So, in June, I got serious. I've written multiple posts in my blog about my freelancing journey about how I started much of this writing thing--going in many directions--as an experiment. After a year of data, I said I'd reassess and decide which avenues were best for me to focus on. Well, it took me longer than a year. About 14 months I guess, but by the end of June I'd made one decision, leaving the rest in the gray area.
Goal: I will finish the first draft of my novel by the beginning of next July.
There, I said it--though it took me over 6 weeks to commit publicly like this. I made the deadline generous, because I really hope I may be done sooner, and by July, be in the second draft.
I enjoy what I'm learning in freelancing, but I refined my goals. If I'm going to get anywhere as a novelist, i've got to start getting serious NOW. It takes years to get a book written, marketed, accepted and then published. I don't want to waste any more time not pursuing that. I'm a member of one writers group full of novelists, and going to those meetings helped me decide it was simply time to get down to business. I've been working on it for over a year, but just by squeezing it in between writing magazine articles, online content articles, and other essays. It's time I said the opposite--focus on the novel and write other things only when they're really compelling or I'm doing it to deal with writer's block with my novel.
Strange as it may sound to my own ears, I'm looking forward to the second draft. I think that part will be maybe the most fun. This first draft is a real mess of a thing. Hugely long (over 128,000 words already--past the top limit agents and publishers say they'll even consider for a first-time novelist), it's going to need not just pruning, but some outright amputation. I've finally been able to just leave beginning chapters alone (instead of editing all the time) and just press on to the end. When I'm done cranking out the story, then it's time to go back. Til then, wish me well on seeing my characters to the end. (And that end, I now finally see. While on vacation at the beach, I got a clearer glimpse than ever before of how the characters are getting to the end. That's a great thing for a writer who writes into her story--not exactly from an outlined, predetermined plot!)
My sparse online writing activities of recent months:
Zucchini for Breakfast, Dinner and Dessert: Five New Ways to Use Up Summer Squash and Zucchini
Omega-3 Fatty Acids Protect Against Obesity?
High Fructose Corn Syrup: Thirteen Reasons to Avoid It
100% Whole Wheat Bread with Honey or Molasses, for a Bread Machine
For fun, two from over a year ago:
Potty Training: Cloth Diapers vs. Disposables
Baby Food: Save money by Making Your Own
No comments:
Post a Comment