Miles to go

(Also posted on my personal blog.)

I have one thing to say today:

It. Is. Finished!!!!!

Okay, what is actually finished is this round of revisions. Unfortunately, “It is revised!” doesn’t have the same ring to it.

I still have miles to go before I sleep--or rather, before it’s ready to go. But I think/hope I have the main restructuring slog out of the way. This is really a “my reach may exceed my grasp” kind of story. So for now, I’ll let The Fine Art of Holding Your Breath compost.

Even with the all the work ahead of me, I can’t help feeling a little bit like this:



This leaves me free to revisit Dating on the Dork Side, which I’m also very excited about. Although, I accidently opened one of its files yesterday. As I told Darcy: it reads like I downed half a bottle of NyQuil before I sat down to write.

So. Miles to go there as well.

Think I’ll go list to Ode to Joy one more time.

Because really, when you finish any draft of a manuscript, the skies should open, light should pour down, and all the animals of the forest should burst into song.

And the Berlin Philharmonic should personally come to your house.

Learning what I already know

You know, I always wonder why we (and when I say “we” I’m actually talking about myself) need to learn the same lessons over and over again.

Marianne’s new goal mirrors the conclusion I came to in early January. I need to work on my fiction projects every day. I need to give my writing the respect it deserves as a second career.

Writing is also very much like exercise for me. No matter what other outcomes, it always makes me feel better. I’ve removed the drama from getting my exercise in. I simply pull on my shoes and get it done. Same for writing. I’m making it something I do every single day--no drama, no fuss.

That said, my goals this month. I’m in the home stretch of The Fine Art of Holding Your Breath. But … I’ve done so much writing on it, so it’s not something that’s ready to go out the door. Once it’s complete (maybe by next week), I’m going to let it compost for a bit.

Then I’ll switch gears and work on the proposal for Dating on the Dork Side.
And that’s it. So for now, my February looks to be filled with words and snow--lots and lots of snow.

Outlook: sunny with a chance

Recovery mode: on!
Snark mode: off (mostly)
Health: improving
Word count: better, if only by 600 words
Goal: 500 words/day or 2,500/week

I now return you to your regularly scheduled bloggers.

Charity

Write where you are

One of the things I’ve discovered during JaNo is some of my best writing times are when I sit in the waiting area while:

• My son gets his guitar lesson
• My daughter takes her gymnastics class
• My daughter takes her dance class

I haven’t tried writing at my daughter’s swim lessons. Pen and paper? Or handheld computer? Either way, just add water = instant disaster.

I’m at 15,300 words at the moment, which isn’t even close to 50,000. But it’s a lot closer than zero. And I have JaNo to thank for that.

I’ve also discovered things I never knew that I knew, such as there really is such a thing as a vintage (circa 1983) Star Wars pencil case. A good thing, seeing as I gave one to the chess club president.

Go on. You know you want one.

1,674 and a collage too!

I admit it. I was totally scared to start writing. I have/had my reasons:

1. I'm so not ready. Seriously, prep work, nearly non-existent
2. It's been a long time, like two years, since I've worked on the first, first draft of a novel. I've been doing revisions and editing and polishing. Draft writing? What's that?
3. What if it was all a fluke?
4. Dude, you totally forgot how to write.

And. So. On. I decided (during morning exercise) that each book is different. I'd been "dream-storming" this one a lot (ala Robert Olen Butler). So, with this one, I'll continue to do character work, but I'll start writing it as well.

So I did. And got 1,674 words. Then I made a collage:

Dude, it doesn't get much better than that.

My book is a mistake

Really. It is. I was surfing Amazon one day, looking at books when I stumbled on one called:

Jessica’s Guide for Dating on the Dark Side

Except, that’s not what I saw. For several seconds, I thought it said:

Jessica’s Guide for Dating on the Dork Side

And I was kind of disappointed that it wasn’t called that (although it looks like a fun book). But I couldn’t get the notion of dating on the dork side out of my head. I wondered: How would someone end up dating on the dork side.

Insert light bulb moment here.

So, my work in progress (progress being one of those relative terms) is all due to a mistake. And because I’m all about preparation, I’ve put together the all important playlist. Sure, I could spend my time doing character interviews and storyboards. Or I could mess around for a couple of hours on iTunes. Priorities, people. Priorities.

Dating on the Dork Side

1. War by Bruce Springsteen
2. Lysistrata by Utopia
3. Is She Really Going Out With Him? by Joe Jackson
4. Hate (I Really Don’t Like You) by Plain White T’s
5. Stupid Boy by Gear Daddies
6. She's so High by Tal Bachman
7. So What by P!nk
8. Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance
9. Read My Mind by The Killers
10. Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
11. Heroes by The Wallflowers