The Plan

Okay, I've been hemming and hawing long enough. I am going to come up with a writing plan. I found a neat online writing workshop here, with tips on writing a novel in a year. I'm going to dig through and see what they recommend.

Back in the Saddle. . . Again

Despite my glorious New Year's Resolutons, today was my first day working on my story this calendar year! What happened? Well, I was sick with a horrible fever and a cold, then I was swamped with work, and then I've read 19 books this month. Since we all know iit is impossible to read another person's book and write your own at the exact same time, . . .

Anyhoo, here I am again. What's going on with my story? Well, I finally worked out a general timeline (my story takes place over the course of a year, so dates and time will be very important). I also did some awesome freewriting about my focus for the story, which I think will really help me get back into The Writing Groove. It was nice to be writing, even just to plan out my ideas on paper. (Still haven't decided if I want to change the story to first person, so for now I'm going to proceed in third.)

Can I be honest and say writing is something I have always withheld from myself? That sounds kind of crazy, but 1) I've always wanted to be a writer and 2) I've never allowed myself to write much of anything. I wrote lots in school and then grad school, but I've never consistently kept a journal or written down my story ideas. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent griping that I'm not using the skills and potential God has placed inside of me, but I also refused to write because I was afraid of the pain I would find in myself if I uncorked the writer within. (I want to think about this some more, and will probably blog about it later.)

I spent some time last week talking about my story with two friends. I haven't told a lot of people that I'm writing a novel, but it kind of came up when we were discussing jobs. One of them asked what I wanted to be doing instead of my job, and I blurted out, "I want to be home writing my book." They asked me questions, I told them about the plot and my vision for the story, and they were very excited and encouraging, which was nice.

Speaking of friends, another writer friend and I will be starting a writer's group soon. She's done that kind of stuff before; I tend to be a loner in all things, but I am willing to give it a go. We are going to advertise it at our church and then invite outwards, but it may just be the two of us for a while.

PS- I am very excited that this, my first day of Renewed Writing Commitment, is day 41 of writing my book. In the Bible, 40-day periods are often used for purification and preparation for a major task. In that case, this is the first day of the rest of my book. :D God is so awesome!!!

WRITTEN TODAY: GENERAL TIMELINE, FREEWRITE TO FOCUS MY THOUGHTS (1.5 pgs, dbl-sp)

Back in the Saddle

Well, my fears about writing up a storm and dramatically throwing off my pages-per-day average were completely unfounded. I haven't looked at my story since the beginning of the holiday season, despite my new keyboard for my PDA and lots of lazy lounging-around time during my vacation.

Instead, I just didn't do it. I had the time, the opportunity, and I consciously made decisions not to work on my story. I hope it doesn't mean I don't Have What it Takes; my husband graciously reminded me that I was on vacation.

Of course, a great thing about writing your first novel is that I am not writing for anyone's deadline but my own. Well, regardless of whether aspiring authors are allowed to take off more time than they have actually spent writing, I did and it's done.

Today, on my Last Day Off, I truly intend to plot out my timeline, brainstorm about my current story, and possibly write some notes about the second idea swimming around in my head. My writing and revising will resume (at the goal rate of 1 page per day) tomorrow, when I go back to work and get back into a regular routine. :)