Writer’s Update 3/04/25

I feel like the title “Writer’s Update” is a bit of a stretch this week. I didn’t exactly write a lot. In fact, I probably wrote less than 5,000 words this week.

*checks Reedsy’s word tracker*

Yep. 4,144 words. I mean… it isn’t absolutely terrible, but as far as finishing my book, I could’ve done better. I was doing relatively okay until the weekend, when Maya, Ma and I went shopping. (Pretty much all day.) On Sunday I could’ve written—and I probably should have—but instead I wrote a newspaper article about what happened in February (didn’t finish it) and played some Daily Daddish. (Which is a great game, until I started using it to aid my procrastination.)

Even though I didn’t write too much this week, I’m still only about 5,000 words away from the end. (Plus a couple thousand in the middle for some character development—but that will come during editing.) So, you know—that’s exciting!

As far as what I’ve learned this week: motivation is the most important element in writing. Not inspiration, motivation. I thought that as long as I was inspired or at least knew what I had to write I would write it, but… I have a thousand plus word outline and I still didn’t write this week, so. Motivation, you guys! That’s my discovery this week.

If I can hurry up and write, I’ll probably finish my book by next Tuesday, which—YES. I can’t wait for that. I’ll probably not open Reedsy for the next four or five days, during which I’ll get a massage and keep a ‘Secret of Moonflower Valley’ journal that I’ll write all my ideas in. I’ll see you guys next week! (Hopefully, my book will finally be completed by then XD)

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Excerpt from end of chapter 22/23

Clementine’s POV

I stand Up and spread my arms out to the sun, taking a deep breath of fresh air. Lightningbolt and Hurricane are still inside West Wood—namely inside the palace with Monarch—but the rest of us stepped out just a moment ago per Monarch’s request. Honestly, I’m too happy to see the sun again to be mad.

“You know, of course I knew Monarch was the one who decided not to help Brightgrove during the Eastern Invasion,” Rainpelt begins, “but it hadn’t completely registered to me that he was the guy we were going to go beg for help from today. He’s kind of a jerk.” He says this lightly, but his eyes flicker with something dark and bitter I’ve never seen on him before.

“That’s one way to put it,” Sunray mutters, crossing her arms.

The faint smell of burnt grass carries towards me on the breeze, but before my fear kicks in, something tackles me onto the ground.

“Frostbite!” The white dog wags his tail as he sniffs and licks my face, and I shy away from his wet tongue. “What did we say about the face?” I groan, sitting up and pushing him off me.

“Does he have a note?” Flynne asks.

I wrestle him onto my lap and untie the piece of paper from around his neck. He wriggles around like a madman as I read the short letter.

“Hey guys, we met a crazy general who used to live in Brightgrove and Starlight Glade. Long story short, he tried to kill Willow.”

“Lovely.” Rainpelt nods.

“Judging by our current pace, we’ll arrive at Windstorm Isles in four more days. Good luck with West Wood! From Shadowpaw, Willow, Citrine, Storm, Comet, and Moonshine. P.S. Where’d you get the dog?”

“Is that all he wrote?” Sunray asks.

I nod, turning it over in my hands.

“That’s real nice, Shadowpaw,” she mutters, plopping herself down on the ground. “He didn’t even put a date! Four days from when? The sixteenth? The seventeenth? Today? We don’t know how long it took for Frostbite to track them down!”

I tilt my head at him. “When did you get this letter?” I ask, grabbing his cheeks between my hands. He licks his nose and his tail thumps a few times on the ground. Other than squishing his face in an unarguably adorable way, I accomplish nothing. I give him a quick kiss on his nose before pulling my notebook and pencil out of my satchel. We write our letter to the others, making sure to include only the vaguest details about our escapades in the Wandering Woods. (If we have to wait to learn about their near-death experience, they can wait to learn about ours.) We tie the note to Frostbite’s neck once more, but he doesn’t get up right away, instead laying in an especially grassy patch where the sun hits him all over.

“Okay, poobeans,” I laugh, scratching him behind his ear. “Rest as much as you want. You had a long, confusing trip.”

Sunray snorts. “He wasn’t the only one.”