The deadline 
I had some hope to finish my story by September, but here, I would need a miracle to finish it by August!
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Exactly the same. ONC has one aspect working on your own stuff lacks, and it’s how everyone else interprets the same themes, but it is about 2 months out of the year to do it.
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Guys, I am posting a running commentary explaining how I am preparing Raised by the Mafia and how I am helping out my mentee with her book for Watty2022 prep. I post it on my Wattpad profile and Instagram (though I might just give up on Insta). I was wondering if anyone was interested in me copying these posts here?
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I think you should, since you’ve won a Watty. Insight for others on that process might be really good to have for those who want to enter!
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I’ll probably read them on WP, but this might be an easier platform for discussions so I encourage it. I always enjoy partaking in other’s writing process and the discourse around it.
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✧･ﾟ: * ✧･ﾟ:* Be nice to yourself. It’s hard to be happy when someone’s mean to you all the time.✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ: *
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Aww, Wisp had weighed in!
Okay, what it is is: Over the course of preparing my own book Raised by the Mafia, and helping out awesome @kacyreadbooks with her book, Haven, I am going to post as many things that I am doing as I can, for your consideration. Don’t be shy with questions and discussions. I hope it will be helpful.
Post 1:
The first thing I did about that August 19th Watty entry deadline (after drinking a big glass of cold water) , was to access what I had.
Technically, I have 5 books eligible to enter.
Quick Tip! Psst, whenever I start a book on Wattpad, I add the First Published Date to the Blurb/Summary on that book right as I hit the post button. Like, literally spell it out. It makes it easy to see if the book is eligible for Watty.
Anyhow, two of my eligible books had already been shortlisted last year, so I’m not bothering with them again.
My NaNo project written in a haze last November is very niche with 300 reads or something, so not bothering with it either. Too much work for dubitable gain.
Lone Werewolf has a low chance of success, since it’s mixed-genre, 170K long and starts off slow despite my best efforts. As far as I can tell, Wattys like ‘em clear-cut genre, fast-starting and… well, not over 100K. There’re always exceptions, and I invested heavily into this project. I have everything ready to go for it (summary, logline) from last year when I didn’t enter it (was expanding it, because I didn’t like the ending). So… I will enter it, but won’t do anything extra.
Now, Raised by the Mafia, my last eligible book… this one can use some work (an understatement of the year!) and it needs all the trimmings.
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Post 2:
I told you what I have. Now, here is what @kacyreadbooks has. Kacy had already done something cool for the Watty2022. She started the new version of her book.
Quick Tip! Psst, while Wattys ask for books first started, they don’t forbid you to enter a brand new draft of the old book. Kacy, who had initially worked on Haven a couple of years ago, did just that for a Watty2022 glorious version.
Kacy already had done 3 more things that are outstanding as a part of the Wattys Bootcamp. She prepared a logline, a blurb and a 500-words summary.
Apart from reading these documents, I don’t have as deep familiarity with Kacy’s story as she does. IF the deadline didn’t move, I would have started with reading her book.
With a shortened time frame, I subdivided her summary into 3 acts (as they appeared to me). I then asked her to:
–do that division on her own (after seeing mine)
–estimate length of each Act
–prepare Google Docs for each Act separately as our ‘working copy’ to exchange comments on.
Kacy’s Act 2 is rather large, around 40K words, so I subsequently asked her to divide it into 2 or 3 parts at logical places.
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Edited the summary I was stuck on for ages. Phew.
So now I have:
. 1 book (mystery) on a second draft, which technically could do with one last grammar edit. Log line and summary done.
. 1 book (fantasy or paranormal, or new adult or romance. Not sure which yet) on second draft, but am currently writing the next book (standalone) in the series, so could do with a rewrite. But fine as is, as it’s a standalone. Log line and summary done.
. 1 book (new adult or romance) on 3rd draft, I’m happy with it (could probably do with one grammar edit but not as important to me right now) log line and summary done.
. 1 book (romance or new adult) thats 2nd draft, log line and summary done from last year so need to update those.
. 1 book (new adult or romance) which I’m currently doing 3rd draft. Log and summary from last year which need updating once edited.
. 1 book (romance) which is in dire need of redrafting/expanding. I rushed it, but I’m not too fussed if I don’t get time for Wattys. I’ll enter it as is if I dont get time.
. 1 book just finished on 1st draft. riddled with errors, but happy with the plot line, so maybe enter it? (romance)
. 1 book first in series (new adult) won the Contemporary Lit romance award this year, but is in dire need of editing for dialogue tag rules etc. I’m happy with the plot after a long time thinking about it. But touches on some delicate situations for me, so I’ve been avoiding editing. Entered it last year so I know I have log line and summary somewhere. Will probably enter it again as is just because I can and it’s eligible.
. 1 WIP (the standalone in series) which I’m hoping to finish, but I’m not sure if I will. If I finish I will enter the first draft. Definitely no time to edit XD
Lots of work, such little time. As much as I really wanted that bootcamp slot, I’m sort of glad I didnt because this gives me more time to spread across different stories, which is how I work best.
Seeing it set it out like that… worries me. XD SO MUCH WORK
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It’s always such fun to see how many projects you are working on. Always makes me want so badly to write full-time. Aww. Cheers and good luck with getting it all into shape!
I transferred edits to the two yesterday’s chapters, and now have to do a bit of my day job, then going to try for 3 chapters on paper (I need to do 6 chapters over the weekend to stay on target), then will work on Kacy’s story.
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Aw thank you! I just hope I can get everything done!
I’m partly so thankful in a way to being off sick, but then I sometimes just get so frustrated cause I miss work XD but I’ll probably never get this opportunity again once I’ve had surgery so I’m trying to love every second 
I’m always so amazed at how much editing you spend time on, I hate it so much! The patience you have is astounding!
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Honestly, I no longer hate editing. I actually would have enjoyed it, if I had time to both edit and write, not either or. What bugs me is that I have no time for writing if I edit.
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Thats the age old problem isn’t it 
I just have this obsession with new, shiny stories and I think thats why I hate editing because if I edit, I dont write. When I’m actually editing I really enjoy getting back into the stories XD
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I feel similarly. Like I love making my stories better, but then I also hate it that the new stories are just sitting in my files. It is just the worst with doing sequels. It’s like I only wrote/edited one book, when in truth I wrote/edited two. Argh, I hate it. And so little return for the efforts of doing a sequel.
But I loved the character and wanted to see him grow. I want him to get his trilogy. And, it’s work completely useless for Wattys, Wattpad or any querying too. And… I wish I had time.
(Hits her head on the wall). Time…
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I so feel this. I got the third part of a fanfiction trilogy nagging me… and I so want to finish it, for the characters’ sake, if nothing else. But there’s like no reward for writing it (it barely gets reads at this point, and no comments, as most of my readers/friends moved over to my original works instead). I would hate to leave it unfinished but I also feel like I can’t waste the limited time I have for writing on it currently.
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Yeah. This. Also, if I do the third book for Lone Werewolf i will have to waste my time on posting book 2 separately, unpublishing the chapters from the current book and then I will end up with 2 extra books on my profile with like a hundred reads. Rewarding, eh? And the alternative is to dump more chapters into the existing book, and then it’s a guarantee that the number of chapters will be a turn-off.
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Yeah, there are really no good solutions. I’m also starting to suffer from having too many stories on my profile (and I have culled some that just weren’t getting reads). I may eventually move my fanfics completely to AO3 instead so my WP profile has a clearer brand (although I still have NA romance mixed with MG fantasy mixed with whatever the hell Faceclaim is…).
If only we didn’t love our characters so much 
(but what would be the fun in that?)
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I would clean my profile too, but reposting stories… (groan) No time!!!
Wait, they let unfinished enter, before? That was the biggest reason I did t bother last year.
Damn, that’s lame.
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I’m waiting for 5,000 entries and WP canceling the Wattys after this year, for some reason.
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