It’s official.

I have officially written the most I ever have on one project. I have officially written more in my epic fantasy then I need to write to actually finish it.

                  And man does that feel good.

                  My epic fantasy started as a pretty vague concept. I adored YA fantasy growing up, specifically low fantasy reads (alright I’ll say it, I was a “Twilight” girl. Frigging sue me, dude). So, when I started writing my own, I of course started to emulate that. There was a girl, a long-lost heir to a fantasy throne, and magical powers (duh). There was romance, friendship, and weird, scary creatures that kind of looked like what a crocodile would if it stood on its hind legs (they did not make it into this new iteration but I named them Saúrians…couldn’t tell you why. I was also a fan of “I am Number Four” so that may have been the inspiration there).

                  And I only managed about 30k.

                  It was boring. I felt stuck. And the world building just wasn’t there.

                  Cut to roughly (I have lost all track of what time even is so forgive me if I realize I’m wrong on this) 7 years later and I’m now 45k in. That’s 15,000 words more then I had managed on the original concept.

                  I’ve built a world (a high fantasy world no doubt) I would have loved to read by another author. And I frigging created it. It’s a bit awe inspiring, as self centered as they may sound. But never in a million years did I even think I could create something as vast as I’ve managed.

                  And I haven’t even shared it with anyone.

                  Which is naturally the most daunting of this entire endeavour but we’re gonna keep going cause I’ll be damned if I don’t put all this work in without at least trying to get some readers out of it.

                  I don’t say this to scare any aspiring authors away from pursuing this. In that time span of realizing the original concept was, for the lack of a better way to put it, shite, I was busy. I finished a marketing certificate and my English degree, all while working full time. I didn’t have time to write, and honestly, I wasn’t at the stage of realizing how real of an idea it was that I could, and would, be a published author. In retrospect, in the time I’ve been genuinely pursuing this, it’s been a year and half. I think this draft has been a year in the making with me jumping to other projects, trying new things, and joining writing contests.

                  So really, it’s not that bad in terms of timing. Yes, writing can take a while. You want a polished product that reads well and is genuinely entertaining. But it doesn’t HAVE to take a decade for it to actually be good (she says without having published so perhaps wait a second there Shylynn…maybe you’re terrible at this).

                  Now on that note of a little tangent of writing advice. Here is my updated word counts on my current projects.

                  Project Prophecy (there MIGHT be a decided title of this but I’m too scared to share it in the chance I change it again)

                  Word Count: 45,118

                  Goal: 90,000

                  The Afterlife Sucks (I’ll get back to you my sweet little comedy child)

                  Word Count: 3389

                  Goal: 75,000

                  That’s it, that’s the update. Go do other things or if you want to you can twiddle your thumbs and wait for me to finish this thing. Whatever floats that boat of yours my friend!

                  Stay writing (or else? Que that music. We all know what I’m talking about).

                  Byyeeeee