Progress and Fear

I have been struck down by a severe case of plot bunnies. I have three stories I want to write in April, but two is more than enough and one will have to wait, and decisions are hard! So, at the moment I've got Book Four, Prequel, and 'November Rain', which is something completely different altogether. Actually, thinking about it, I suppose a book called 'November Rain' would be more appropriate for November NaNo... But I want to write it *now*! 

There aren't enough months in the year.

Making great leaps with Book One -- well into Part 2.2, and have done well over 10k since being back in the States. Seeing as 10k was my monthly goal, I'm feeling pretty pleased. My hideous case of writers' block that I had in January/England has definitely been left behind me!

The closer I get to finshing the book, though, the scarier it's getting. A good friend of mine has started writing her query letter so we've been talking about the whole publishing hoo-ha recently... It's frickin' terrifying. Not so much the fear of not getting picked up -- I mean, I really wouldn't mind going down the Self-Pub route -- but what if Book One gets picked up, flops hideously and then I won't be able to even self--pub the rest of the series because it'll still be owned by the publisher?? 

I know I know -- cross bridges when you come to them, don't count your chickens etc. etc. But it is scary. 

But talking to Sarah and voicing my worries, she said two things that really struck me. First, she told me that she believes in the story which, as any writer knows, that means the world. And then, more importantly, she said, 'Do you want to give it a chance?' And I guess that's it. Over and over, I've advised writers to leave their fears at the door and just do it -- Be Fearless!! And here I am, considering wrapping my story up in cotton wool and locking it away from the scary world. 

My biggest pet peeve is when writers don't follow their own advice, and I find I've been committing the cardinal sin!

So screw that. Whatever happens, happens. If it fails, that doesn't mean I have to give up writing it. It just means I have to work harder and continue to do my best. The only way I cn fail is if I stop doing my best and let my fear sabotage me. 

No! 

Is it April Yet??

Getting crazy pysched for April's Camp! Signed up for the Over Achievers' Cabin in the hopes that it'll motivate me to actually win this time around. Last year was excruciating, but I think I've got the hang of it now? Plus having some proper friends doing it with me will help. One of my buddies is planning on doing a double-novel month, so I think I'm going to join her in that with my prequal/sequal plan. Let's see if November 2014 was a fluke!

In more present news, averaging approx. 1,500 words a day and aiming for two finished scenes. I read some good advice that it's best to measure progress in scenes rather than words, and I'm definitely finding that I can focus better that way -- planning the next day's aims in the evening, getting prepped and then just sitting down and bashing it out in the day. Feeling confident that I'll meet my goal by mid-March!

Home at Last!

I have my table back. I have my peppermint mocha at my side, and Pandora in my ears. Outside, six inches of snow covers the car park and it's still falling. It's the softest, most beautiful snow I've ever seen. My desk is set up and my routine has been returned to me. The post-it notes taped to my notebook read, Just GET IT DONE and No BackTracking NO EXCUSES. I have been here for half an hour and have done five hundred words. We're here for eight and a half more hours. Life is incredibly good. 

I have resolved to NaNo-blast my third draft and just Get It Done before moving onto my present-tense version. Afterall, I cannot fix what hasn't been written yet, as tempting as it is to try! As I said, I want it done by mid-March so I can break for April Camp and get some space before coming back to it. 

I've settled (I think) on my April project, and have started making notes. It's very exciting! And I think it'll be a good story to have drafted for when I come back to 'Moon Path', lots of world-building and back-story etc. All things I know, but it'll be good to have them laid out on paper. And give some humanity to my baddies! Something they are both sorely missing as it stands. 

Visa and Writing Updates

And there we are! I have my visa and my passport is coming back to me within ten working days :D The sun is shining and I'm feeling excited about my writing again -- Life is good! 

I've done a bad thing, but a good thing for me -- I've restarted my story again. Well, sort of. I always knew I wanted to go back and redo the beginning and recently I've had a terrible craving for present tense, so I'm doing some experimenting with that; going back and re-reading the stuff I did almost a year ago now, right at the very beginning of the project. And I actually really like it. Definitely going to try and incorporate that into what I've got. I really didn't think I was going to need another rewrite, considering how happy I've been with what I've got so far, but the idea of making it even better as really got my blood going again! 

My goal is to have a completed draft done sometime in March, ready for when Camp comes along in April (!!!) This year is already going so fast! And the last year too... I can't believe I've been working on this story properly for a year! It sort of feels like I haven't got as far as I'd like to with it, then I remember that I handwrote a draft, did 40k of rewrites AND wrote two novels in NaNo... Perspective. Or something! But this year will be better. I know what I'm doing now, and all I need to do is do it. 

Thoughts for Camp... Well, I really would like to do the final book in this series (I, amongst others, really want to know what happens!) but I also want to write Kai and Tamsyn's story as a sort of parallel, and I also want to do a sort of prequel with Lysandis and Aurelia, and I also want to do something completely different although I have no idea what, but I love pantsing! I don't know... I suppose I'll see how much of break from this world I'll need once Book 1's done. 

Okay, so here's what I'm listening to today -- Page 47 from National Treasure 2 by Trevor Rabin. I might've already posted this, but I love it so much! It's such a gorgeous piece of music!