!!!!

Firstly, apologies for being incredibly absent. It's been a head-down-don't-stop sort of year so far.

However...

I HAVE OFFICIALLY FINISHED-FINISHED MY FIRST NOVEL!

The last month has been spent editing and reading, editing and reading, rinse and repeat, until everything is as it should be. And it finally is. After four weeks of agonizing over the first chapter, it's all pulled together and it's done.

Gonna take a few days, maybe a week, and chill before thinking about its future.

In the mean time, have a glance at everything that's lead up to this moment.

Drafts and notes and notebooks, not including all the un-printed bits and pieces. I especially love that I've found myself going back to all the old scraps, bits I thought I'd never look at again, to add to the final (final!!!) draft. 

And I'm pleased with it. Like, 100% pleased with it. 

It was all worth it.

(Even though my I key gave up the ghost yesterday)

But sometimes sacrifices have to be made.

In other big news: WE'RE MOVING TO OUR FIRST APARTMENT THIS TIME NEXT WEEK! Signed the lease last week and been crazily furniture shopping (bought some gorgeous pieces!) Will post more about that when it's all up and together.

Pushing Onwards

Post-NaNo is always weird, and when NaNo itself is weird, it's even weirder. I have never been a multi-tasker when it comes to writing, and I know this, but somehow my brain refuses to accept it. When I start a project, I want to see it to the end until it's done. Unfortunately, now I have two projects I love equally, both vying for my attention. It's driving me crazy. This is why I wanted to finish Book 4 by December -- to get it out the way and out of my head to clear the way for MP. 

But after, a week or so of beating myself up and getting nothing done on anything (and some much-needed pep from Sarah) I have relaxed. Things will take as much time as they need, and it's okay if I don't finish everything now. So I'm taking each day, each hour as it comes, dabbling in Book 4 and making my notes for Book 1. They're both coming together and it's exciting to see. This is my hobby, and if it's not enjoyable then it's not worth doing. 

As it stands, I'm 62k into Book 4 and about to hit the Grand Finale, and I've done 30 pages of notes for MP. Although I've printed off the MS, I'm making my notes separately in a little notebook (actually too little -- I'm going to need four before it's all done!) and it's working really well. It's forcing me to be thorough and detailed in a way I wouldn't be just making notes in the margins. 

I'm finding micro-editing to be the most satisfying part of the process so far, when everything is there, all laid out, and it's just a matter of fine-tuning and finally getting it to the point where it looks the way you imagined it to be. It's been a very long journey, but the end is in sight and I think I'll be proud of the outcome. *fingers crossed* 

I've discovered a lot of reeaally good music lately, but here's what I'm listening to on loop right now -- Hayley Westenra: Listen to the Wind. I've always loved her music (Across the Universe of Time will always be one of my top songs) so it was really exciting to find something new that fit so perfectly with my WIPs. 

Happy New Year!

Well there we go, another year done!

NaNoWriMo 2015 felt very different this year, and I don't really know why. Maybe it's because I was super busy, juggling work and more family obligations alongside novelling than previous years, and I really had to grab my free time and make the most of it -- some days I wrote a hundred words, some days I wrote 7k -- and it felt very sporadic. Maybe it's because I was doing Book 4 and coming to the end of a two-year journey. Maybe it was because I wasn't novelling as alone as previous years. Whatever it was, it felt different, but no less wonderful ^^

I am proud to say I won my 3rd NaNo on the 27th and clocked out last night with 60,003 -- not too shabby for working full-time as well! The story isn't quite finished, so I'll be writing into December, but I'm okay with that. We're getting to the climax now!

I've definitely found that I enjoy NaNo the most when I'm doing something crazy, like a 10k day, or starting at 4am and writing through 7k to 12 pm (*cough*blackfriday*cough*) slow and steady may win the race, but it isn't satisfying. It's the challenge that I really live for.

Still, it's over, but I woke up feeling excited for the New Writing Year. Got a lot of wonderful cards on the table: Finishing ILYF, editing MP, rewriting Guilders, planning NiNo for NaNo'16... It's going to be a good year!

Oh, and being a better, more consistent blogger ;)

NaNoWriMo 2015 - Kick Off & Updates

Sorry for taking so long to update, it's been a wonderfully crazy few days! NaNoWriMo season has begun, and it's so good to be freewriting again! Every word is its own huge mess, but I'm loving it. The story is unfolding and my characters have been surprising me. They all feel very different this time round, and I'm not really sure why but i'm just going with it. I'm definitely glad that I'll have this book started before MP's properly finished. I hate it when you read a series and you can tell how much of an afterthought the later books were. I'm really hoping to have a nice, tight series by the end of all this. Of course, every draft is different, but the basic structure and character arcs will be there. 

Word-count wise, I'm beating some of my own records. I can do a thousand words in half an hour quite comfortably when full engaged, or in 45mins when less so. Day one gave me 6k, and Day 2 took me up to 16k (yup, another 10k day!) Yesterday I was knackered so I only did a thousand words, but one of my goals for this new writing year is to be more in tune with myself, and listen when I need a break. I've definitely built up enough safety net to not feel guilty about that!

A lot of people I know IRL are NaNo'ing this year, which is super exciting :D I love that everyone's novelling and taking part in this wonderful, crazy undertaking. It's inspiring to see, and the sense of community is even bigger this year!

Taking my break yesterday, I did a flick through of MP and ugh. I'm back to hating it. I know it's all fixable, but the week's space from it seems to highlight all its flaws. Still, better than thinking there's nothing to be done (I wonder if I'll ever get there?) 

Alright, turning off the interwebs for an hour's sprint.

Happy Novelling! <3

Prepping and Editing

Even though the writing of Moon Path is behind me, I've been feeling just as busy these last few days! So many people to catch up with, and a lot of my NaNo buddies from last year are wandering back into my inbox and it's great to catch up with them!

Started prepping 'And I Loved You First'. Going last year's route of sketching scenes on index cards and keeping a loose plan. Since actually writing down my ideas for this story, which has been marinating in my head for eleven months, it's exciting to see all the pieces pulling together! There are only a few plot points I'm hazy on right now, but they'll be worked out as I go.

Did a first quick edit on Moon Path yesterday -- going through my square brackets and working out some of the smaller knots -- AND I DON'T HATE IT!! Even three days later I don't hate it!!! It actually looks how it's supposed to look, and I can't really believe it. Gonna do some more today and try and get it ready for printing before the first.

Had an overwhelming response to my beta-call! I really wasn't expecting it, and to have so many different readers and opinions will be invaluable! Set up a tentative ETA of mid-December to send it out to everyone. 

I really feel like I'm taking the next steps with MP, and it's so exciting! I've been stuck in writing-mode for coming up two years, and to have that behind me... I'm glad I've got a month of free-writing to chill out about it! 

26th October 2015, 15:23 -- The Moon Path is COMPLETE!

And six days before NaNo (omg I can start prepping now!!)

But, wow! It feels so good. It the ending came so smoothly? Like, I know I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm happier with it than I ever thought I could be.

Put out an open call for betas, and have a pretty wide-ranging list at this point. It'll be good to have a feedback from lots of different kinds of readers.

Feel pretty brain-dead so gonna peace out, eat something, and either collapse in a heap or run around for an hour. Maybe both.

That finished-novel-feeling will never get old!

The most exciting part of getting to The End are all the little hints towards potential subplots in the next book(s)

!!!!

I'm so excited to start the rewrite on Guilders!