Done!

 

I did it! Woot! The novel isn't done, but I made 50,000 words. I'm excited that I did it. And to celebrate, tomorrow I'm off to Dubai! Can't wait!

30 Things

It's my last year in my 20s!

And I am not freaking out.  I promise.  Well, I mostly promise.  I can't promise how I'll feel next  August.

I'm celebrating my last year in my 20s by making a list.  A list of 30 things to do before I turn 30.  30 reasonable, achievable goals to reach before I reach 30.

This is not because I think life ends at 30.  I just think it's a milestone and I'd like to celebrate it properly. (I can imagine myself doing 40 things for 40 and 50 things for 50, etc).  Plus, it's a great excuse to kick my butt into gear and accomplish some of these goals I've been putting off.

But to accomplish a list, first I need a list. This is what I've come up with so far.

1. Win NaNoWrimMo (or one of the other Wrimos)

2. Get a full request (which means I'd have to start actually querying)

3. Run a half marathon (already signed up)

4....????


Clearly, I need a lot more ideas.  Got one for me?  Leave it in the comments!

I Think I've Been Here Before

Woot!

I've finished the first draft of my second novel.  I'm really happy about it, but it's not quite that same level of excitement that I had the first time around.

I think the difference is this time, I knew I could do it.  It's like the first time I raced 5 km.  I didn't know I could do it before.  I thought I might just pass out before the finish line.  But I made it to the finish line before I passed out.  And then there was this high that just followed me around the rest of the day. (I was a bit hyper...and probably annoying to the rest of my cross country team).

The next time I did it, I was still excited to finish, but not as excited as the first time.  You really never get that first time feeling back.

I'm really not surprised that the feeling was different this time.  At the same time, I'm actually a little bit proud of myself.  An author whose blog I followed once wrote about how important it is to finish that first novel.  How you can learn so much from it.

Well, he was right.

Even without trying, I learned a lot.  I learned not to freak out about word count (I freaked out about word count in my novel--I ended up with this totally random detour that has nothing to do with my novel.  It's just to make me have to revise and edit more). I learned about routine, filtering (which is bad!), and not getting caught up in scenes.

I learned a lot.  So this book has a lot more potential than my last one.  I really can't wait to see where it ends up when I finally get to revise and edit the hell out of it.

What did your first book teach you?

All's Well that Ends Well

I have something to show everyone today.















For those of you who see nothing (which would be all of you), that's exactly what I am showing you. 

When I write, I keep a cheat sheet at the end of my manuscript.  These are point form notes from my outline of plot points in the story.  After I write something, I delete it from the list.

Which means, you are looking at an empty list.

Which means....

I finished the book! (And met my deadline!)

The Dreaded Deadline

At this time next week, I'll be back in Canada for my summer vacation!!! I am very excited (you can tell by all the exclamation marks). But before I go home and really relax, I have this small, little thing hanging over my head.

My Deadline.

Well, it's sort of a deadline.  Seeing as it is self-imposed (and those deadlines are always a little too easy to move).

I want to be done.  I started working on my current manuscript (which has no name!) back in February.  It's now been five months, 63,000 words, and more hours than I can count, and I still. am. not. finished.

But I'm close!

In about 10,000 words I will be finished this story.  Then, I get to shove it in a closet (or a far corner of my hard drive) for the rest of summer vacation (while I work on something else).

I needed a push to get it done.  So I gave myself a deadline.  Before I fly out next Sunday morning at 8 am (my local time) I want to be finished this story.  Besides, deadlines are good for us.  I wouldn't get any work would get done without them. Whether it's a long term deadline (finish the novel by June 24) or a daily deadline (write 1,000 words a day)

Not to mention, when you meet a deadline there's always that sense of accomplishment.  That feeling that you have done something.  It's even better when you meet a self-imposed one.  Because then you've just accomplished a personal goal.  And there's nothing more awesome than that.

My deadline has resulted in me looking a bit like this:

But I'm happy with my progress.  I've typed at least 1,500 words everyday for the last four days.  It's put a good dent in my manuscript and I can feel myself inching closer to the finale.

Soon enough I will look like this:

And I cannot wait to have that feeling!