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New Year’s Groove
I was looking over my blog and noticed no post about the new year! How could that possibly have slipped my mind?
Oh yes. I remember. My obsession with that medieval storyline game and those congruent revisions of three manuscripts.
Well, a firm believer of the old adage “better late than never”, I thought I would try my hand at a ‘New Years’ post. After all, the first week of the New Year has very nearly come and gone. Certainly I must have some opinion on where it is going and what my expectations are?
Right? o.O
Perplexed, I come to find there isn’t much in my head about the New Year. Yes, I have goals and items on my check-list I am eager to complete, but other than that? No compelling resolutions. No flares of determination, where I ball my hand into a fist and vow…. Nope.
To my shock, I am comfortable with the list I pieced together in Q4 of 2011. In fact, I haven’t made many changes to it, more than a jostle here and there to the priorities. The manuscripts that found their way onto the check list are the most suitable for proving to myself I am making progress.
If I were to resolve to do one or two things, it would be to take a couple writing classes or workshops from either Christian Writers Guild or Gotham Writers or both. That goal, however, will need to be submitted to my husband, the master Bookkeeper. He did approve a class in Q4 of 2011, but since that time we needed to spend $1200 on getting my car’s AWD serviced and the yearly maintenance check. So, it will be interesting to see how that impacted his statement that I could take the Fiction that Sells class at CWG in Q1 of 2012….
Anyway, what a relief to not have the demand for resolutions looming over my head! Now I can funnel those energies and that determination to the manuscripts vying for my attention and get them out the door to that wide world of readers!
Crossing abridge
When I first wrote The Story in the early years of the 21st century, it only took about a week. I loved every minute of the writing, too. Such poignant characters and histories! But, at 18k words, I knew a gargantuan portion of the story waited for the filling. So, I promised a few of my fans (and my mother) to one day return and flesh out all the waiting drama and romance.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to it as soon as I hoped. Not even close. Other books and characters demanded my attention. Then life in general demanded an accounting.
There was always something.
As I begin the rewrite to transition it from fan-fiction to original fiction, now is a prime opportunity to fill the chasms. I look forward to introducing these wonderful characters to the readers, and the distraction of the medieval game, Dragon Age, has been encouraging a percolation of possible new histories. Insights into other character types and interactions. New views of antagonists and villains who have led my characters to this place.
The Story will not be a sprawling epic like Resurrected Honor, the goal is simply too direct. But the process of fleshing out the characters of Zain and Maera in this new kingdom of LaDoon is… appealing and encouraging my brain to percolate ideas and approaches. It is an awesome feeling to be so engaged in the act of writing.
Poor Of Damsels & Dragons found itself pushed aside for the moment, a contemporary romance with another concise storyline I am transitioning from fan-fiction. But like The Story, the time away is allowing me to brainstorm a more fulfilling approach to the blossoming romantic relationship between our jaded thespian, Sir Garret Harrison, and plucky optimist Amy Burke. She acted a bit too forgiving at times in the original. In this version, all I can say is ‘watch out, Garret.’
It’s nice to go from hacking out >60k words from Searching for Sara to a goal of adding at least 20k to both of these storylines. If I don’t hit that goal, no matter! They will simply be quick reads, and who doesn’t like a quick romance…. That doesn’t sound right. *ahem*
Anyway, once the unabridged versions of these two romances are out and about, I will reassess my to-do list and see what project is the closest to being complete. My motivation needs to continue to focus on results until I can get my to-do list under control. Too many novels and no direction makes Nona a cranky writer… and that is simply not a pretty picture!
Perhaps the next project on the horizon will finally involve finalizing Searching for Sara…?
