School is hard and I just don't have the same motivation as I did over Winter Break, but I'm still writing, and I'm still writing quite a bit, I'm happy to report. I just have to work a little harder to make myself sit down and write and chapters take some more time. Rather than finishing a chapter each day as I was doing, it now takes me about two days. Not a bad pace, I know, but definitely a down grade. I did manage to write a whole chapter today, and that made me really happy. I should be reaching the goal for the month in about a week I think. That would be really wonderful, honestly.
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Don't get me wrong, I've been really enjoying writing Sand and Storm. It's been an experience that I wouldn't give up. But as I write I often find myself thinking that this scene, while it's decent, or even good, now, can be better after it's been edited. And I find myself looking forward to that stage. This is especially pleasing for two reasons:
One, it means I'm, even subconsciously, expecting to finish this novel. Which, as I've mentioned before, I've never done. Two, it means I really do like this story. The whole time I consider it a good story, with not just potential but actual substance already. I don't feel myself growing tired of it and it's keeping going at a pretty good pace. This is another thing I've had trouble with in the past and I'm glad it's not giving me trouble right now. Anyway, back to writing, just wanted to update everyone. First of all, have you seen Taylor Swift's new video for Out of the Woods? No? Here it is for you: Okay, I just absolutely love this one! Not what I pictured when I listened to the song, but a really awesome video that I will definitely be coming back to on occasion.
So, the month- the year!- is over and it's time to reevaluate where I stand in my writing. This month my goal was to write 500 words a day, and that didn't happen. Well, I did write a lot, just not every day. I surpassed my original goal, which was fantastic, but also failed to completely reach the original goal in that I didn't write every day. Well, in 2016 that will be changing. No matter what, even if it's been a really busy day, I will write 500 words minimum. Other than that one little thing, though, my writing has surpassed my goals and I have to reevaluate what they will be. December- I wrote just over 22,000 words when I had planned to write 12,500 January 2016- 15,000 (total: 37,000) February- 14,500 (total: 51,500) March- 15,500 (total: 67,000) April (camp nano)- 33,000-50,000 (total: finish the novel) May, June, July, August, September, and October will dedicated to editing Sand and Storm, and I'll also probably work on another project at the same time. I don't know what that project will be, yet (since I have so many idea), but I want to have several options to query with if one doesn't work. Obviously, more information will come when I finish Sand and Storm. Plan for Smoke and Mirrors: November (nano)- 50,000 December- 15,500 (total: 65,500) January 2017- 15,500 (total: 81,000) February- 14,000 (total: 95,000) March- 5,000-15,500 (total: finish the novel) April, May, and June will be spent editing Smoke and Mirrors, and editing whatever the previous project was, since I don't think there will be time to complete anything of greater length in that period. Plan for Wind and Rain: July (camp nano)- 50,000 August- 15,500 (total: 65,500) September- 14,500 (total: 80,000) October- 15,500 (total: 95,500) November- 4,500-50,000 (total: finish the novel) So, that's the plan. It's not too much changed once you get past Sand and Storm, but I just wanted to update it completely for my own records as well. I'll check back in sporadically as I write, as per usual. Hopefully, I'll meet my 500 words a day count. Basically, I'm going to act like it's not a possibility not to. Happy New Years! Let's just say I found my momentum again (because I did and it's amazing to be back on this horse!).
Do your characters ever surprise you? I don't want to spoil anything, but the chapter I just wrote ended up being the most surprising of any I've written so far. Two of the characters, which I always planned would be romantically intertwined, had the sweetest scene in the world. Writing it was a pleasure and I hope to write many more scenes with them together. Even though I knew they would end up together, I never much pictured their relationship. But I'm in love with them being in love. Just wanted to let y'all know. Happy Holidays! This is probably the worst thing that could happen to me right now. I've just reached my goal for the month early, the words flying from my fingers, the story spread through my mind and infecting me to the bone... but now I haven't written in days. Days, guys. It's killing me. My drive went somewhere and now I can't find it!
So, I took a step back to see what happened, where it might have gone. I had to take two days off of writing because I was busy all day, and any writing I did those days wouldn't be worth the time it took. I do believe this to be true. However, I should have at least spent time outlining, because it was on one of those days that my brain gave up and said "no more". What do I do when this happens? Often, nothing, which is a big problem, and I wait for the bug to bite me. But, no, not this time. I need the bug back NOW if I'm going to stay on schedule. So I did the first thing that really helps me out- I prowl through some of my favorite author's blogs to see where their roots come from. Seeing that actual published authors have been in this same situation means so much to me. I'm going to continue to prowl around, but I thought I'd write about it here, because someday I hope to be a published writer and I want my readers to be able to see that I had these same exact problems. I do plan to write tonight, and if I don't I'll tell you about it tomorrow. Fingers crossed I can pump out at least 500 words. So this is particularly crazy, because I've never written this much in my life! I now have the first six chapters done, coming in to a total of 13905 words, when my goal for December was only 12500! This is so unexpected and amazing and it makes me happy to write again! I don't think I can convey how much this actually does for my self-esteem and general goals of being a published author one day- it makes me happier beyond belief and more hopeful than I've ever been.
Sand and Storm is flying from my fingers, even though Chapter Six was a bit rough, and I think it will only continue to go as smoothly for the rest of the month. I am a bit worried that when I start school again things will slow down, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I guess I'll have to change my goal a bit. You might recall that my goal for the end of January was 27,500 words, and at the pace I've been going, this might be a reasonable goal for the end of the month, for me. So, my new goal is going to be at least 25,000 total for the month, with a hope for 27,500. I think I'll actually be able to get there. If I can get that many words done this month, then I can probably finish the novel by the end of May instead of the end of June! Here's an updated plan, since I really like these things:
Then July, August, September, and October can be for editing and starting Smoke and Mirrors! Yay! I hope this works out! So, I'm just over halfway through my goal for the month, which is absolutely crazy, since I only just set this goal about a week ago. For some reason, I've been bitten by the writing bug. And I've found my stride in this story which is phenomenal. I do credit, in large part, the writing forum, an online community that I joined. It's a really wonderful place and if you're a writer I really recommend checking it out because there's so much useful information and friendly people there.
Anyways, I've been writing about a chapter a day, and these chapters are coming out to be about 2,000 words a piece. I've never written this much at one time before and it's done wonders for me. So that's just my little check in. Once I reach my goal I'll check in again! So do you remember how Sand and Storm was going to be a single novel in epic fantasy form? Well, that's not getting totally ruled out, but it could also end up as a YA trilogy.
Here's what's happening: the version of Sand and Storm right now is just not working out at all. I think it's because I'm tackling it as one really long project and I'm planning way ahead because of where I want the series to lead. But, I got to thinking, what if it went back to being a YA trilogy? So I'm going to view it as three shorter books, and introduce a lot of the elements I wasn't going to introduce until later, sooner. These three books may end up being combined into one novel in the end, so I'm not ruling out that possibility of being an epic fantasy novel. But I'm also not ruling out the possibility that it'll be a trilogy. So as it stands now, then, Sand and Storm will be the first of three. Book two is being called Smoke and Mirrors, and book three is being Wind and Rain. My writing goal is changing as well. I want to write at least 500 words a day, even if it's background writing and plotting and such. It has to be 500 words (or approximately one page). So, at the end of the year (and the end of the month) I should have 12,500 words done. That's not bad, since my end goal for Sand and Storm has been reduced from 200,000 words to 100,000 words. So I should reach that amount by June. Here's a break down of the amount of words I want to write each month:
After that I'll probably spend the majority of July, August, September, and October editing. If I can do a good enough job editing, then I'll try to find an agent and send it into publishers. Then, in November, during Nanowrimo, I'll be able to get the first 50,000 words done in Smoke and Mirrors. Here's a break down for that one:
I'll then probably spend April, May, and June editing Smoke and Mirrors. Assuming July is Camp Nano, as it has been in the past, I'll start Wind and Rain that month. Here's a break down of that book:
Now, these aren't hard and fast numbers, but if I can stick to them loosely, I'll be very happy. This would mean, then, that by this time in two years, I'll have finished the series, which is pretty much what my goal was earlier. This also means, hopefully, by this time in two years I'll have an agent for my book. Is that too lofty of a goal? Not sure, but I certainly hope not! I'll check in with you guys again soon! ...in which there are none.
So, this month was meant to be a good writing month and became the exact opposite. I blame school. Next month, though, my plan stays relatively the same. I want to reach 50,000 words by the end of the year. Do I think it's possible? Well, yes, but I've got to push myself. So best of luck to me! Happy November to anyone participating in Nano! I wish you the best of luck. I published a post on my Tumblr about why I'm not participating this year. You can click here to read it if you want. The important part I've allocated below. It maps out how long I think the Sand and Storm will take me. I've done the math and I think I'm pretty solid on it. My goals for finishing the novel are pretty straightforward. I want to hit 50,000 words on it this year. I’m at 10,000 words now. If I manage to write 15,000 this month I’ll be at 25,000 and then have all of December to write another 25,000. That does seem like a lot, but I have all of December off and I want to push myself to write. Then, for 2016, I’ll only have 150,000 words left. If I can write 15,000 words a month (about 500 words a day) I’ll be done in ten months, so at the end of October. So, hopefully, this time next year I will be completely done with SaS. Then I can spend next year’s Nano editing it hardcore. I think I can manage that. |
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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. |