Writing Time!

I’m still going to try and make my self-imposed deadline of finishing the first draft of Lady of the Snow by the first of the new year even though I’ve pretty much slacked off this entire month. I figure if some writers, like the awesome Natalie Whipple, can challenge themselves to finish their first draft in less than a week, I certainly should be able to do so in two weeks. Despite the fact there’s Christmas and a sis-in-law’s wedding smack in the middle. I can do it. Right?

I’ve posted a little word count widget in the corner, so you all can see how I’m doing (and get on my case if the word count bar isn’t moving :P) I’m not sure of the *exact* word count at the end, but I’m guessing it’ll be somewhere around the 85K mark.

It’s probably a good time I’m doing this too, as all of my procrastinating outlets (a.k.a. industry blogs like Kristin Nelson, BookEnds and others, as well as quite a few writing friends) are taking a blogging break from now until after the first of the year. So that means I convert my usual blog reading time to writing time. 

I have an incredibly difficult time writing much more than 2K in a day but I’m going to have to force myself to do this if I want to make the 85K mark by the 1st. Of course if the story finishes before then, I’ll be incredibly happy too, but it’s also likely that it may go a little past that and closer to the 90K range.

Can I do it? I don’t know, but I’ll give it an honest effort.

Writing Goals, Yet Again

I have new writing goals for myself, in regards to Lady of the Snow. I’ve set up little “deadlines” and I’m hoping to stick with them.

I believe I have stated this on the blog before but I have issues though with self-motivation. 😛 During NaNo, I’m fine–I meet the goal and often it’s ahead of time. When I was in college and had research papers, I would always do much of the research and writing weeks ahead. I was never one of those that had to pull an all-nighter to get a paper done because I’d make sure it was completed and saved (in multiple places) a week ahead of time.

I’m a procrastinator but if there’s a deadline, I don’t like waiting until the last minute. It bothers me. Of course I’m not like my little sister, who often will have complete research papers MORE than a week ahead of time (she’s much more disciplined in the scholarly area than me). Still, if I have an outside force or reason to get something done, I’ll do it. But with no outer force pushing me along, I have a hard time keeping on track. I know it’s something I need to work on, especially as a writer, and it’s a big flaw of mine that I have to overcome, or at least fight on a constant basis. Yes, I readily admit that I tend to be a little on the lazy side…

Anyway, here are my new goals for my book, although they may change a little. Hoping to stick with them as best as I can though:

Deadlines for Lady of the Snow

1. Character names and bios–August 31
2. Loose chapter outline–October 31
3. 1st draft (50K of it)–December 1
4. Completed 1st draft (85-90K)–January 1

I’m hoping that NaNo will help me get a good chunk of it written; it’s helped me to write large sections in the past. I’d really like to try and get all 85K done, but I’ll aim for the lower goal of 50K. It would be nice to get it all done by the first of the year so I can start working on the arduous editing (and ultimately more in-depth research) process. It would really be nice to be able to start the query process next summer…but that will only happen if I’m able to keep on schedule and stop making excuses and procrastinating.

I need to find the motivation. That’s the only way I’ll ever have my book published.