The week before last I finished what editing I could think of to do and sent it to a friend to read it over for me. It still feels pretty scattered at this point, like the story is still only just barely there, though by far more present than it was in the first draft! I worry that I don’t have enough there for the story to take shape, despite the fact that this draft is just below 68,000 words, and that’s with leaving out an extra 15,000 or so of a scene that I was on the fence as to whether to include.
I was quite happy to get in off the waiting list for a revision workshop online by a published author who is connected with NaNoWriMo. Though money is tight right now, I think it is a wise investment and something I could not get simply from reading articles and asking family and friends for advice. When I take classes for things I want a fundamental competence, so that any further learning I can easily direct myself and have the skills I need, so I am thinking this workshop will do that for me.
My writing schedule is light this year since I am still in school. The main focus is the revision of this novel, which I would like to have in professional hands by August. I would also like to get a short non-fiction piece done that will be at most 10-15,000 words. I’ll ask a couple of people to read it, but I am not concerned with tweaking it in order to be published, but rather recording the events before time pushes me further away from it and I begin to forget the details.
The only other thing I will be writing this year is the plot I’ll be using for Nano 2010, although I am certain my 50,000 words for Nano will just be a supplement and I will begin writing and planning it in September like I did this year. The novel I wrote this year was based on a plot revolving around a short story I had written four years ago, and this new novel is much the same, based on a short story of 11,000 words written in July of 2008. Both short stories were skeletons of a much larger plot, environment, and cast of characters but at the time I was trying to get the gist of my intentions down so I could keep them separate in my mind from other tales.
I am excited about the novel for this fall, but I am also glad that I have a good several months before I begin writing. The story in my mind is barely more than the skeleton at this point, and I need to put it in the crock pot and let other details bring out the real flavor of the piece. The reason Nano went so smoothly for me this year was because I had a massive story in my head, so I never ran out of things to write. I never had to ask myself, “What else should I write?” but instead “What next should I write?” I’m sure many writers wish they had the luxury of time like this. I will update again when I receive the edited draft back from my friend.
Awaiting Rain 