*Feel Free to Turn Back Now* :)
Unlike Smarty Pants, my life seems to finally be settling down. Yes, we have Nationals coming up, but for some reason I'm not obsessing over it as much as I did last year. Maybe because I'm not pitching this year. Maybe because I'm looking forward to refilling the creative well with some great classes and writing-related conversation. Maybe because I'm more interested in obsessing over my book at the moment...
I spent all of Sunday reading through notes, making notes and plans. I'm renewing my interest and involvement in my current wip and hopefully getting down to business. I've cooked up a writing challenge on our goals group to spur me to action. Nothing intense, since I'll be out for a week in July, but a commitment to write at least 1 page every weekday.
Pathetic sounding, I know. Anemic. I should definitely be writing more. But quite frankly, I don't care. In getting back into my wip, I'm getting back into ME. The part that is really me, that makes each day enjoyable and interesting. Not the parts of me that have a list a mile long of things that MUST or SHOULD be done, usually to make other people happy. I've spent a year of my life on that.
Now I'm spending it on me. :)
Do I have a specific target date for finishing? No. Do I have a target line in mind? Vaguely, but I'm not committing to anything. Do I know the projected word count? Um, whatever it ends up being.
I'm going against everything I learned when I joined RWA. I'm not writing with the business in mind. Just the writing. Enjoying it. Immersing myself in it. Allowing it to take me wherever it wants to go. An experiment, if you will.
Not very career-minded of me. But since I don't technically have a career, this might be the best time to take the scenic route and enjoy the view. (People who know me well are probably gasping in shock. I'm SO not the scenic route type!)
What do I hope to get out of this unusual behavior? As I said, I'm refilling my creative well. Also, I'd like to just write and see the direction my skills are taking. As in, have I progressed to writing in more depth? Longer page length? Are my rough drafts more refined than they used to be? And, of course, I'd like to have a finished manuscript at the end of the journey.
I may be way off base. But I have to believe that the writing is the best thing. The career will come in time. I don't plan to spend forever on this little journey, just as long as it takes.
Anything philosophical cropping up for anyone else this Monday morning? :) Okay, I'll let you off the hook. How about... how's the writing going for you? Check in, brag, complain, vent, whatever.
Angel
8 comments:
You know I've always been very big on writing the story FIRST and figuring where it goes later, so -- sounds good to me. :-)
As for complaining -- My WIP is *not* one of those that flows from the fingertips painlessly. I so wanted to get the first draft finished before I go to Dallas, but that might not happen. In fact, at this point it would take a miracle. I'll probably have my alphie with me so I can write a few pages while I'm gone.
LJ
Mine is hoovering at the moment. I'm bored at home, i know, i could be writing, but for some reason, it's not working for me. I can't get thru this part. My H and H have just had their first major blow out and i can't get her angry enough to write...she's sulking in my head right now.
I've just finished reading Janet Evanovich's Lean Mean Thirteen in the hopes of having a break....and finished Elizabeth Lowell's Innocent as Sin - i loved a few of her lines and want to steal them....
So this a.m. sat back down, said, cut the crap, let's go. And waited. Not a blessed thing. Not yet at least.
I'll throw in laundry, vacuum the crapets (yes i spelled the word wrong because i need new carpeting) and hope for the best later....
Then, if my wonderful 18 year old PITA decides to wake up, he can help me with outside stuff today.
Sigh***
Nini
I'm a pantser, so you know I'm all about the "see where it goes" method of writing.
I probably won't be jumping back into my WIP until after nationals. I need to finish the revisions on the book I'm pitching first.
Perhaps that's been my problem. I've never written aimed for a particular line. I know what I like and what I want to write about. Pen to paper or fingers to keys. Does that make sense? This should be a very freeing experience for you, Angel. There's nothing but a long freeway or ocean ahead. Whether you veer off the road or try to circumnavigate the Cape, it's all up to you. I love that part!
Enjoy the process!
Kathy
I'm starting a new book this morning so I'm in the thrilled honeymoon stage. And I know nothing more than where they are and a couple of little twist. If I wait to figure it all out, well, I'd probably never get it written.
Sometimes going with the flow is the best way to discover something amazing. I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised, Angel, when you get much more than 1 page a day done :-) It's amazing what happens when your brain starts to fire.
And I'm in the Pick Me stage. I've got several stories all clamoring for attention and I can't work on any of them. Not yet at least. But I am fleshing them out in my head though so I suppose that really is working, isn't it?
Instigator
Sounds like I'm not the only one dealing with the writing this morning! Good and bad, just depends on the timing and story, doesn't it?
Good luck on getting that story moving, Maven LJ! I'm not anticipating the day I have to drag stories from me, even if they aren't working, because I'm on deadline. I guess you learn from doing it.
Sorry about the lack of movement on your story, nini. Just keep coaxing that heroine until she stops sulking and gets going!
I SO wish I was a panster. But no. I love working out the major plot problems, then going back and fleshing it out in a scene. I'm only surprised by how the scenes somehow emerge in my mind and on paper, with bits that link them together. Of course, things always change throughout the writing, but the major things usually remain.
Oh well. This is as close to living on the edge as I get. :)
How's the writing going?
HA!
I finished a short story and have been trying to edit so I can mail it off before I leave for Dallas. I've made it through round one and need to type those in. Then I'll re-read and see how it is. There are parts I'm not happy with so I'm thinking this may be an eleventh hour submission.
PM
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