Making Progress

No matter how small or insignificant it might be, I’m making progress on my intended target of editing and finishing my first manuscript, Forest Born.

I probably spent the past half year putting it on the back-burner most of the time and writing short stories, or working on other things, and from time to time I went back to it, but not with the enthusiasm I had for it when I first started.

I don’t know what happened to that ‘gung-ho’ attitude I had for this story when I first thought of it, but it slowly slipped from my hands and mind as I realized the magnitude of the writing project I had undertaken. And with so little experience when I first started writing, I really wasn’t sure if I could get it done.

Currently I’m at 71k and still trudging through it. Yes, I’ve got a few plot holes and some editing to do and I’ve rewritten the first couple of chapters at least ten times, but right now I’m at chapter 5 and reading it with a fine tooth comb, filling in the blanks, missing plot parts, character descriptions, details, and ideas that now seem to be flowing more easily. I’ve pre-written, the draft is done, I’m currently in the process of revising, and when that’s done, I’ll do edits, and find beta readers to help find what I’ve missed.

Sometimes we have to ‘step-back’ from our work and take a different look at it in order to see it with fresh eyes, and that’s when we can make some progress again. It’s taken a while for me to get back into the swing of things with this story but it’s one I want to write and tell and I like it. I’m still targeting for the end of April, but at least I’m doing a little each day and that makes me feel a whole lot better about where I’m headed with my writing.

It’s not easy writing a whole book for the first time, especially for a rookie. There is so much to learn and read about how to do it well, and a ton of books on how to write in general. I’ve read a lot over the course of the past two years and taken a few workshops to help me hone my craft, but nothing is as important as writing everyday. We learn and get better by doing it. Just like a guitar player learns his music by practice and becomes good, writers learn their craft by writing regularly.

I’m feeling a bit more optimistic about my story now and making progress is making me feel a whole lot better about achieving this goal I’ve had for some time now.

All I can say is KEEP WRITING, SET GOALS, AND KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BRASS RING, and you’ll get it done. That’s what I’m doing and hopefully I don’t lose sight of my goals this time around. 🙂

Writing In Real Life

Damn! I need to be more dedicated and serious about my writing to be sucessful. I know it.  I wish I could be ‘funny’ about this post, but I take it too seriously to joke about. I tell myself constantly, and yet every thing that comes along in real life takes priority over my writing.

Is it because those other things are more important? Sometimes they are. Sometimes they’re not. And yet I think if I just get this small task out of the way, I’ll have time for my writing.

I make the time for everything else I have to do… and then leave my ‘writing’ to be done on whatever leftover time I have. Is it fair? NO!

I’ve talked about this before on my blog, and yet I failed miserably in achieving what I needed to do. There has been a lot going on in my personal life and I’m hoping that I’ve got most of it under control now. We all go through it. It’s just life. It’s normal. I can’t beat myself up over it. I’m just resetting my goals and moving forward.

I’m taking a stand starting today to put my writing before anything that isn’t important. I’ve been working on my story for almost two years now. That may not seem like a long time, but I planned to have it done long before this. I have most of it done. It needs revisions, editing, some rewriting, then off to beta, etc.

As of today, all those other unimportant things will have to wait.

So here’s where I take a stand! I resign myself to getting my manuscript done by April 30, 2012 come hell or high water. At least the full first draft, with completed revisions. At that point, I’ll either send it off for beta unless it’s not ready, in which case I’ll post the chapters I’m concerned with for my writing group to help me work them out.

And no more excuses! I’ve marked it on my calendar and I’m doing a timetable to decide on target dates for completing each chapter with revisions and edits. I’ll update it when I’ve made enough progress to feel like I’ve accomplished something.

No need for anyone else to kick my ass…I do it just fine on my own. 🙂