Well, I've returned to annotating Anemone's Song for editing. I'm working on it during little bits of time throughout my day. I wish I could get a solid hour or two of editing for my book, but life is simply too hectic right now. So, I do what I can and try to take comfort in the knowledge that it will add up over time.
After all, something is better than nothing.
So I made the mistake of signing onto Twitter this morning. Normally this wouldn't be a problem. This morning, however, I was greeted by a couple of tweets by one of my friends, regarding Camp NaNoWriMo.
Gaaah!
Now I'm tempted to join in the madness all over again. But I need to be editing my book, Anemone's Song. And even more important than that, I need to finish the short story I promised my friend I'd provide for the publication she is editing at, The Forge. I really just do not need this distraction again. I have plenty of my own, thank you.
Willpower! Must...have...willpower. Must...have...
... ... ...
Maybe I could sort of join in by editing along instead of writing? That breaks the rules, but--
*slaps self*
I can't believe I haven't written in this blog since January. Er...scratch that. Yes, I can. My little boy arrived three weeks early, back in February. He was due in March. The good news is that I finished typing up my book shortly before he decided to arrive. Needless to say, I wasn't doing a lot of writing after he came.
Now that he is 3 months old, however, things are getting a little easier. Or enough easier that I've started potty training my daughter and editing my book.
But alas, the editing must be put on hold. For Camp Nanowrimo, perhaps? No. Although it's tempting. Quite tempting. But I've made my husband promise to slap me silly if I try to take that on; I'm supposed to be concentrating on my editing, after all. I'd like to have this book ready to send out by sometime next year.
So what, then, has forced me to turn my attention away from editing?
A short story.
I'm trying to write a short story at the request of a guest editor, for a publication called The Forge.
So, it's back to writing I go. Hopefully, since I only have about a month to write it, my submission won't totally stink. I had a vague idea for a short story (and I say vague, because, really, it was only a title) recently, so now I'm trying to spin a plot that I think is compelling enough to submit.
Well, we shall see. The worst that can happen is that the editor takes back her offer, right?
I had a very good night last night. I managed to type up three and a half chapters of my book. This means that I only have five more chapters to type up in section three of my book (the longest section). I'm so excited. After section three is finished, I only have one more section of my book to type up, and it's only eight chapters long (the shortest section of my book. So, that means that I have thirteen chapters left before I finish typing up this book. Yay!
This makes me enormously happy. I really think I'll be able to finish this up before the baby comes in March. Then, when things settle down a few months after he arrives, I'll be able to work on a little editing.
Go me!
Yesterday didn't go quite as I planned. I had intended to work on typing up more of Anemone's Song during my daughter's nap, but I went on a sudden cleaning jag instead. (I guess the nesting phase of this pregnancy has started.) I figured I might then do a little more cleaning later that night after she was in bed, and then do some writing.
Oh, the best laid plans...
The upshot of this is that I accomplished nothing in terms of my writing yesterday. I was too tired to clean or write, last night. Just picking up my daughter's toys off the living room floor is a ton of work at this point in the pregnancy. Everything is so awkward, and I spend all day standing up and down doing things for my daughter, plus all of the trips upstairs to our only bathroom, I just don't feel like messing with much at the end of the day. So I end up crawling around the floor on all fours trying to clean up her toys to put them away, and the entire process takes two or three times as long as it should. By the time I'm done, all I want to do is sink into a comfortable chair and hope that I don't have to climb the stupid stairs to use the bathroom any time soon.
On the bright side, though, I managed to type up one short chapter of my book tonight, despite how exhausted I am. That makes me happy.
Of course, it probably has something to do with the fact that my husband brought home Taco Bell for me, and I'm afraid of going to bed too soon for fear of killer heartburn. I have near constant heartburn in the last three months as it is.
Meh. Whatever. I'll take what I can get, you know? I'm one chapter closer to being finished with all the typing, which means I'm closer to the editing phase. Progress is progress, after all, no matter how you accomplish it.
Well, I survived the madness that is Nanowrimo--but not without totally scrapping the original story I had been working on during day 3. My mind kept going to the characters from my current work in progress (completely written, but working on typing it up and editing it) so I started Nano all over and began writing the sequel to it. That worked out much better, and I didn't find myself struggling quite so much with scenes.
Oh, I still had tough moments, but nothing like I had been, and certainly nowhere near as horrible as 2009's debacle.
However, starting over put me three days behind on word count, and I had to skip a lot of naps (not easy for a pregnant lady with an active toddler to give up, mind you!) and pull some long sessions in the evening to catch up. But, after a few days, I finally managed to. Yay me! I'm still so proud of myself for catching up and managing to win Nano after all of that!
But on to my writing goals for 2011...
Yes, I am resuming my list of writing goals for the year. I never managed to do it last year, due to circumstances, but I need something clear to strive for, writing-wise, this year--something that I can focus on besides the loved ones that I've lost the last two years, and the general worries and stress of day to day life.
So, in light of that, I've not only decided to resume my writing goals for the year, but I've also decided to keep it (somewhat) simple. My writing goal for this year is to finish typing up my work in progress, Anemone's Song, and edit it. That's it. That's what I want to accomplish writing-wise this year. Anything else is just icing on the cake.
And really, considering that I will have a new baby and a toddler to care for, it will be no small feat if I manage this. But I caught up during Nanowrimo, didn't I? When I get discouraged or need motivation, I will try to remember that
I feel so incredibly tired after taking my daughter trick-or-treating tonight. Granted, with a new baby on the way, that's not too surprising, but I'm determined to stay up a little longer and see if I can make it to the official start of Nanowrimo.
I'm a little apprehensive about doing Nano this year; I spent most of October wavering back and forth about whether I would participate or not. Last year was very tough, and I almost didn't make it through the week three slump. I blame it now on not knowing my characters well enough before I started, and for not having a good plan of where I was going in terms of scene progression.
And THAT I blame on my book, Anemone's Song, which I had just finished writing only weeks before Nano 2009 began. So I was burnt out and didn't plan much for last year.
This year...eh, I didn't plan at all. And that's not for lack of ideas. I had a few neat ideas rolling around in my head, but I never managed to settle on one of them.
So, that's why I'm totally winging it during Nanowrimo this year (heaven help me!). This has the potential to be very painful for me. But I hope I'm wrong about that.
If nothing else, maybe I can manage to do some typing on Anemone's Song during November, and begin editing it, since I'm not taking things so seriously this year. (Famous last words, right?)
I don't know what's more discouraging: the realization that I have not come as far in typing up my book as I thought, or the realization that my villain is overshadowed by a secondary "evil" character. I never should have looked ahead in my notebooks. Ignorance truly is bliss.
Now the editing and rewriting process promises to be more of a pain than ever. There will be a lot to fix before my book is marketable. My hopes of having the manuscript ready to send out by 2011 look much dimmer.
Well, maybe I just need to type faster, eh? Onward I go!
I have now passed the 2/3 mark in typing up my book. I am filled with both anticipation and "dread" about the editing process that is soon to come. Typing it up has been a daunting task in and of itself. Editing promises to be even more so.
I have a love/hate relationship with editing. Perhaps even more so than with writing. Most of the time, I enjoy editing because I like to make my writing flow better and look neater. I like taking the time to test one word against another to see which one truly captures the mood or emotion I want to convey.
Editing is great...in small doses.
Yet editing a big project can be completely different. Even if I only edit a page or a chapter at time, the entire process wears on me after a while. My nerves become tight and frazzled. I long to do anything but sit down and tackle the "headache" in front of me.
There is some wisdom in letting one's work sit for a time, without looking at it, so that you can approach it again with fresh eyes at a later date. With editing, however, this can be a double edged sword for me. Sometimes the break from the editing process makes it all the more hard and daunting to pick it up again. The road to completion feels even longer. The project seems like it will never end.
This time I will try a new approach to my editing process. I will take the time, after I finish typing up the book, to develop an editing method that will hopefully make the task faster and less daunting.
Any ideas I can incorporate are vastly appreciated.
Writing gives me a sense of direction, a purpose in life beyond the day to day chores and stress and trivialities. I have realized this anew in the last few days while my husband has commandeered the computer in the evenings to work on his projects and school work before his finals. I haven't felt so cut off or purposeless during my evenings for a long time. I feel as if I don't quite know what to do with myself, never mind all of the other chores to attend to. I suppose it's because evening, in my mind, are a chance to relax and enjoy myself, and I feel like I'm being robbed of that, somehow.
Anemone's Song is coming along. Albeit very slowly this week. Last week, I reached a point in the book that I really enjoyed writing the first time around, and it's just as enjoyable typing it up, if not more. Anticipation of finishing up this typing is high, although the end is nowhere in sight.
The thing that is most noticeably absent from my blog this year is an entry about writing resolution for the new year. I'm afraid that this is due to many reasons, one of which is that I lost my father early on New Year's Eve, after his short battle with a terminal brain tumor, and I'm just now getting to the point where I can function semi-normally again, instead of just going through the motions of life. The new year started off too badly, too painfully, for me to have any desire to revisit the memories of it with a long post about my writing goals, delayed or not.
So excuse my break with tradition, if you will, and know simply that this is the year of Anemone's Song, a book that I wrote from November 2007-October 2009. A book that I am working feverishly to type up in total so that I can begin editing it.
No, I didn't type it up on the computer to begin with. Not entirely. I am a firm believer in the hardcopy back-up, the ultimate writing failsafe. I have had more than one bad experience with technology to have convinced me of the irreplaceable importance of a hardcopy or two. If you lose everything else, you can always go back to the hardcopy. Yes, you may have lost a lot of the pretty editing, but the story is still there, alive and breathing, to work with. If not for one forgotten hardcopy, years ago, that I unearthed, one of my other stories would not have survived to the present day to etch itself into my very soul.
Today is a day to celebrate. So sit down with your favorite beverage or treat, and share in my happiness, for I am officially 1/4 of the way finished typing up Anemone's Song, at 30,006 words.
Only 3/4 of the book and an unknown quantity of words to go! But I will make it.
My hands, however, may not...
At 11:07pm on Friday, October 2nd, 2009, I finished my novel, Anemone's Song. I finished two days past my self-imposed deadline, but at least it is complete. What can you do about a child who suddenly gets sick with pink eye and a bad cold, after all? Even after I put her to bed in the evening, there simply wasn't enough time left to write to completion. So, I worked myself half to death, but I did finish it two days later than scheduled. Now it can't hang over my head during NaNoWriMo. I don't need distractions like that.
In terms of NaNoWriMo, I am still contemplating what I shall write. I have some stray ideas, but nothing solid yet. I'd like to write something with Native Americans, maybe a historical fiction of some kind, but I'm still researching and trying to decide what I want to do.
What is everyone else doing for NaNoWriMo? Have you decided yet, or are you like me and still without a clue?
Two days. Several chapters. 5 hours of sleep. Gallons of caffeine!
I will finish, I will!
...get to writing! Or keep on writing. Either way, this is what I'm determined to do. I missed my deadline to have the book finished by August, so now my goal is to finish before the end of September. I really don't need this book interfering with my ability to write during Nanowrimo, and I'm certain that it will, if I know that it's sitting nearby, aaaalmost finished, but not quite.
Mostly, the reason I missed my own deadline was due to a lot of craziness and stress in my life. Perhaps it's understandable if one knows my circumstances, but to me it isn't. Instead of writing through the pain and emotions, I stopped writing, which only magnifies everything and makes it worse.
I also haven't heard back about my short story that I submitted, even though it's been over the 6-8 week span the publication estimates for a response. I've determined that if I don't hear from them by the end of this week (week 10), then I will write a prompt letter.
August was my month of bad, horrible luck. Each week got progressively worse than the one before, culminating in finding out that my father has an incurable brain tumor, and leaving me ultimately unemployed again (knowing that it is a temporary position does not help in the slightest when one is laid off). I am hopeful that September will be my month of good luck--or at least be my bend in the road toward one that is.
I'm not yet optimistic about life again, but I'm going to write toward it.
I've started working some more on finishing up Anemone's Song, my novel. I'm probably into the last third of my book, now. I'm hoping to finish it by the end of August, latest, if I can keep the momentum going that I have right now. I've written pages and pages in the last two days. See, I write at work. Whenever our queue is empty, we are allowed to read or write or basically do most anything except use the computer for non-work purposes or play with anything that makes noise, like cell phones. So it's kind of like working two jobs at the same time, some days. I figure I may as well take advantage of this while I have the chance, and I realized that I hadn't been, much. So, I forced myself to start writing at work, and although it was a little difficult to start at first, I managed to muddle my way through a scene that was giving me trouble. Then things started to fall into place, and I'm writing like the blazes now. I just hope I can keep it up.
I discovered today, though, that my ending had changed somewhat. But I really think it's a better ending, overall, and I think I know a way to incorporate at least a bit of the old ending into the new one, so it's almost like having the best of both worlds. And...and I think it may not be a one shot, after all. I mean, it will stand alone, but I think I have an idea for a sequel of sorts. I'll have to develop it
more later to see if it will actually work, though.
I think that the two main love interests in the story are almost my favorite couple, as far as my characters go. Second only to another couple. Maybe even on par with them. And it's not because the couples are similar to each other. Actually, they're very different in a lot of ways. But there's just something about this particular couple. They just have a ton of chemistry, much like another couple of characters I know. *happy sigh*
Well, now that the new ending is finished (I completed it just before posting this), I just need to go back and fill in the pages between part three and the ending.
Life is good.
I have decided that I'm shooting for a goal of 100,000 words for my book. That may not be enough, and I might go over it, but it's easier to keep track of your progress with a firm goal in mind. The good news is that I'm at 71,000 and some words now.
The bad news is that I haven't been able to write much the last few days because there's so much going on. I have a job interview on Thursday to prepare for, and my sister just had an emergency c-section. Her twins, my nieces, are on life support, and have a 60% chance to live, each. They think the infection that caused my sister's 103-something fever may have infected the placenta, so they sent it to a lab. If it was in the placenta, that means the babies probably have the illness...which is very bad.
I really, really hope my sister doesn't lose either of her babies. She's been trying so much for so long to have more children, and this was a dream come true for her. Besides, we just lost our mother recently. I don't want her to lose her babies, too.
I have only written 1000 words or so in the last few days. Unfortunately, it's all the product of one lucky day when my daughter was cooperating to sleep long enough for that to happen. *sigh* But, it's something. Much better than the nothing I've been producing for a while. But that's not entirely because of laziness or my daughter. My mom passed away recently. I got a phone call one night that my mom didn't have more than a week, if that, left to live, so I flew down, and I got a few days to spend with her before she passed away. She had been battling breast cancer for three and half years.
I just returned recently, and I'm trying to get back into writing while also battling a nasty, lingering infection. Writing is very healing for me, so I think if I concentrate on my writing a little bit each day, it will help. It'll give me something else to focus on and think about until it isn't all so fresh for me.
I also want to write so I can finish Anemone's Song and get it published for my mom. It's to my everlasting regret that she never got to read anything of mine before she died. My own fault. Always too insecure and shy to share it with her. Don't make the same mistake I did, people. You don't always have the time you think you will to share things with people, even your writing.
Rest in peace, mommy. I love you. And I will finish my book and get it published. For you.
So I finished up the month of November with 65,115 words for my 2008 Nanowrimo novel. The novel is not yet finished by any stretch of the imagination, but as I'm rather worn out in writing it, I am switching to my Nano novel from 2007 and participating in NaNoFiMo, or National Novel Finishing Month now. I have been working on that story in bits and pieces, but it rather took the back burner to that short story about the vampire cows for a while, and before that I was quite busy for some months with a newborn baby.
But, now that my daughter is older and (somewhat) more cooperative about my time to write (ha ha ha! That's a riot, right?), I have decided to enter Nanofimo for the first time as a challenge to myself to finish up my 2007 Nano novel. Especially since I would like to try to publish this one within the next year. That will be one of my 2009 writing goals, I think.
But, I digress.
The two main goals of Nanofimo are: 1) to add at least 30,000 more words to your story, and 2) to finish the novel. You have to complete these two goals in some form to win. There are some variations on them, but I leave it to anyone interested to read about it on the Nanofimo website, which is , and read about it under the Nanofimo FAQ.
I am looking forward to the change of pace, especially story wise, this month. By the end of November, after working at such a grueling pace on one novel, and only one novel, I get rather tired of that story by the end of the month. So it will be nice to switch back to my 2007 story and work on that. I am a much better fantasy writer than a science fiction writer, anyway. By far. But, I gave it a good shot, and things went much better than I anticipated. Plus, I did not give up.
So maybe someday I can turn that sci-fi of mine into something publishable. For now, I am going to take a break from it and try my hardest to finish Anemone's Song, this month. Wish me luck!
I have 26,710 words on my NaNoWriMo story so far. That's a little more than halfway finished with my novel, assuming that I only write the 50,000 words required to win Nano. And of course, that is really short for a novel, and I seriously doubt that my book will only be 50,000 words. I'm not even into the foreseen middle of my plot yet. I have a lot of work on this after Nano is over, just to complete it, never mind edit it.
But I will happily set it aside on December 1st and take up Anemone's Song again for NaNoFiMo, or National Novel Finishing Month. I hope to finish Anemone's Song in December, but if I don't, it won't be the end of the world. I'm not going to push too hard for it depending on how I feel at the end of November. But it would be really nice if I could finish that, since I want to edit it and get it published.
Well, one story at a time, right? At least this month. *cackles*
I sent the final draft out to some of my editing buddies for feedback and opinions before I turn it in for the contest. As soon as I get some replies, I'll make any necessary changes and enter my final version in the contest. I'm really hoping I at least place in the contest, because I think my idea is really creative, but I won't hold my breath.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to turn my attention to Nanowrimo. I've finally decided what type of story to write. I'm writing my first ever science fiction. But it has a bit of a horror twist to it. So it's kind of a science fiction-horror, or maybe a science fiction-thriller. I'm nervous and excited. I've never written a science fiction before. Most of what I write is fantasy. Still, this is a wonderful opportunity to stretch myself as a writer, and I'm looking forward to seeing what results from this experiment.
Oh, and I've started job hunting! Yay, me! I'm hoping to be employed by Christmas. Prayers and good wishes for that are appreciated!
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