I had plans for January, and I think the fact that it is now the 19th is deeply offensive.
For a start, I was going to start January having already revised and completed Book One of Power and Majesty and sent it off to my fellow RoRettes for our March Odyssey.
I was also going to lay into my revision of French Vanilla, my chick lit crime novel for Pulp Fiction Press, as January represents 4 of the 6.5 weeks I have before that book is due.
Also, I was going to make a good start on Book Two of Power and Majesty - just a mere 15,000 words per month until I start working on the book for real. 500 words a day, dead easy after the frantic pace of Nanowrimo.
*cough*
It seemed like a reasonable plan. Except that I forgot that the week between Christmas and New Years which seems so tempting and empty is not actually as work friendly as it seems. And that the 1st of Jan is not a special day on which projects magically start ALL ON THEIR OWN (I spent that day making mini quiches and cauliflower cheese and going to a DVD party).
One thing led to another, and I am still one scene away from finishing my ROR manuscript (it's a hard scene and yes, I'm totally putting it off). I started my French Vanilla rewrite on the 14th, exactly one month before it's due.
And today, I wrote the first 500 words of my Book 2. Just 14,500 to go this month!
(see, I just knew you were all sick of those posts when authors talk about how brilliantly fast their novel is being written)
For what it's worth, I haven't lost hope that I will catch up by the end of the month. Maybe I'm insanely optimistic. Maybe I'm just insane. But where there's time...
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2 comments:
Know the feeling, Tansy. I had big plans for January, too. Not only is it school holidays with all my kids at home but my DB (Dearly Beloved) had 4 weeks off work. He inhabits the other end of the computer room, where he does computer animation WHILE watching TV on his second screen.
I can't stand TV at the best of times and can usually block it out but somehow he manages to find the most interesting programs, Dawkins on Religion, The History of Surgery etc. And I find myself listening with one ear while trying to write first draft.
First draft is always hardest, like bungee jumping without the rope. You're making it up as you go along. Second draft is easier because the framework is there and you are going back in to layer characters and dress the settings. That's fun.
DB has gone back to work now but the kids are still home. You'd think teenage boys could entertain themselves. But you've be amazed how many times a day they poke their heads into the computer room to ask 'What is there to eat?'
When what they really mean, is will you stop work work and magically turn those raw ingredients in the kitchen into appetising food?
While DB was home I kept suggesting, why don't you take the boys to the movies, to ice skating, to the shops ...
Alone time is very valuable.
Cheers, R.
Nothing like a great gollop of pressure to get you hopping. You'll make it easily.
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