My plan is to write over half of Sand and Storm this month. I think I can do it... hell, I know I can do it. So I'm just going to do it and nothing can stop me. That's all.
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It's been a while since I've stopped by and written anything here. In fact, I haven't written anything at all in a while. But I have a new plan for that, and I'm just going to run through it shortly.
FEB-APR ROUGH DRAFT OF SAND AND STORM MAY/JUN EDIT SAND AND STORM ROUGH DRAFT PROJ 2 JUL ALPHA READERS ROUGH DRAFT PROJ 2 AUG-OCT SECOND DRAFT OF SAND AND STORM ROUGH DRAFT PROJ 2 NOV BETA READERS EDIT DEC EDIT SAND AND STORM EDIT So, it's time to admit it, but I'm starting over with Sand and Storm. And, I think, this may be my last go at it before I decide it's time to put it in a drawer and move onto another one. I want to give it this chance, though, because, when I was doing the original draft, and then it got deleted from my computer for ever, I promised myself I wouldn't give up on this one easily.
But this is my fourth draft. I had to restart once because it was deleted, then restarted again because it wasn't meant to be proper epic fantasy with 300,000 words, and then again, now, because something is wrong in the integral structure of the book. Does this mean that, even with this draft, the story won't work? I don't know, but we're going to find out together. Why am I excited? Well, I bought this notebook for worldbuilding, and, well, I've been world building like crazy. So, I think this break from writing has been a good decision.
In additional news, one of my friends has started reading what I've written and she doesn't think it's half as bad as I do. Yay! So, I know what I'm going to do to try to get me through this massive road block- I'm going to take a break. Not a big break, but not a small break, either. For the rest of the week and the weekend I'm not going to write at all. Crazy? Probably, but I think I need this breather. Once Monday hits I'm going to start outlining character arcs and maybe even do a little bit of editing on what I've gotten so far. Who knows? I don't, at least not yet. Then, when I feel comfortable sitting in my character's heads again, I'm going to skip a chapter (like I talked about last time) and just progress the story with any changes I may have made in my edits. Let's see how this goes, yeah?
My problem: I've hit such a huge snag in Sand and Storm that I don't even know what to do with my writing right now. I want to write, nay, I NEED to write, but I just don't have words to say.
What I'm considering doing: Stopping. I can't, right? That would out me so far behind? I know! That's why I'm freaking out. What I might do: Skip a chapter. I might just not write chapter twenty one and go on to twenty-two. What should I do? Probably this. If you have any advice, I'd love to hear it. It's time to evaluate the writing of last month and the goals of next month. I didn't manage to write every day, and that makes me sad, but I realize that's not realistic, so I'm setting a goal for each week.
Last month I wrote just over 21,000 words, and I wrote 22,000 words in December, so my goal for February is 22,000 words, which will bring my total up to over 65,000 words, which is crazy! So, each week, I plan to try to write 5,500 words, which is super attainable. So, finger's crossed things continue to progress! I have hit my goal for the month- I don't recall if I mentioned that- but, while I'm still very much in love with the characters and story for Sand and Storm, I've found that I need some sort of break from that book. Not a complete, take a month, or even a week, off, sort of break, but an "I'm running out of steam a little bit" sort of break.
So there are two smaller works that I'll be tinkering away at. The first one is tentatively (more or less tentatively I guess, since I'm actually rather happy with this title I just don't know if it'll be something I'm happy with forever... whatever) called Wonderland and it's a graphic novel series. I've been working on characters and general plot. The other one is called, because I can't think of a title and don't really care to at the moment, Ethereal Road Trip Novel. I'm just writing scenes whenever the inspiration hits- I literally have no thoughts or plans for anything to do with this novel, just the general sense of "I have to write it because I've always wanted to" and an awesome soundtrack (Elton John, Billy Joel, Counting Crows, etc.). Well, that's what I'm kinda working on. I've also added little notes about them in my WIP page. So I haven't written a word of SaS since the 14th, which may not seem like very long for most people, but has felt like a lifetime for me. I'm just a finger's reach away from my goal for the month, so one might expect that I'm more eager than ever to write. But you'd be wrong.
My life has been an absolute mess since around the time I stopped writing. I think I've mentioned it before, but writing does a lot to calm me and get me into a healthy state of mind. I go to writing when I'm feeling the world pressing close, and the fact that I didn't even bother with this when everything was falling apart is a hint that things really were bad. But today, I want to thank Victoria Schwab for picking me back up. Of course, the wonderful Victoria doesn't know I exist, and that's fine, but I know she exists and she gives me hope. I was laying in bed at 2pm, napping a little, crying a little, just fucking up my life a little (excuse my language, I am sorry), and I turned my phone on and just started going through old bookmarks I had. In the middle I fell asleep a little more and when I woke up I went onto Victoria's website. There she was talking about all the writing she had accomplished in the last year and it made me want to accomplish something. I've mentioned before that going through author's websites/blogs and seeing their journey as they wrote it really helps me get into the mood to write in a way nothing else does. So that's what I started doing. So, thanks to Victoria, I think it's time to try and get my life back in order a bit. Starting now I'm going to write. I think I might write until dinner (at six. It's currently three), though I'm not going to impose any limit or goal for myself. I'm just going to write until i feel like I'm done writing and have healed a bit from the mess I'm in. I polished my glasses to get the smudges off, sat in my comfiest clothing, have some chocolate, some rock music, and here I go. SaS, I have missed you dear friend. So, I'm just a day or so from completely this month's goal, which is great news! It's been a harder writing month, but I'm still accomplishing everything in good time. I've managed at least 500 words a night except for on Wednesdays and Sundays, and you know what?, I'm happy I give myself a break on these nights, because tonight (Thursday) I was able to easily pump out over 1k.
To just change general plans, I'm going to outline things quickly below: December 2015- April 2016: Sand and Storm Rough Draft May 2016-September 2016: Other Project #1 (TBD) Rough Draft *the thing here is that I'm giving myself a break from Sand and Storm, even before edits October 2016-December 2016: Sand and Storm Edits DATES TBD: Other Project #1 Edits DATES TBD: Sand and Storm Second Draft DATES TBD: Smoke and Mirrors Rough Draft I could do some of these things at the same time, but I for sure know that I want to give myself a break between Sand and Storm Rough Draft phase and Sand and Storm Edit phase in order to make the story the best it can be. Basically, things I want to get done this year:
And in 2020:
I do doubt I'll actually stay to this, but I like to be able to see where I could be in five years. So, there's that. |
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February 2016
Me!Samantha Mrozek is the real person who writes about imaginary people using a fake name. She is a nineteen year-old college student currently studying at a small liberal arts college in her home state. She wants to graduate with a degree in Creative Writing. |