Closing Thoughts

 Beloved comrades,

EDIT: Sorry for the late post here! I forgot to hit the very small yet very important publish button.

    We've arrived at a sad moment. This is the end of my senior project, which even as I type I can't quite believe. It's been quite the month, filled with lots of writing, primarily, but also much time with loved ones. 

My three goals were to 1) Get through a revised draft of the book, 2) Research agents and the publishing process, and 3) To try different routines and find my own. This was a very ambitious project, which was strange because I wasn't technically going anywhere, or learning anything super new the whole time. My dad and I plan to finish our draft in the next week - we just have a couple more sections that need a few hours' good work, so it feels like my work isn't truly ending. I have compiled a whole document of agents who line up with my criteria for our book - agents who say in their bios they want an "interesting author story", "a plot driven story", and a "fantasy element" (check, check, and check). And for routine, I had a blast trying 6 authors' routines, which took me to new neighborhoods and forced me to innovate to adapt their routines. For my final post, I thought I'd include my own structured writer's routine. The most important tip for my routine? Take it one day, one task at a time. Here's my best shot at my most typical, productive day (because everyday still was a bit different):

7 AM: Wake up, do some yoga

7:40: Leave house with siblings, get coffee 

8:10: Drop siblings off at Catlin

9:00: Home to do workout 

10:00: Writing session one with breakfast

1:00: Break for lunch and reading

2:00: Next 1.5 hour writing session

4:00: Walk in Tryon Creek OR Viola Practice OR Time with Friends 

5:30: Leave for my job 

10:30: Get home 

11:00: Time for bed!

In terms of if I'd recommend this project to someone else? That's a mixed bag. I think I might have gotten more out of this in a normal year, to be honest. Sitting on Zoom for an entire year makes me a bit turned off from doing work at a computer all day, but at the same time, I have a deep love for this book and the process of revision and writing. I'd say, do it, but only if you're prepared to be really self motivated and have a big connection to the material you're writing!

(Selfies with Dad in our writing space: my view and his!)

Thanks for tuning in y'all. I hope you come to my senior project presentation virtually on Tuesday - I'll be reading out a snippet of the book!

With love,

Catie