13.

Since this is the last post of the year, I wanted to outline my Writing Resolutions. I'm terrible about finding the time to write, and always filled with excuses. I found NaNo to be really helpful in terms of giving me a goal to aim for.

So. Here are my writing goals for the year:

* Write a minimum of 5k a week. For the year, that means I will have 260k at the end of it. That's about 3 novels worth of writing, which I think seems to be quite reasonable to have. I bought myself a yearly wall planner and shall give myself gold stars for each week I make my goal. I'm allowing myself some leeway- if I don't hit 5k one week, because of it being particularly busy, then that's fine. But before the end of each quarter, I need to have made those words up. Which means that by March 30, I need to have 65k (130k by 29/6; 185k by 28/9; 260k by 28/12).

* Complete a novel, to the polished and ready to show the world stage

* Submit at least 4 short stories for publication/to competitions (again, at least one per quarter of the year)

* Create detailed synopses for at least 6 novel-length projects, of 3-10 pages in length. These synopses may become the novels I work on in 2014, or may become future projects. Minimum of 1 synopsis per two months.

* Sign up for and complete at least one online writing course (I've already got my eye on several that RWA run for $20-25 which seem too good to pass up!)

So those are my five goals (or resolutions) for writing for the year. I'm hoping to make 2014 my year of living fearlessly- in terms of my personal life and health, in terms of work, and in terms of writing. There are other things I want to do- win NaNo 2014, start researching agents with the plan of submitting in 2015 etc etc, but the five above are my main goals. I also want to keep posting on this blog once a week, but that's something I'd already planned on.

At the moment I want to repost my goals every quarter of the way through the year, and note how much on track I am. Hopefully that'll keep me motivated! 

12.

Short post today, because the week slipped away from me, and it's Wednesday already, also known as Christmas! Having a lovely, relaxing time, and already plotting to get back into writing once the holidays are over.

Instead of writing, I'm enjoying having the chance to watch lots of awesome movies, and reading lots of great novels. It's wonderful to see what writers can create, and how the worlds they imagine come to life.

I bought my flatmate a copy of Stephen King's On Writing for a Christmas pressie, and I may have to be incredibly cheeky and steal it to read myself. I've never read it, but I'm sure his advice would be invaluable. 

11.

One week on, I'm three and a half chapters deep, which is about half of where I wanted to be as of today. But life has a way of getting in the middle of things. I'm starting to learn that I can't let the little things in life get in the way of writing- not being able to write because I have to work/go to the gym/feed the pets/do housework/go shopping isn't a valid excuse. And the reason I can't let the little things get in the way is because sometimes, occasionally, big things come along and really get in the way.

I'm dealing with a bereavement at the moment, and it's still too tender for me to properly pour that emotion into writing. I'm going to try though, because I want to do something productive, rather than destructive, which is how I feel.

I've started redecorating my soon to be office- even now when it's still just a desk, a comfy chair, and a pile of moving boxes, it's a wonderful place to be and I feel comfortable here, which bodes well for writing. When I finish I hope it will be bright and airy and inspiring. Here's hoping! 

10.

Today I wrote 3200 words, the entire first chapter of the YA contemporary novel I've been dying to write. It didn't happen easily- my inner editor is back, and I even had to get up and walk around the room at one point, because I was arguing with myself too much, and couldn't carry on. But in the end it worked, and I finished it, and I plan to write the next chapter tomorrow, and the next, and so on until this pesky, buzzing story idea actually ends up on the page. NaNo project has been shelved for the foreseeable future, which is probably best, at this point.

This week I also plan to start my redecoration of the spare room, to become less of a graveyard for boxes I still haven't unpacked, and more of a guest bedroom/office/writing room. I'm really looking forward to it!

I'm also beta-reading some novels for my writing group. I'm really excited to delve into someone else's novel, and to learn from the more experienced writers in the group. Plus they have some awesome sounding stories that I look forward to reading! 

9.

Oh frabjous day!

Precisely 48 hours ago, I hit fifty thousand words on my NaNo project. I have to write the number out like that to fully appreciate the accomplishment, I think.

My story is not finished. I never expected it to be. It's in fragments here and there and I already have a list the length of my arm full of ideas for rewrites, facts to check etc etc. And in a month or so, once I feel a sense of detachment from it, I plan to rewrite and see what happens then. It'll be a big rewrite- there are personality quirks to change, dialogue to improve, and vast swathes of description to add (I have a terrible habit of ignoring the surrounding environment beyond 'They were in the car' or 'The pizzeria smelt warm and inviting'. That's not good enough!).

There have been some successes and some not-so-much-successes. In the not-so-much pile, I failed entirely at using something other than a Word-style word processor (I think I'll have to bite the bullet and purchase Scrivenor, as I found Y Writer a bit of a trial at first and immediately gave up). Admittedly, it wasn't Word that I used (as a new computer right before NaNo meant no longer having a subscription, and I was feeling cheap at the time)- instead I used LibreOffice which was virtually the same. But I want something a bit more interactive- with my non-linear writing style, I need a programme that supports that.

Which brings me to my second not-so-much point which is that I had hoped to learn how to write in one long foul swoop, from beginning to end, but alas that did not happen as planned. However I did learn a lot about trying to constrain myself.

I also didn't finish. The novel is probably 2/3rds complete, and I could have pushed myself harder, but time got away from me. Still, that's what the rewrite is for.

In the success pile is the fact that I actually, finally, completed NaNo- no excuses. That feels pretty awesome.

It also inspired me to do more, beyond my NaNo project (which, come to think of it, might be why I didn't have enough time to completely finish my novel...). I'm walking away from NaNo with two complete outlines for other novels (a couple pages each, with basic scene breakdown), a partial outline, two ideas, a first chapter for yet another novel which I have no idea what to do with, a completed first draft of a short story and an incomplete one.

All in all, I consider it to be a pretty successful month!

Up next- one more week of work before a long, staying at home holiday, in which I plan to completely revamp my spare room into a comfy office/writing space. Expect weekly updates!