My Fall Writing Reset: New Goals, a Novel Rewrite & What's Next

There is something about September that always feels like a fresh start.

Maybe it’s the kids going back to school. Maybe it’s the first hint that summer is finally loosening its death grip here in Utah. Maybe it’s all those years of buying new notebooks and school supplies permanently convincing my brain that fall is actually the beginning of the year.

Whatever the reason, I’m feeling it.

August was my transition month. After a busy summer filled with editing work, kids at home, and a very complicated developmental edit, I finally started settling back into a more consistent creative routine. Now that we're heading into fall, I feel like I'm standing at the beginning of a new writing season.

So before I dive headfirst into September, I wanted to take a minute to look at what worked in August, what I'm leaving behind, and—most importantly—where I'm headed next.

What Worked in August: Stepping Back Before Moving Forward

The biggest thing that worked for me in August was resisting the urge to jump straight into the manuscript... which sounds a little counterintuitive when you're trying to rewrite a book.

For the past several months, I've been deep in developmental edits on The Stormbound Heir. I knew the rough draft needed major changes, but there were so many moving pieces that every time I thought about opening Chapter One and simply starting, I felt overwhelmed.

So instead of immediately rewriting, I spent August working from a bird's-eye view. I printed out a detailed, chapter-by-chapter outline of the existing manuscript—about 30 pages—and went through the entire thing by hand. I had a separate list of everything I knew I wanted to change based on my own analysis of the rough draft and feedback from beta readers, and I mapped those changes directly onto the outline.

It looked mildly unhinged by the time I finished, but it worked. For the first time in months, I could see the entire book again. And that made all the difference.

What I Accomplished

August wasn't a huge word-count month, and I'm actually okay with that. Sometimes progress as a writer doesn't look like thousands of shiny new words. Sometimes it looks like 30 pages covered in handwriting.

I now have a roadmap for the new version of The Stormbound Heir. I know where new subplots need to appear and have a much clearer understanding of Nova and Zeph's emotional arcs and how their relationship needs to develop throughout the book. I've worked through plot problems that have been bothering me since I finished the rough draft, and most importantly, I finally feel ready to rewrite.

That may not be as flashy as typing THE END on a new draft, but it was exactly the work this book needed. I'm trying to get better at recognizing that kind of progress, too!

What I'm Letting Go Of

If you've been following my updates this year, you already know that 2026 has been an ongoing lesson in one particular skill:

Changing the plan.

I started this year with a beautiful schedule. I was going to rapidly draft two books and a novella, edit them together as one enormous project, and hopefully release all three in quick succession. It was organized, ambitious, color-coded in my brain.

It also lasted approximately five minutes.

This book has repeatedly asked me to slow down and reconsider what I'm building. And I've had to decide whether I'm more committed to the schedule I created in January or to writing the best version of this story that I can.

So this fall, I'm letting go of the pressure to "catch up." I don't need to make up for the months I spent editing or rush through the rewrite because I originally thought I'd be working on Book Two by now. And I don't need to judge my current progress against a timeline created by a version of me who hadn't even written the first draft yet (and who optimistically thought she could get through a summer having the kids home and somehow also have time to write, haha).

The plan did its job. It got me moving. Now I have more information, and I get to make a new one.

My September Priority: WRITE THE BOOK

After months of analyzing and outlining and restructuring and thinking about this story from every conceivable angle, I am so ready to write again.

My main creative priority for September is simple: Rewrite The Stormbound Heir.

That's it.

I want to take this giant, scribbled-on roadmap I've created and start moving through the book chapter by chapter. I want to get back into Nova's head, dive into storms and ancient magic and cursed lands and all the complicated feelings I've spent months planning.

And now that the kids are back in school, I finally have something I haven't had much of this summer:

Quiet, dedicated writing time.

And it is GLORIOUS.

My editing business is still an important part of my workweek, of course, but one of my biggest goals this fall is to protect my author time instead of treating it as the thing I do after everything else is finished.

Because, truthfully, everything else is never finished. There will always be another email, another task, another load of laundry.

If I want this book to exist, I have to make room for it on purpose.

What You Can Expect This Fall

I'm also excited to start sharing more of the journey again. You can expect more regular blog posts, more social media content, more behind-the-scenes looks at The Stormbound Heir, and—hopefully—a LOT more writing progress.

As the rewrite takes shape, I'll also be able to share more about the Rainlands themselves, Nova and Zeph, the magic, the romance, and all the other pieces of this world I've been quietly obsessing over.

I'm still keeping plenty of secrets. Obviously.

But I finally feel like I'm moving out of the take the book apart and scatter the pieces across the floor stage and into the put it back together better stage.

And that's a pretty exciting place to be.

Into the Next Season

So that's what I'm carrying with me into fall:

• A heavily annotated 30-page outline.

• A clearer vision for my story.

• A little more trust in my own creative process.

• And a willingness to let the plan change without assuming that means I've failed.

August reminded me that preparation is progress, and September is about turning that preparation into pages.

I don't know exactly how quickly this rewrite will move (I've learned my lesson about making grand declarations regarding timelines this year) but I do know this:

I'm excited to write this book again.

After months of pulling it apart, questioning it, rebuilding it, and figuring out what I really want it to become, I'm finally ready to step back into the Rainlands.

And honestly? I've missed the storm.