Tag: Writing

That ice is slowly melting.

Sara Mazariegos


As I read through my novel draft, I keep finding things I want to improve and/or cut. It’s eye-opening, even if it is also a bit frustrating. I’m planning to begin work on rewriting it next week. My goal is to basically “wrimo” my way to March 1st* and then take a break to read my other novel, and then trade places, etc.

It’s nice to have multiple projects to work on. Even if I want to scream “Why can’t you be perfect?!” at both of them.

One thing I’ve noticed I do as a writer (I’m sure I’m not the only one) is overexplaining myself. I’ll have my character (the narrator) say something, and then have an aside or sometimes just an additional thought that’s basically the same information, but in a joking way. I’ve crossed off these superfluous sentences more than twice so far. I wonder if I picked up that sort of writing from Marvel movies?

Either way, I’m annoying myself. Ha!

In other non-writing news, Luis and I are going to Disney World in April for my belated birthday, then back to Guatemala for another family wedding! We’re going to stay at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort for a special resort day to kick things off. To say I’m excited would be a vast understatement. 🥳

Get you a spouse who shares in your enthusiasm for things. It really is the best.

*giving myself about a month and a half to rewrite it since February is a short month, even with Leap Day.

Put the book back on the shelf.

Sara Mazariegos


I received so many books for Christmas AND a new bookshelf to place them on. I’m serious about only reading books I own this year. I’m probably going to also try to enact a policy of giving away books I’ve finished reading and don’t necessarily want to keep anymore.

The first book I put in the Little Free Library this year was Dune. I only read the first half; it’s not for me.

The three books I’m currently reading — Don Quixote, In Cold Blood, and The Haunting of Hill House — are decidedly not in the genre I write, so it’s been a nice change of pace for my brain while I’m taking a short break from writing/revising. Many of the new books I got for Christmas are romance, so I won’t be taking a break from it for too long. 😉

I leaned hard into the comp books last year, so I have a stack of 2023 romance novels to get through this year. ‘2023’ means the year, not the amount! Thankfully, I’m not that bad… Then again, I’ve never counted up all my books.

It’s probably closer to 1,000 books.

I’m excited/nervous to read through my novel and take notes for the next revision. I have all kinds of ideas, but who knows if they’ll actually be useful?

John Green has said he deletes a lot of what he writes. I wonder how many versions of The Fault in Our Stars existed before he was satisfied. I’m willing to guess more than five, so I shouldn’t be too hard on myself.

May 2024 be a successful year!

It must be beautiful in Vermont this time of year. All that snow…

Sara Mazariegos

I hope you had a nice holiday season this year. It’s hard to believe 2024 is almost here.

I’m working at the office Wednesday-Friday, which feels very weird. The days feel off and most people aren’t working, so it’s like a skeleton crew and none of the tasks that matter are getting done, so why worry about the other tasks?

Holiday weeks off should be mandatory. If only I was the boss of everyone. 😉

No video this week because I’m giving myself a personal vacation even if I don’t have a work one. I’m also taking a break from writing, and I keep catching myself thinking about the revising I plan to do. “Not yet, brain,” I tell myself.

Luis (husband) and I are planning our next vacation. There’s something about browsing through Airbnb that cheers me up on a cold and rainy December day.

Nevermind that we considered Cleveland, Ohio before people reminded us that snow happens in February. So that’s been added to the autumn anniversary trip list. Hopefully Cleveland’s not bad in October. We’ve only got two anniversaries! (Dating and wedding.) We don’t travel for our birthdays. We’re not that extravagant.

…Okay, so we’re going to Disney World for my birthday next spring, but a) it coincides with another Guatemala wedding and b) it wasn’t my idea.

I’m like a five-year-old; promise me Disney World and I’ll be excited for months.

Zuzu’s petals.

Sara Mazariegos

Surprise-surprise, this week has been busy and distracting! But I still hit 75,057 words yesterday. 🎉

I’m in the final stretch now. My plot has reached the point where everything’s tying together. It feels like magic. I need to rewrite it. I’m looking forward to it, and nervous as heck about it.

January is going to be all about reading through my other novel and taking notes before I work on the next draft of it. Thankfully, I don’t think a complete rewrite is necessary for that one at this point.

If I’m going to be working on the same two novels for the rest of my life, at least it’s these two.

Anyway! Christmas is on Monday! That’s crazy. It feels like it was just November. I hope you have a nice holiday season (whatever you may celebrate) and a happy New Year!

Until next time,

Must’ve been asleep for days.

Sara Mazariegos


With a refreshed and renewed outlook, I’m confident I’ll be finished with my new novel’s first draft on December 22nd.

It helps that we watched the movie that inspired it (it’s an annual kind of movie) and I’ve been continuing to watch Christine Riccio‘s book-writing vlogs for extra inspiration (of the relatable, cathartic variety.)

One thing I’m going to try to keep up with my writing from now on is not pressuring myself and just writing the story. I get too excited and ahead of myself, and that just puts too much pressure on me. I have two stories to polish and perfect, and it’s enjoyable to play with them. There’s no reason for me to think too far ahead. I’m not even going to think about queries until both novels have been heavily revised. Then we’ll go from there.

Have Christine’s videos made me want to thoroughly edit before sending out again? Yes. Am I a little jealous, though, that she can write a 160,000 word draft? Also yes. My editing brain is just like “?!” about it, because that’s far too long! 😆 My beta reading friends would not be happy with me if I gave them a draft that long.

Anyway, otherwise, as I said in my video up above, I’m looking forward to Christmas/New Year’s. I’m planning to take a break from writing for at least a week in January. We’ll see how that goes.

Until next time,

So it goes.

Sara Mazariegos


Currently paused my writing at 48,484 to post this update. I do love it when my palindrome word counts look like that.

I didn’t reach the NaNoWriMo goal, but I plan to hit the 50,000 words today! Just have to knuckle down (well, fingertip down) and write through the mess.

The second draft will be a monster to edit and rewrite, but I’m looking forward to it because it will improve my story. That’s the point, right? I won’t even bother printing my first draft; there are too many changes to make. I don’t want to waste paper, darn it.

How did your NaNoWriMo go? Did you participate?

Until next time,

Don’t give up, no reason to be ashamed.

Sara Mazariegos

I always knew NaNoWriMo would hurt, but I’m going to be 10,000 words away from winning and it sucks, even though I knew I’d never get to the 50K during November. The progress graph mocks me.

Anyway, I’m on track to finish my novel draft on December 20th! Unless something goes awry. I haven’t had the most motivation this week, since I just got back from a really nice vacation in Guatemala.

I’m determined to edit this one the right way. I was all over the place with my last novel (I’m still going to work on that one! I refuse to give up.)

Here’s a video update from last week, since I wasn’t around to post it. 🙂


Razzamataz,

Best laid plans of mice.

Sara Mazariegos


Happy week three of NaNoWriMo! How’s your writing going?

I had an advanced Thanksgiving struggle last week, because we celebrated Thanksgiving/Veterans Day with my family on Saturday. (We’re going to be in Guatemala for Thanksgiving with my husband’s family this year.) Long story short: I ended up only writing 200 words on Saturday.

Not my proudest moment. But 200 words is better than 0 words! I’m still in it to win it (in December.)

Currently, I’m sitting at 26,162 words but I plan to turn that into 34,000 words before we leave on Sunday. *Tazmanian devil noise*

…I can’t actually make a Tazmanian devil noise.

With any luck, I’ll be able to write some (SOME) on my phone while I’m away, but I have family to visit and museums to see and a wedding to attend. It’s okay that I’ll be busy.

My goal for this NaNoWriMo, and future WriMos, is to be kind to myself.

As I said in my video up there, writing is supposed to be fun. That’s why it’s something we enjoy doing, right? Sure, it’s challenging at times, but if it’s not fun and exciting, what’s the point? Even published authors who do it as a job are supposed to love writing, right? So don’t beat yourself up about it if you have to take a break. Just don’t stop writing! Write when you can and get back on track as soon as you can.

Some advice for myself and for you.

Until next time,

The second week is the grindiest.

Sara Mazariegos


This week has been substantially busier than last week, but I keep pushing myself to hit those word count goals. I’m currently sitting at 18,081 words but I will be up to 20,002 by the end of today, unless something catastrophic happens.

One thing I’ve learned is that it’s difficult to make a mean character nice. That is a challenge for this novel go-around. I’m still enjoying writing it, even if it is sometimes harder to find the motivation than my previous one. I think it’s shaping up to be a good story. 🙂

There’s no way I want anyone to read my first draft this time, though. It needs editing for sure. But thus is the way of first drafts.

Until next time, good luck in your writing ventures!

It starts…

Sara Mazariegos


Happy First Day of NaNoWriMo 2023!!!

I’ve written 1,025 words so far but my goal every day* is to write at least 2,000 words. I have to see how much I can do at work versus when I’m at home. Both have their distractions — that totally make sense, by the way, like having to do actual work and wanting to spend time with my husband whom I miss all day.

I’m hopeful, while trying to be realistic, too!

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year?


*Except the week I have to take off. I’m not pretending I’ll finish the 50,000 words by the end of the month. My goal is to finish 80.000 words by the end of December, though!