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It took a lot of work, dude. So many what ifs and maybes and ALL THE WHYS. I rebuilt the plot. I’m ready to get back in the trenches and WRITE THIS BOOK.<\/p>\nI wasn’t going to. I mean…I told myself nope. I’m done. Done with NaNo, done with Camp NaNo. OVER the frantic gogogo! pace of trying to race through a month of self-imposed deadlines and ending up with a mess of a book. I’ll just work at my own pace, let the work breathe when it has to, and type like I’m Imperator Myrrh-iosa when the ideas come fast & furious.<\/p>\n
But…all that Camp NaNo chatter on Twitter was niggling at me from the shadows and just like that, it pulled me back in!<\/p>\n
I’m okay with that.<\/p>\n
I feel like the last few months, I’ve been flailing. I was working on freelance stuff up until a week before Christmas. In between that time, a good friend passed away and it stopped me in my tracks. Then the holiday madness and like 2 weeks after that, we were off for our Mexican adventure – beaches, margaritas & Chichen Itza. It was the exact kind of escape I needed.<\/p>\n
It took me a week or so after that to get back into the work mindset and then I sat there with a decision to make…it’s MY time. No freelance projects on tap. Time to actually work on my OWN books. But…which one?<\/p>\n
The Egypt novel? It’s in limbo. Something isn’t working. I thought maybe a time period shift might make it work but something still felt off and even though I haven’t ‘failed’, it kinda felt like that.<\/p>\n
But what about all those other books? The products of NaNos past?<\/p>\n
That was another reason I wanted to retire my NaNo life. All of these half finished books that need editing. I just can’t say no to a Bright New Shiny Idea. But at some point I have to FINISH something. it’s one thing to madly type out a first draft. But to then take that manic draft, look at it, examine it, rip it apart and rebuild it? That’s the only way I’m going to finish anything.<\/p>\n
So, I looked at my books, my half-finished, unloved manuscripts begging to be made whole and picked the one that interested me most. I re-read it and tried to find the things that I didn’t like. The ugly parts that didn’t work or should be exorcised completely. There was a lot there.<\/p>\n
But the story seed – that teeny tiny little idea that got me excited about it in the first place? It was still there (thank god!).<\/p>\n
So, I’ve spent the past few months ripping it apart, reworking the outline, shifting focus, going deeper into the story core, uncovering character flaws, and sussing out what’s important enough to tell a story about – and important not just to the characters, but to my readers.<\/p>\n
It took a lot of work, dude. So many what ifs and maybes and ALL THE WHYS. I rebuilt the plot. I’m ready to get back in the trenches and WRITE THIS BOOK.<\/p>\n