Writing Update: Falling Behind

Well, I've fallen very far behind on everything. Having no power and no internet made it hard to get some work done. So, this weekend I'm working strictly on critiquing. I want to be able to get back to my critique partners.

I haven't been doing a great job with my writing either but I have the week off so I'll be focusing on writing for most of the week and building a schedule to help me be more productive. A lot of it has to deal with holding myself accountable for my actions. I do tend to get really lazy from time to time but I'm going to try to be more active. If I want to publish Survival Agreement before the end of the year, I'm going to have to step up my game. I need to hire an editor by the end of the month.

There is just so much to do. During the weekday, I'm going to be working on creating a more solid schedule that I can follow daily. Time management and balance are things I'm working on. I'm going to have to force myself to be productive so I can move forward with my goals.

Writing Update: It's Been Slow

Well, this week has been a bit slow. I didn't get a good start on Hourglass and this week has been crazy. My internet has been out and now I don't have power. It's just been hell. I'm actually behind on my critiquing. I'm hoping to get more done when I babysit tomorrow. If I babysit tomorrow.

It's just been and awful week for me.

So here is my small update.

Next week, my goal is to catch up on my critique. I can catch up on writing on my week off.

Writing Update: Write, Rewrite, Revise

This whole week has been filled with revisions and rewrites. My first three chapters are being rewritten and it's taking me a long time. I'm probably going to spend the weekend working on creating a new outline with index cards because that's how I work. Hourglass is coming along nicely though. It's a bit slow but I'm taking my time. Beginnings are usually really hard for me to write.

I'm starting on another project - not another novel - and I'm getting pretty far with it. I have a few things that I need to do first though. It's going to cost a bit of money but, it's going to happen.

This weekend, I'm going to be contacting the people who I want to do my cover art with. I already picked out the service and I've been stalking the hell out of their website. I'm so excited to be asking them to do my cover for me.

I'll be looking for Critique Partners and Beta Readers soon. Probably at the end of June. It's strange to be doing this. I've written so many novels but this is the first time I've tried to publish.

The Editing Process: Pushing Ahead

I don't think I've mentioned this before but I've been using Holly Lisle's How To Revise Your Novel course to edit my novels. For Dowsers, I'm only on lesson two of the class and have been on lesson two for weeks. Not because I stopped. The beginning lessons tend to take a lot more time than some of the other ones.

Dowsers is also a very long novel. And the longer the novel, the more work I'm going to have to put into it. Currently, this novel is at 122k words. Printed, that's 177 pages (normally) and that isn't separating my chapters onto a new page. It might not seem like a lot but if you ever take this class, you'll realize just how much time it takes.

I'm not going to lie, it's totally worth it. I was reading another novel I took through the process (and still need to finish) and it's way better! I mean, leagues better. I put it on my kindle to read and I'm going to finish editing it after I finish Dowsers.

I'm hoping that Dowsers will have the same results as my other novel. So far, I'm picking apart my novel and seeing all of my plot holes and other things that were terrible. And I have to keep going with it if I want to get it done on time. I have so much more to do. 

School, Work, and Writing

This last week was my first week of having classes, a full time job, and trying to write and edit projects at the same time. Well, the first week this year and the first time in a very long time. It turned out pretty well. Writing 750 words was a lot easier than I expected it to be. I had to squeeze it in from time to time.

Thankfully, I managed to do it consistently for the last 17 days. I'm hoping to keep it up. Tuesday might be an issue but I'll work it out.

My weekly word count is, 6,484 words. My grand yearly total so far is 36,605 words. Not too bad. My novel is going to be ridiculously long though. I'm not even a third of the way through it yet. Though, I do know that there is going to be a lot of editing with this one.

Progress Update: Getting Somewhere

So far, I've been doing really well. I'm on top of most of my projects this month. I'm almost done editing The Morality Sentence. It's going much better than I hoped. I think I wrote this one really well and it's one of my favorites so far.

I'm currently writing the Escapist (temp. title). I have about 10k written in the novel so far and it's getting into the interesting and fun stuff.

I'm doing well with keeping up a schedule. Though, I haven't been good with these blog posts. I was going to post the Blogging Circle prompt last week but I didn't finish it.  I should try to work on that soon. And once I get everything set up, I'm going to show off my writing planner. It doesn't sound exciting but it's keeping me on track of everything. I can't keep track of anything on the computer because I tend to ditch it after a while. My planners are always around.

Anyway, this is my really quick and random update.

Progress Update: First Edit

It has happened. I finally finished editing the first draft of the Sacrificial Son. I'm not sure if it's going to be called that but that's the title I have now. It will be what I'll call it until I figure out another name for it. Anyway, it's finished. I'm letting it settle for a moment before I go through it again.

I already know there are scenes that need work. Mostly the ending scenes. They are important to the story since it introduces a much bigger plot that encompasses the series. This editing process was a journey. I'm still trying to figure out what works for me but there are some things that I find really help. I'll be sharing them in another post later down the road.

For now, I'm going to continue planning my new novel The Escapist. That is also a temporary title. I only picked that because it was the only thing that fit for now. I don't have all of the details worked out yet so the title is more than likely going to change. As far as planning goes for this novel, I think I figured out a fair bit but not enough to get started yet.

Progress Update: A Balanced Schedule

So, I haven't updated in awhile, which is usually when I disappear for months and pop up around October. I'm snapping out of that pretty early. But, sadly, I don't have any major plans for this month. I was going to join CampNaNo but I decided against it. I want to try to make a balanced schedule instead.

I'll still be writing and editing but I want to do it in moderation so I don't burn out quickly. That always seems to be my problem. I find that writing down a list of the tasks I need to do helps. I try to finish them as soon as I can but then I have a lot of free time on my hands, which isn't a bad thing but I tend to get in  the habit of procrastinating when I realize that I have plenty of time to finish my tasks. Eventually, I stop doing them.

So, making a schedule/routine that will stick with me for a long period of time will be helpful. If something comes up, that extra time will be helpful to move things around as needed.

It's still a work in progress but I hope I find a schedule that helps me be more productive.