April 2025

So... March was actually pretty darn awesome. And I normally don't have anything nice to say about March... Sorry, March babies, but your month is cold, dark, and drizzly here in the PNW and as a born-and-raised California kid it breaks my heart that winter not only continues well into Spring here, but that it does so via March, a mostly holiday-less, long-as-fuck month that was surely forged in Dante's ninth circle of hell. Too much? Yeah, I felt it. But, I promised myself (and y'all via a random Instagram story) that I would NOT talk politics this time around, so *shrug* gotta put my hate-fire somewhere and past Marches undoubtedly deserve it.

This March, however, was so 👏 much 👏 fun 👏 for one reason and one reason only: Pathfinder's March Madness Writing Challenge. (For those of you who don't know, Pathfinders Writing Collective is a community space Jen Woodrum and I created for writers of ALL kinds to write, connect, participate in challenges, and make the world a better place by fundraising for bad-ass NFPs. Yes, you can join at any time + it's free 😄)

During the challenge, 221 writers (myself included) tracked their time spent writing. Combined, all participants wrote a grand total of 5,842 hours and raised ~$350 for The Trevor Project (a NFP that focuses on suicide prevention for queer youth). In other words, the challenge was a smashing success and we're all mildly addicted to our craft.

My personal goal for the month of March was to write 100 hours. In the end, I went just over with 103 hours and 3 minutes 😅🎉 But the real win for me was what I learned from tracking time instead of tracking say word-count or chapters edited...

1. Because it wasn't all about words-on-the-page, it felt okay to stop typing and take some time to brainstorm, or chat aloud with my partner about a character's internal motivation. And because all my work time "counted," regardless of work type, every part—big, small, tangible, not—felt equally as important (which, of course, we always knew they were, but the reminder was nice).
2. I also learned that I needed more than 1 hour to write for 1 hour. Because I tracked my time pretty diligently (paused to go pee, paused to look at my phone, paused to grab a sweater), I found I usually needed about fifteen minutes of "buffer time" every hour to get my desired amount of writing time.
3. Speaking of pausing to look at my phone... I can officially confirm that I am 100% addicted 🥲 The number of times I would reach for it, especially in the first 5-15 minutes of a work session, was balls-to-the-walls insane. Buuut I started setting a timer on my phone so that IF I wanted to open another app, I would HAVE to stop the clock. This little timer trick meant I REALLY DIDN'T want to grab my phone because doing so almost felt like a bop on the nose #negativereinforcement... I think??? IDK --> #psychology🧠🤘🤓
4. Settling in was the hardest part 🧘‍♀️ It's when I wanted to check my phone the most, get up to make a cup of tea, refill my water bottle, do anything but write. But, usually, if I got past the 15 minute mark, I could lock in for at least 45 if not a full hour, and sometimes way more.
5. And last but not least, my 100-hour goal was a BEAST. With work, and social media, and eating, and laundry, etc. etc. etc. writing 3+hours/day was a struuuuuuhhhhggle and some days, when 9 p.m. rolled around and I'd only clocked 1.5 hours for the day, I was sooooo close to calling it quits. But, I couldn't let Team Orange down... 🧡... so, I’d buck up and get her done. IDK if that's the power of community or the power of guilt lol, but it was damn motivating! 😆

All that to say, sometimes a simple shift in perspective can make all the difference. I felt so much better about myself during this writing challenge than during any other writing challenges I've ever done in the past.

PWC plans on hosting more fun stuff in the future, be sure to hop into the next challenge! And now, after a hefty intro, a marginally less hefty Musing of the Month...

Ever heard of the first pancake theory?

Basically, in the same way that your first pancake is usually a little lumpy or a little undercooked, your first attempt at anything is usually a little lumpy or a little undercooked. And that’s okay, it’s the first pancake, the first attempt. Subsequent pancakes will be better. Subsequent attempts will be better.

This theory is often applied to first drafts. And I’d say it’s right on the money. My first drafts are typically very lumpy and very undercooked...some might even say dangerously raw 🫤🤷‍♀️ Is what it is.

BUT this theory is also…sometimes…quite often…applied to first books…

And I think that’s crap.

Disclaimer: This has always been one of those weird sticking points for me, something that lingers in my deep zoo then occasionally yips and snaps when I hear someone tell new writers "your first book won't be THE book"... And though it may be true for some, it isn't true for all, and in my opinion, can lead to discouragement and/or a lack of commitment to learning craft.

Okay, where were we? Right, right: Even though your first draft, or first several drafts, may be a little funky/lumpy/raw, the story concept your gloriously unique brain came up with probably isn't the problem. More often than not, the problem (which is totally solvable) is execution.

Don't know how to make the perfect pancake? You get less-than-perfect pancakes. Don't know how to write the perfect book? You get less-than-perfect books.

But with some practice, and a little time to try different techniques and styles, maybe experiment with methodology, you as an author will improve and thus the likelihood that you can achieve your desired result (a darn good book) increases.

Okay, now for some tricky little twists...

All of that ☝️☝️☝️ is NOT to say your first book won't be the book you learn on. You will learn, unlearn, relearn, scream, cry, and "ah-ha!" a zillion times with that first book (that's why first books often need more drafts than books 2, 3, 4...). And that's a good thing! That's figuring out who you are as a writer, how you write, why you write, what you write, etc. etc. etc. Not giving up on that first book because it's a hot freaking mess WILL make you a better writer. And, IMO, the only time to shelf that book for good is if you simply don't love it anymore (and I mean love, not like, you're gonna not like your book A LOT).

And now that ⬆️⬆️⬆️ is NOT to say you need to rework your first book over, and over, and over again until it's ✨perfect✨... In fact, I think shelving that first book, working on something(s) else, and then coming back to it after both you and it have had some time to air out is a great practice. Chefs, even breakfasts chefs (no clue if that's a thing), don't just make pancakes after all, or even the same type of pancake. Write a short story, a poem, a song, another book, or two, or three!! (May be speaking from personal experience 🤷‍♀️👀 Who's to say?) Not only will other projects teach you things you may have otherwise never encountered while in the maelstrom of 🌀Book 1 Revisions🌀, they'll give your brain variety. When you wanna chuck Book 1 into the ocean, tuck it away and dust off the novella you outlined. When the novella also starts looking like it deserves to be waterlogged, tackle the funky short story you started after waking up horror-movie style three 3 a.m.'s ago.

In conclusion (but not really because conclusions are boring to write): eat the first pancake, write the first book, and remember, failure isn't the opposite of success, it's a necessary component of success.

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💻Current WIP(s): 🧬Project EG - adult sapphic sci-fi/dystopian; 💀A new YA (what? never in my life!?!?) dark academia (what?!?!?! never ever in my life?!?!?!) horror-leaning short story

📈WIP status(es): EG = About 70% into Draft 3!! Short story = she is everything and I love her unconditionally and she's not even 2 pages long...bahahaha! 😅 😭

📚Current read(s): 🦊 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman & 💀 Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, buddy-re-re-re-re-read (my partner and I are reading the whole series together and balling like wee bebes on the reg)

✨ Other: My tat just got an upgrade 😉 glimpses on the gram to come...soon...once I get past the itchy stage 😝

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📘: The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi — I read this again recently because I like to read things that feel like what I'm writing to stay "in world" so to speak, and I LOVE this book and how gritty, gross, and frightening it is, but if you're looking to NOT double down on the doom and gloom of today, skip this one.

🎥: Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart and Katy O'Brian — all I'm gonna say is YES!!!!...and buckle up buttercup.

🌸: City "hikes" based on where the cherry blossoms bloom — There are cherry blossom "hot spots" in/around Seattle and this chick on TikTok posted walking routes that hit some/all. I think these + vit D + longer days are the only reason I'm not wallowing with all the past Marches in the 9th circle of hell right now 🐰🌷

🍵: Tea — Grand Yunnan Imperial tea by Palais Des Thes. Game changer. Absolutely stunning. May find out in the future the sachets cause cancer or something, but for now a steaming cup of her, instrumental metal, and my manuscript is *chefs kiss* 😘

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As always, if you'd like to read past newsletters, you can do so right here.

Take care! ​Happy April! Much love! And if there's something you'd ever like me to dive into (writing, querying, editing) just let me know!

XOXO,

Rain ☔

she/her