Hello, hello, all of my blog readers and fellow writers!!! ^^ I hope you’re all having an absolutely WONDERFUL Saturday!! Because this Saturday, for me, has been… wild.
Because, yes, you read that right…
I HAVE FINISHED WRITING MY NOVEL!!!!!!!!!
*cue confetti cannons, excited screaming, and utter awe and disbelief*
Well, the first draft of it at least.
Oh my goodness.
For those of you who don’t know, I first started writing this book on January 19, after setting aside my other WIP, Island Keepers, for the time being. I was uncertain. I was riddled with doubt, because after struggling so much with Island Keepers, I was starting to doubt I could ever finish another book at all.
And then this book came along.
It was a little idea that’d been knocking at my head for a while now. I didn’t know what or who this story was yet, only that there was this girl, who lived somewhere in the woods, in a place where the hopes and dreams — glowing, warm, golden orbs of light were how they appeared in my mind — of people were kept.
I didn’t know if I’d ever finish this book. But I decided I’d give it a shot nonetheless, because the idea just wouldn’t leave me alone. And very quickly, after dashing out two thousand words that morning, I fell in love with it. For one, it was a cozy middle-grade fantasy that took place in autumn (which is something I’ve always wanted to write). I loved the characters, I loved the setting, and I knew that this was a story I wanted to finish and bring to life.
(I may or may not have made a really big Pinterest moodboard as well… XD)
What followed was months of working on this story, all while so much was happening in my life. There were times when I wanted to give up. When the end was so, so far in sight, and besides, hadn’t this story idea already been told before? Indeed, there many times when I couldn’t possibly figure out how on earth the antagonist of my novel was to be defeated.
Only yesterday afternoon, I was half debating on giving up on this book and tossing it to the side. Why had I chosen to tackle all these themes? Why oh why hadn’t I picked an evil sorceress as the villain like last time? (I cannot say more without spoiling, but… let’s just say this villain was somewhat more difficult to defeat than an evil sorceress.)
But I eventually realized, last night, that I’d given this first draft my all. I had done the absolute best I could with writing the villain and these themes. There were still many pieces yet to be pieced together, but I trusted that I’d done all I could for the first draft and that Future Me would be able to untangle the rest.
And so, when my friend emailed me, asking me to join her for a writing sprint if I saw her email in time, I decided I would not give up and I’d join this sprint and I would write an end to the story, the best I could.
Yesterday night, I managed to get to the last chapter. And today, I finished that chapter.
And my book sits completed at 89,775 words.
It’s a first draft, so of course there’s still work to be done. Revisions to be made. Scenes to be rewritten. But, after many months, I have completed the first draft of it.
I’m not really sure what I’ll be working on next. Most likely, I am going to convince my mom to take me to the archery range in celebration and then the bookstore afterwards, sometime this month, and take a break for the rest of the week.
And then there is Island Keepers. (As well as a Substack serial I want to write…) But for now, I think I’ll be taking a well-earned break and focus on reading and being utterly over the moon for one week. Or two. Or three. I don’t know. XD
It shall be some time before it’s ready for anyone to read, and I have some other projects in the works as well. But thank you to everyone who has cheered me on and kept up my spirits while in the writing trenches. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you especially to all of my writing buddies, Caroline, Journey Bloomfield, Hallie Kropf, Leah Larkspur, and Lauren Ennis. I am eternally grateful for all of your encouragement and I don’t believe I ever would’ve gotten here without y’all. <3
So yes.
After precisely six months and thirteen days, I have finally typed The End to another story.
I have a little writing vlog coming out on my YouTube channel later this month as well, where I actually vlogged me finishing my first draft!
But for now, all I want to say is thank you. A huge thank you to you as well, my blog readers and fellow writers! It has been truly wonderful running this blog and getting to share all my writerly ramblings with you, and I cannot wait to see where our writing journeys take us next! <33
Now, I’m likely going to take a break for a bit and… yeah. Then we’ll see where this goes next!
a little snippet screenshot of the end!!! and also half of an ending sentence that is probably going to change throughout revisions.
Till next time and wishing y’all an absolutely FANTASTIC week,
-Isabelle
CONGRATS……………
https://cherrywright.com/isabelle-panda-posse-coloring.html
Aah THANK YOU!!! It’s been such a surreal experience!!
Congratulations, Isabelle! That is fantastic!!! Almost 90k words written in 6 months is fantastic, and a super achievement in finishing yet another book!! Takes lots of time celebrating! I look forward to reading this one!
Aaah, thank you so much, Valinora!! Part of me still can’t quite believe it. And thank you!! ^^ I hope to be able to share this story with you and everyone else soon!
Oh my goodness!!!
Congratulations, Isabelle!!! Finishing a first draft is SUCH a huge accomplishment, and I hope you do get to go to that archery ranch and bookstore to celebrate! This novel seems like such a sweet, cozy, autumn-y story, and I hope that you will always find joy in it, even when it is hard.
Congratulations again! What an exciting feat!!! Rest well, breathe deep, and revel in this moment!❤️
I hope your much deserved rest refills your creative well for whatever project you decide to chase next.
Best wishes in all your story endeavors!
Aaah, THANK YOU SO MUCH LOLA!!! <3 Part of me is still kind of in disbelief. It's so wild to think that, after so long, I've actually written The End to it. Haha, I hope so too!! Have you ever done archery by the way? (I'm curious XDD)
And thank you!!! I really appreciate it!! I wish the same for you as well! ^^
I have indeed done archery! For a few years when I was in my tweens, that was one of my favorite pastimes! Just stepping out into my front yard with a bow in my hand and a quiver full of arrows over my shoulder and shoot for ours! I haven’t done so in a while, but I absolutely adore archery! What got you into it?
Thank you!
(So sorry for the late reply!)
Also, just wanted to know I tagged you over on my blog!
https://lolamaewrites.wordpress.com/2026/08/09/spreading-light-a-tag-challenge/
And thanks for the tag!! I saw your post (but I forgot to comment), and I look forward to doing this tag!
Sorry for the late reply, Lola!! And oh wow, that’s amazing!!! :)) We live in an apartment in the city, so there isn’t much space for shooting arrows haha. There’s a sort of indoor archery range nearby and so I’ll typically go there to do archery! I think archery has been something I’ve always wanted to do (because it just looked so cool XDDD) and there was this archery range near our condo when we were in Thailand, and so I decided, “Why not give it a shot?” I’ve only done it three times, but it’s still really fun!!
Oh, yay! I just wanted to make sure I let you know–since I know we all get an abundance of tags, and sometimes some slip between the cracks!
That’s so cool that there’s an indoor archery range near you! I love that you just decided to give it a shot! (wait…I just realized there’s a pun in there XD) It really is a blast!
Congratulations. Love the quotes! It’s a great accomplishment. Breathe!
Thank you Carol!! ^^ It has been SO surreal and part of me is still… kind of in disbelief. XD And yay! I adore the quotes on the moodboard too!
Yay! I would love to read it sometime!
Thank you so much, Cora!! ^^ I definitely hope I’ll be able to share this story with everyone soon!
You have no idea how proud of you I am, girl!!!!!! I knew you would see this project through to the finish, and I know it’s going to be absolutely AMAZING!!! I can’t wait to read it whenever it’s ready to be shared!! I’m so glad we could talk plot and such together, it was a lot of fun!
Aw THANK YOU SO MUCH JOURNEY!!! That means so much to hear, and your support really means the world to me! <33 All our brainstorming sessions have helped a lot and I shall be forever grateful. ANd yes, I hope I can share this story with you soon!!!! :))
Congratulations, Isabelle!! I’m so proud that you saw this book through to the end, even though there were moments of doubt. I’m glad I’ve been able to be a writing partner and that my request for a writing sprint was so well-timed XD I can’t wait to read this novel when it’s ready!!
Aw thank you SO much Leah!! It was amazing getting to sprint with you and I hope we can do more of them later! :)) I’m glad to have been able to be your writing buddy as well! And thank you! I hope I can share it with you soon!!! <33