After spending two months creating an outline for my newest WIP, I actually started writing the thing in August! So, how are things going with Follow the Arrows so far?

…I have mixed feelings.

June and July 2024: Outlining

My intention for outlining Follow the Arrows, a dual-POV contemporary Christian YA sports romance which features bowling and archery, was to spend the month of June completing the outline, with hopes to start writing in July.

Ha… that did not happen. XD

In hindsight, I should’ve given myself grace. Though plot bunnies for this book have been bouncing around in my head over the past few years, I only had vague ideas for characterization when the outlining process began, so more groundwork needed to be done before I could plan out what I want to happen in the book. This is why outlining ended up continuing throughout the entire month of July.

Which should mean the outline is finished, right? Haha, nope.

I think I wrote chapter summaries up until the All is Lost point or a bit after that (around 75%), and by that time it was almost August, so I decided to go ahead and give writing a try. Like with Tales of an Awkward Turtle, I plan to go back and finish the outline as I get more familiar with the story and characters.

August 2024: The First Few Frames (Y’all better get used to the bowling puns. XD)

I started writing Follow the Arrows on Thursday, August 1st, which was the perfect day of the week to start this particular book, because my husband bowls league on Thursday nights, and all of his bowling antics over the years inspired this book. ❤

Since I had such an epic experience writing Tales of an Awkward Turtle, my last WIP, I hoped and prayed the streak would continue on for Follow the Arrows. Looking back at my first WIP update for that book, I noted that Tales‘s Chapter One was one of the easiest I’ve ever written. Did Follow the Arrows‘s first chapter follow in Tales’s footsteps?

This is where I have mixed feelings. I really like some parts of the first chapter (especially Hudson’s lines XD) but I felt that I may have gotten too technical when it came to explaining bowling terminology and league rules in other parts. I want this book to be written in a way that if one of my husband’s bowling friends picks up the book, they’ll see that I did my research and have described the sport accurately. On the other hand, I want the average reader to be able to read the book and not be confused or grow bored over the descriptions. Trying to straddle the line has proven difficult, and that factor, coupled with my usual new WIP jitters has already given me a love/hate relationship with this book.

Still, God’s allowed me to make a decent amount of progress during the first month of writing. As of the time of writing this on August 28th, three chapters have been written, and as for the word count:

On August 19th, God allowed me to reach 5k words on the manuscript.

As of my last writing session on August 26th, the WIP is currently at 6,725 words.

Part of me is disappointed that I haven’t written more than this during the first month, but I’m also trying to give myself grace. The Dream needs more of my attention right now, with its release coming up in November (Lord willing), and because this book is about brand new characters, I need to take my time and get to know them rather than forcing stick figures to do my bidding for the plot’s sake.

I hope that makes sense. XD

Number of August writing sessions (As of August 28th… more may come!): 12

Will Follow the Arrows reach my second word count goal of 7.5k words? We’ll see. I’m not going to push myself to reach 10,000 words, but I think 7.5k is achievable.

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

If you’re a writer, how is your work-in-progress going? Do you get nervous writing the first few chapters of a new book project? Let me know in the comments!

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀