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! 

NaNo Season is Well Underway!

There's still three weeks to go, but NaNo is in the air! The forums have exploded with life in a way that I really felt was lacking last year. I love it!! Struggling to come to terms with the fact that there's no way in hell I'll be able to keep up with every thread though! It's great to watch the influx of new NaNo'ers, seeing all the usual threads pop up ('Said is Dead' being a favourite) and my own decorations are starting to go up for the festivities. Kage of RLyis  has made me a beautiful banner,

there's a cover in the works, and I've been chatting with a supremely talented artist and doing my first art swap (eep!) One of my favourite parts of the season is meeting new writers, so it's a thrill to have some conversations going already.

Sarah and I are planning a 15k day on the 2nd (god help us) and although I haven't made a set word-goal, that'll put me in a good position to achieve my real target of writing the whole novel in a month. I expect it'll go over 50k, but I don't think I'll be double novelling this year. 'And I Loved You First' is going to be a much denser first draft, if my inklings are correct. Crazy excited for it!!

Moon Path is coming along. I'm still hoping to finish by November, but I'll be okay if I have to take a pause. The children (by which I mean my adult characters who should know better) have been driving me crazy this week, but I think I've finally wrangled them into shape. Now I have to work out where The Big Reveal is going to happen, and I have a nasty suspicion it should already have taken place. Ugh. But we'll see. 

Here's some music -- 'You Wait for Rain' by Kyler England. It's freakishly perfect for Moon Path. It's been on repeat for the last three days.

Happy writings! 

Settling Down

I feel bad for not updating and leaving the last post on a low because everything has picked up again (doesn't it always?) So here's what's going on -- 

My wonderful betas have caught up with me, and their eager anticipation for the ending is spurring me on. Honestly, these last few days I've been insanely invigorated. I feel like everything is coming together and all my beautiful circles are getting completed. I have an ETA of two weeks until this draft is done. And then the hard work begins (hahaha!)

Work is wonderful. I was afraid that I'd resent the time away from writing, but to be perfectly honest it's just focusing me. I start at 10:30, so I go in the wife two or three hours before a

nd write and catch up with emails, then take another hour in the evening. Every moment at my keyboard is precious, and I feel like I'm really able to use that time well. It helps that I really love my job -- my boss is awesome and my coworkers are lovely. I haven't had a day where I haven't wanted to go in, and it's really exciting to see our savings start to grow again after all these months of insane expenses. We've been able to start looking seriously at apartments (!!!!) and are hoping to move around New Year (!!!)

Time is going fast, and that means November is almost upon us (!!!) So frickin' excited for NaNo! Trying not to jinx it by over-thinking, but I've worked out my title and the last scene I want for the series. It's going to be so weird to wrap up this whole story, but at least I'll still have three books' worth of revisions ;) I just hope I give myself enough breathing space between the end of this draft and November first. April just about did me in! 

I will leave you with some music; a track that I feel sums up NaNo 2015 -- Wires by Athlete.