I am pleased to announce that I have finished the most recent draft of my next novel! I have mixed feelings about it. It’s a lovely starting point for where I want to go in terms of plot and characters, but it’s just that: a starting point. When you’ve written a whole draft of a novel and the end result is “okay, I can start from here”, it makes an author want to scream. Although it’s really nothing new. Paragraphs, perhaps even pages of what I’ve written this time around is very close to what I’m looking for, but I suspect chapters upon chapters will have to be ditched next time around. It’s the natural progression, but that doesn’t mean it can make a writer want to give up. So I’m going to. For a month.
NaNoWriMo is upon us! So I’ve shoved aside my most recent hastily written novel in a favor for a new one. I’ve actually had this plot idea for quite a few months, and I’m happy that I have an excuse to force it into fruition. I won’t tell you much about it here, but if you want to get a quick idea of it, you can look at my NaNoWriMo profile. The title is far from solidified, but I needed to write something down so I did. If you want to keep up with my word count, add me as a writing buddy. I’m always looking for more!
Breaks are important. When undertaking something as monumental as writing a novel from conception to publication you need to make sure to factor in time to step back and reflect. If I were to scroll all the way back to page one right now and try to find ways to make the book into what I want it to be, I think I might drown. But during this month I’m going to focus on a different story, and let this novel percolate. Some ideas are going to feel comfortable solidifying while I’m looking elsewhere, but a fair amount of them are going to stay stubbornly where they are. But we’ll address that in December.
In the meantime, how are everyone’s projects going? I’ve been keeping up with a few of you, but I’d love to hear more. Are you excited about these books? Have you been planning them for a while, or did you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) without any road map at all? Let me know!
— Amy
Stay cool