Writing Update - October

Melissa:

Let me share a little story... I started off getting up early to walk on the treadmill. This worked wondrously for about...four or five weeks. I had a whole routine down. I'd read while walking for 30 minutes. I was feeling great and reading. But, then, there were mornings that the kiddo was running late, or I was waking up later and there wasn't 30 minutes to be on treadmill before I had to be there to tell kiddo bye as he left for the bus. Yes, I need to do that and it won't matter what age he is. Then it got to the point that kiddo had things he just had to talk about in the morning. You know, football stuff and class stuff. And soon I wasn't making it to the treadmill at all for my 30 minutes of torturous bliss. So, I started sitting in front of the computer, checking emails. Starting October, and knowing November - NaNoWriMo month - was right around the corner, I started worrying I wasn't ready. Well, worry isn't right. Panicking. Because I WASN'T ready. So what better way to spend this time, 30 minutes, each morning? I started re-reading my April Camp NaNoWriMo project. It's a novella. It's a romance. It's something I have an idea to continue with a second novella for NaNo. So I have to get it to somewhere to go on with it. And that's what I've been doing.

Each morning, okay, most mornings I read a short section and add, delete, or adjust to it as I go. Anything that is a bigger section of redoing, I note and go back to over the weekend when I have more time to focus on it.

I've managed to add 7,402 words to the story in October. This is adding, deleting, and adjusting. Not bad. I still have a whole scene to write and the ending 2,000 words needs re-done completely. But only doing a half hour each morning, or most mornings, really made a huge difference.

Now, it's November and onward to the next story and a whole month full of words. I'm shaky this year. I know, it's normal. But I don't know if I want to write this story. I don't know if I can. I've had last minute thoughts about racing back to fantasy, although I don't know what that would be as I don't have a story idea for a fantasy book. It's tempting. But I don't know what to write if I change it. So I'll stick to this romance and see what comes to pass.

I might start with re-writing the ending completely and starting into the new story. The story is only going to be about 30k. That way when I re-write it I can bump it to 40k. I even have a second novella in mind to start when this is done. Heck, that novella could potentially turn into a full novel if I keep adding to the world. ;)

So, off to tackle November. Here's wishing all you NaNoWriMo-ers out there the best in words!

Writing Update - September

Melissa:

First, I have to thank NaNoWriMo for mentioning my post on their dashboard with a link.  Thank you.  And everything in July's Update is true, and now that I have my NaNo loss under my belt, on I go.  (I'm sorry, I'm late in sending thanks with all that's been going on.)

And...It's October 1st. *sigh* I've gotten no where. None. Nothing. It's bad. I have been working on getting through some projects here that will *hopefully* open up for free time in November for me to do my desire...NaNoWriMo.

Oh! I did get 300 words out in a short story I am going to submit to Start Publishing. It's going to be trimmed down to 250 words, (thanks to help Skyla Dawn Cameron who is helping me with my terrible run-on sentences).

I do have a new goal I want to work on. I'm going to start simple. If it takes three sentences to tell one thing, it takes three. I'll combine it later. But what I have a terrible time of, I like putting three happenings in one sentence. So, I want to start simple, this way I know what I'm trying to convey and can combine later.

So I guess I did get a small bit out of me. But nothing what I want. I have a long list for October. On it is re-writing my novella I started in April. I want to iron it out and add a scene. After that I can start noting ideas for the second novella I'm looking to do for NaNoWriMo.

I need to put my head down and to the grind to get it all done. It's possible, but I need to focus and keep my eye on the finish line.