Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A Fresh Start

Whoa! It's January. How did THAT happen?

I am so very glad that 2011 is over, I can't even tell you. It was a way too depressing and frustrating year for me, especially in that while I did technically finish my novel, it is a long way from being in publishable form. It needs a ton of editing which I have not the heart to do, frankly, but am working my way up to it.

Things are always so much easier in the first draft. Which is probably why Nanowrimo is so popular.

But I am determined not to lose heart. My goal is to finish my novel and be ready to pitch it at the Lehigh Valley Writer's Conference this spring. May the agent I choose not fail to show up as she did last year. But that was good, because the book  wasn't ready.

Working full time really cuts into the whole creativity gig. As do migraines and a massive interactive online fiction obsession. I have done just about everything I can think of to do with my characters and I feel like I've written six books. Look at me, I'm J.R.R. Tolkein! 

Anyway, I need a new project. A fresh start. I have a vague idea of one. My goal this year is to FINISH "THE GOLDEN GRYPHON" for good. For better or worse, it needs to be done. Out of my life. Will Faldur and Marenya end up together? The world will never know if I don't wrap it up.

And to write at least two short stories. It's been a looooong time since I wrote a story.

What about you? What fresh starts - or overdue endings - do you have in mind for this year?

(The Mayans were just kidding, by the way. The world will not end so yes, you do need to pay your taxes. I'm just sayin'.)

4 comments:

  1. Of course, the conference this year falls on my husband's birthday weekend so I dont know if I will be going :/

    Once I finish this draft and let y critiquers look at it, I'm going to finish a few short stories that have been critiqued but not worked on since last year.

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  2. Oh, no! Can you celebrate early with him? I have ditched my poor hubby plenty of times because his birthday falls around Easter, and I used to go to visit my family during spring break when I was teaching.

    But he wasn't thrilled. So I understand. We need to go other conferences. I'm thinking about maybe the Philly one this year... only it's usually on my son's birthday weekend... and the weekend of the "WWII Weekend" air show in Reading which my husband ALWAYS attends.

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  3. Visiting you from Michele Gregory's blog. I think I have the same problem with loving first drafts and NaNoWriMo and then failing to ever finish editing/polishing. But conferences are great motivators! Here's to the New Year and writers staying on track with edits.

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  4. I have a lot of goals this year, although unfortunately not too many on the writing end. I am going to commit to two two-hour sessions a week on 2010's NaNoWriMo's project. And to start a children's and/or sci-fi/fantasy critique group this fall to have it ready for beta readers by next spring, and pitch to an agent at the Phila conference in June (2013). So basically the same goal I had last year. Phooey.

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