Back at the end of April, 2020 I had set out to write the first draft of my book the Unintentional Calamity. Through the year I had made many leaps and bounds forward from world building to character design and plot outlining. All that preparation for three months led me to attempt to write a complete first draft by the end of December, 2020 hitting around 50,000 words. As the publishing date points out, 2020 is already gone and I still giving first draft updates. In other words, the first draft still isn’t done. Now that half a year has passed since any news was given for the status of this story, I would like to explain what the original plan was, what has changed within the six month time period, and where this project will go.

The Original Plan

When I had first started this project I had estimated that 50,000 words would be adequate for a first draft. I was wrong. For better or for worse, this project is massive. The world I made is huge. The fact that I had spent three months outlining a single continent and its history should be a testament to how big this project really is. I wanted to create a literal galaxy’s amount of information, so naturally it has been hard to restrain the brevity of the project.

One main reason for the prolonged delay in releasing this first draft is the plot outline. When I completed my three months of preparation around the end of July, I had made a plot outline of everything I wanted to happen. It was detailed enough to hit scenes and main plot points I wanted to play out. The work definitely paid off as many writing sessions were much easier to complete with the outline always being up as a reference but it also encouraged me to go into more depth than was needed.

What Changed

Over the past six months a lot has happened. Naturally, I have grown as an individual and my world views that are constantly evolving have influenced my writing in different ways. I’ve read more books from different authors and I have paid more attention to how current authors address key components such as transphobia and racism. I’ve learned a lot and the more I read the more my own writing style feels like it is evolving.

When I started writing the first draft the perspective was awkward, I didn’t know how to write details, nothing flowed naturally. Quite recently this has changed. I know how to handle dialog better, I’ve learned how to build tension, and I’m starting to figure out how to write about the novel world I have imagined. There’s still a lot to learn, but it does feel like I am making tiny steps towards being a better writer.

The list of improvements could go on forever but the main point is I have learned a lot from tackling this project and I am determined to continue the work.

Future Plans

Currently I am approximately 76,000 words deep into this first draft. My gut is telling me I probably have another 10,000 words minimum before the first draft is complete. Once I am able to write the last words of the story (I’ll probably be unsatisfied with the ending which is okay for the first draft) I’ll be going back to the GitBook documentation of the Unintentional Calamity Compendium and move it from GitBook to a singular MarkDown file. I’ve been stressed that all the work will be deleted if Microsoft decides to shut down the service. I would much rather be able to store a local copy of the Compendium as it no longer seems necessary to have it up on a website. (I can always buy another URL for it if I so desire.)

Once I have a local copy of the Compendium, I’ll be going back through it and flushing out more details and adding more to the world. When I feel prepared to write a second draft, I will start from the beginning this time writing in first person in a style inspired by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman from the Aurora Cycle trilogy.

Currently I have no timeline set for these next steps. Project planning will come after I finish writing the first draft of the book.

Hopefully, before I know it, I’ll be able to start thinking about searching for editors and publishing the cursed book! Only time will tell.