and just just just I’M SO HAPPY.

It was a good day. A REALLY GOOD DAY.

WORDS WRITTEN: 4,529

WEEK FOUR WORDCOUNT: 25,232

TOTAL WORDCOUNT: 107,535

107k words in 27 days. Imma take a nap now.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Everything just feels kind of surreal.

Not only did I finish this book but I got to write “The End” because this was, in fact, the actual end. This was the final book of the Fragmented Worlds series. I’ve completed the story of my Daystars. Literally just typing that is getting me choked up. I mean, I still have years of work with them ahead of me because now there are rewrites and edits and more edits and more after that. Really, this is just the beginning. But there will be no more discovering their story. I know everything that happens to them and that’s a little bittersweet.

But mostly sweet.

These Daystars have carried me through some pretty hard years and though writing their story wasn’t always the easiest, and I know so much of it is a mess, it was the story I needed and wanted to tell. This trilogy is chaotic and overly complicated and just downright bizarre. And I love every bit of it.

Surprisingly, I did not cry as much as I thought I would with this finale. I came close a few times but only shed actual tears once. And it was on day one with chapter two of all the crazy things. But there was definitely a lot of cackling. So much cackling.

Another surprising fact? The finale proved to be the shortest book of all three! And here I was worried this would end up being four books because I didn’t know if I could wrap everything up in the third. But turns out I was able to conclude things easily without the wordcount reaching to absurd lengths. I mean, it’s still pretty big, but not just over-the-top?

It’s shorter than book one by 2k! Book #1 was 109,745 words and book #2 an insane 133,565 words. (I’m so relieved this one wasn’t bigger than #2. *collapses*) So I’m quite pleased I managed to keep it to just 107k. It’s at least manageable? Unlike some. *glares at book #2*

Aside from the book itself, one of the greatest joys was the FallFicFrenzy community. When I made the hard decision of not doing NaNo anymore, I was scared I’d never have the motivation and energy NaNo always brings again. But boy was I wrong! I haven’t felt this energized by a writing community in years. Every single one of you who joined my little writing challenge has been AH-MAY-ZING. It has been a joy beyond measure writing with old friends and new and just sharing the ups and downs (and sometimes hilarity) of creating. Creating is 1000x better with friends, and I’m so grateful to all of you! My sadness about stopping NaNo faded immediately. I like this so much better! Alas, I wasn’t able to be on the Discord channel nearly as much as I would have liked (my novel rather consumed me) but just knowing the community was there and everyone was creating right alongside me kept me so inspired and motivated. I love you guys!

I ALSO liked this schedule a thousand times better. This will literally be the first November in thirteen years that I won’t be writing for the majority of the month. I can actually just enjoy the holiday season without obsessing over trying to get a ginormous book written. What a freeing feeling that is!

I didn’t know how things would go when I decided to create this writing challenge, but it turned out better than I could have ever imagined. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the whole “F-Troop” for making this such a memorable month! <3

I feel like I have a million thoughts to share about writing this, about my feelings on finishing, about the story and FallFic and month in general, but I’ll save a lot of those for when I do part 3 of Know the Novel sometime in early December. For now, I’m going to take a breath, maybe get to bed at a decent time (??), try to get my life back together, say hi to my friends and family, and just enjoy the fact that it’s FINISHED.

It was a wild, exhausting, amazing ride and I couldn’t be happier.

I won’t have any more blog posts up until the beginning of December when Know the Novel Part 3 goes live (I’M EXCITED!). So it may be a little quiet around here as I recover and catch up on other things. But I will be back!

Thank you all so much for following along, showing so much love to my bizarre story, and cheering me on. I cannot even begin to tell you how much is motivates me. How was I so blessed with such amazing friends?? *HUGS FOR ALL*

If you’re still doing FallFic or in the throes of NaNo or any other writing challenge, my prayers are with you and I hope you continue to pursue your passion. Stories are one of the most powerful tools we have on this planet and creating is such a beautiful thing and truly a privilege to get to do. Don’t stop, my friends. We need your stories. But also absolutely celebrate your victories. Take a nap, eat a cookie, you deserve it. <3

I will see you all in December!

WHEW. I can’t believe I’ve made it to the end. Thank you again for following me on my crazy journey. Now I want to hear from YOU. If you’re in the middle of writing, how are things going? How has November treated you thus far? Anything I can pray for you over? I want to hear it all! <3