Ditto for the 24th, which I apparently simply mis-put-in for the 25th. Whatever, I've been writing but only finally started typing things up today lol.
2,920 words and it's actually a chapter that got slipped in earlier bc I really want a chapter showing Samira's friendship with the ghost prior to our entrance into the climax
It's funny to see how much stuff I'm combining from previously different scenes. Like when I did my readthrough and I was planning, a lot of individual chapters were like "yep this is good" but I knew I needed to rearrange where entire chapters were in the book.
But now as I'm going through the novel, I'm ripping individual chapters apart and putting them back together differently, which is satisfying enough on its own, and then I'm putting them back together with pieces from different chapters and it's just *anime fist clench* so satisfying.
Even though it also makes the whole thing feel vaguely like a Frankendraft, and I k n o w I'm gonna need to read through the whole thing and edit it at a more scene/line level before yeeting at betas. Because, you know, I'm sort of losing track of what's already been said and used and what hasn't already been said and used. And also just for general cleaning up. And also because what even is time in this story.
Once again not typing things up B E C A U S E we have an all-day write-in on Saturday! Since I'm drafting by hand, I'm hoping to do as much hand-drafting as possible before that, because I'll be on the computer all day that day. So I figure I'll type it all up then.
Goal 3: Complete some revisions of GroundskeeperWIP, possibly up to 50,000 words of a second draft
65,050 words in total for the month, and that's after I cut the prologue I initially drafted around June 30 because I decided I didn't like it after all! Needless to say, I wildly exceeded my expectations for this month lol. From here on in, the draft's going to be PRETTY similar to how it was before.
That said, for my own reference, here's my "outline" from where I am now to the end of the story.
Spoiler! :
so then it's probably been a day or two and Peter's getting more and more panicked and he knows it's partly just bc he's in the cemetery where he can constantly feel the spirit's anger, but he keeps thinking of the Midsummer he was cursed [actually I think we're bringing all of his Midsummer history here, bc we've been building up to it and honestly I'm not sure during the funeral is appropriate for all his younger time with Jack], and this is where we'd bring in the rest of his Midsummer history - maybe more about Jack here actually but I'm hoping we can kinda cram that half in with that prior funeral chapter to break the backstory up just a bit - and he's having panic attacks and he feels constantly overwhelmed in the cemetery ESP outside his garden wall and then David calls and he kinda leaps at the chance to get the heck out for a while, they have their moment, he flees (Tues)
then he watches the children, see my note below about how that happens now that the cemetery is more dangerous and he's trying to keep people out of it (Tues)
[OKAY WAIT WILL THIS WORK IF I HAVE PETER HUSTLE NEVEAH OUT OF THE CEMETERY? U G H okay well it probably will? bc? Yafa doesn't know? that the cemetery is all dangerous? I mean I guess he could just be anxious like "you shouldn't've come" but she's too upset to really understand or anything she's probably just like "I know it's late I'm so sorry" and he watches her leave just to be safe and then relaxes bc after all the children are safe IN the cottage - and then idk how his conversation with Samira happens but maybe they don't leave the garden after all, maybe they sit on the garden wall, maybe he distracts her with the chickens lol, don't know yet - and then Yafa calls when she's on her way back but he convinces her not to come, like their convo happens basically like it does except they're on the phone the whole time, and he offers to drop them off in the morning to keep her from returning to the cemetery bc he really wants everyone to stay out of the cemetery as much as possible OKAY YES I THINK THAT'S FINE]
then we get to him leaving and Neveah getting REAL UPSET about it bc of how things have changed in the story to this point, but he stays when he learns the identity of the ghost, but at this point Midsummer is in like 2 days and he has no clue where Eoin's buried or how to find where he's buried or ANYTHING and the poor man is just p a n i c k e d (Wed)
- the next morning, Peter brings the children home and then prepares to skip town, because ghost or no ghost he's in danger from these people and he needs to get the hell out of dodge; Neveah comes to bug him because David's been trying to call but hasn't been able to get through (because Peter wouldn't answer and finally took the phone clear off the hook); she realizes he's leaving and gets mad because how dare he leave them all in danger??? and she calls David, who tells Peter that he's gotten INTO the room and found a box and it was E.S.'s room AND he even knows who E.S. is now! aaaaaaaand it's Peter's brother. so now Peter obviously can't leave. he goes to see the room and has many panic attacks but also tells Neveah about his curse.
[NOTE TO SELF: so THEN when Peter's packing to leave and David's trying and trying to call and not getting through, Neveah comes by bc she's WORRIED bc holy shit Peter told her it was so dangerous, but he stayed behind, and now he's not answering his phone OH NO. so then she gets extra angry when she realizes he's preparing to skip town YES HELLO I LOVE IT. I'm thinking David has not had his cast off quite yet bc he broke his leg during the first 10 days of May probably and now it's only the second week of June, so yeah, he probably actually needs to wait another *two* weeks and his cast will be on until after Peter's in the hospital so that works out just like it did originally! anyway, David's still in his cast, which is why Neveah goes looking for Peter even though she's not already at the cemetery either~ PERFECT]
so then Neveah invites him out bc she's like "look I know you're worried, I'm worried too, but it's Summerfest, everyone's ready for some fun especially after this weird spooky summer we've had, and frankly I'm worried about YOU and I think you need to get out of your own head for a bit, come with us" so he does but it's SHORTER THAN BEFORE and everyone's together almost the whole time and Peter's probably more anxious the whole time but nothing bad happens - maybe bc of the decor? like maybe the school is all decorated with yellow flowers and stuff? so it's not ghosty around here yes I like that idea - and they have their pics at the end and it's just a nice calm before the storm BUT SHORTER I CANNOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH we do not need 4,000 words of carnival!!! (Fri)
and then BAM it's Midsummer and Peter's anxiety is ALL TIME HIGH and everything basically happens as it currently does BOOM WE HAVE OUTLINED FROM WHERE WE ARE TO THE END rip about Isaiah's chapter but that's *also* like 4,000 words and it's not important enough a l a s (Sat)
[shinichiro otah voice] The GroundskeeperWIP battle is OVAH!
Okay yes this is Chairman Kaga not Shinichiro Otah but shhhh there are no good gifs of Otah saying "the battle is OVAH" so this is what we're going with
Okay, it's not exactly over, because I need to do a pass for line edits to clean things up. Because, you know, I'm pretty sure I repeated myself, like, a lot, and also the writing itself is definitely kind of messy.
BUT. Line edits aside, a complete second draft exists! And it's sitting pretty at 99,000 words! And the plot makes sense I think! And the pacing is better!
And all in just 34 SHORT DAYS @o@ i.e., in the fastest amount of time I've ever drafted or revised a novel, period WOOOOOOOO
Anyway, once I do my line edits, I'll be ready for beta readers~
If anyone's interested, hit me up! I won't be posting on the site, but if anyone wants to read for feedback, you'll get 10,000 points in lieu of the points you would've gotten from writing actual reviews because granny is flush with points to throw around The story will be in a Google doc, and the link will allow you to comment without logging in for maximum Internet safety.
(I can also send the story as a .docx, but if that's your preference we can PM about it.)
I'm looking for a one-month turnaround if that's possible for anyone, although I realize with school coming up that might be tough. If you don't feel up to giving feedback but would like to read for fun, let me know! That's also fine, because I thrive on commentary lol
In case you're not clear on what GroundskeeperWIP is about, here's a quick pitch & some tropes. A longer blurb can be found in the spoiler below~
Pitch:
THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA x SUPERNATURAL
Peter travels the globe, banishing evil spirits. Cursed with immortality, he's safer alone than making friends who will die one day. When the residents of a small Ohio town endangered by a ghost adopt him as their own, he has to choose: his heart, or their lives?
This book has...
found family
vengeful spirit
old man bonds with young folks
old gays
y e a r n i n g
tired immortal who just wants to die
Spoiler! :
Peter Shaughnessy is more than two hundred years old and ready to die. Unfortunately, he can't: a youthful encounter with one o' them left him with a curse: to wander eternally far from home.
Now Peter wanders from town to town, ridding each place that calls to him of troublesome ghosts. Once, he was certain ridding the right town of the right ghost in the right way would break his curse—surely that's why immortality came with a side order of being able to see and understand spirits no one else knows are there.
After a century of dispelling dangerous ghosts, he's stopped expecting his exploits to win him the death he desires, but he continues his ghost-hunting nonetheless: helping people gives his life some semblance of purpose, and leaving town when his work is done ensures that he never gets to know anyone too well or care about them too much.
Enter Harrington, Ohio. For the first time in more than a century, Peter finds himself wanting something other than death. A family. A community.
But he knows the people of Harrington will die someday. And he won't.
Afraid of the emotional danger he'll face if he stays, Peter decides to leave Harrington - but an angry spirit is determined to destroy the town, and Peter's the only one who can stop it.
CWs/TWs: anxiety; panic attacks; allusions to attempted suicide; discussion of death of close family members; physical violence and bodily injury; dissociation; flashbacks
Gender:
Points: 91980
Reviews: 1735