Holding on to ambitions

So I finally knocked out the revised short story and have sent it to my dear husband, aka Beta Reader 1, for review before it goes back out to the editor!   Nothing like starting a new job, even if it is temporary to throw you off your routine.

But the good news is I’m back. 

I am, of course, Nanowrimo-ing this year.  I hope to get my currently at 45000 word novel finished…I’m aiming for about 60,-70,000 given that it’s a cozy mystery with a historical fiction twist.  Thankfully, I don’t have to aim for the 100,000+ fantasy novel length. 

https://store.lettersandlight.org/merchandise/your-nano-novel-2-gb-usb-bracelet - Oh and I want this.

(And yes, I realize that working on my current novel breaks the rules of the Nano, but it works for me and I don’t ever plan to claim I “won” Nano!)  I love the energy and drive that comes out of Nanowrimo.  Seeing everyone else’s creative ideas and posts seem to help drive my own.  

I so wish there was a good on-line writing group around here. Schedule is such that the local one which has a really good reputation, I just can’t make the meetings.  But an online group…that I could do. 

Anyway, I’m so much of a pantser when it comes to writing that finishing out the novel should be a bit interesting.  I’m adding a POV to help fill out some things that happen outside of the main POV.  And I’m working on the red herrings that are needed to help distract our reader from the real culprit.  So I’m actually trying to plot out what I’m writing before I write. 

I’m also going to try to get back into blogging a bit more regularly.   (I realize I promised that last blog post…but that was before the whole real life jobs changing mess.)  I’m trying something new.  I’m writing the goals down, publishing them…ie on the blog.  And tracking them.  Either here or facebook. 

I would put it on my calendar and block the time but things change so much that I can’t guarantee I’d get the same hour each day.  So I’m just going to aim for the goals and track them as I get them.

Anyway, so my first goal is to work on the novel for at least 1 hour per day.  Either lunch at work or 1 hour at home.  It means giving up reading some but I really want to finish the novel be the end of the year so…sacrifices must be made.

And related to that goal is writing one blog post per week.  Both to update on the Nanowrimo/Novel status but also to talk about some aspect of writing that I’ve been working on that week.   This is probably the harder goal.  Not so much the updating part but to make the blog post about something other than me and my writing. 

So…luck to all those nano-ing with me!

How many times/Do we swallow our ambitions
Long to give up the same old way/Find another road to take

Keep holding on so long/'Cause there's a chance
That we might not be so wrong/We could be down and gone
But we hold on

~We Hold On - Rush