WIP Wednesday: Where Things Stand

So, I got off to a slow start for Camp NaNoWriMo. I felt like I was constantly playing catch-up, trying to get my word count where it should be. And just when I was hitting my stride, I took time off.

Oops, my bad. That’s how things go in the summer sometimes.

Anyway, I’m back at the book again, doing short scene outlines the day before I sit down to write them. I’m hoping to have the 1st draft of the book done, at the very latest, by mid August, since I have another week off.

Then, I’ll go into my 1st round of edits. Luckily, I’ve been keeping extensive notes of plot points I need to make sure I hit, consistencies I need to make sure are there, all the little things I thought of while writing but jotted down so I wouldn’t disrupt my genius at work 😉

I’m not sure how long it will take to edit. Short stories are one thing. But this will be my first completed novel. I’m hoping to get as much done as possible by October, because I usually like to spend that month outlining my NaNo project.

This year, I’m still not sure what I’ll be working on, but the good news is I am not wanting for ideas. It’s just a matter of picking one from my Idea File. The only problem with that? Each idea is kind of like a shiny lightning bug and I want to write them all at the same time. Right now, though, since I do have to choose, I’m leaning toward one of three ideas:

• working on Book 1 and Book 2 of a series which were my NaNo 2008 and NaNo 2010 projects (thriller/suspense)
• Working on the sequel to my current WIP (supernatural mystery)
• Expanding a much-loved short story into a novella/novel (futuristic horror/thriller)

As you can see, my tastes are evolving. Don’t get me wrong, I love horror and won’t stop writing it. But I’m also adding mystery & suspense (not much of a stretch, I know – just different shades of darkness).

So, what are you working on? Any plans on the horizon?

Here’s a little snippet from my current WIP:

As much as Dene wanted to ignore it all, he realized that the more he explored, the more skeletons he was going to unearth, with each one leading directly back to his past. A past that, he could now see, refused to remain hidden and which threatened to bring forth secrets from his childhood that he had worked so hard to forget.