Thank you so much to everyone who commented on my 20 minute writing commitment post. I felt so inspired after reading all of your comments – and suddenly, it really did feel very much like “it’s only 20 minutes”.

So I took roughly 20 minutes today to work on Waverley; I am now 1200 more words into the story, and even better, a new character has made his way into the tale.

His name is Marcus, and as I’m writing without rereading what I’ve written, I just inserted him right in the scene I was writing – I’ll have to revise earlier chapters to get him in just right.

But the great news is, he fits. He was an off-page character earlier on in the novel, but I’ve been having this feeling that something was missing, and apparently, that something was Marcus.

The funny thing is, I know him so well – if any of my characters is my alter ego, it’s Marcus.

So now I have my threesome: Charlie, Nella and Marcus. They have come a long way since they were Thing 1 and Thing 2 in my mind. And while they still have a long way to go, at least now I feel like, yes, they will get there eventually.

At the pace of 20 minutes a day!

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Is anyone signing up for Bloggiesta? It is being held on January 8, 9 and 10 of the new year, and I’m debating whether I’ll be able to sign up.

Unfortunately, it falls right on the final weekend of my current “I’ve got a TON of work” period. And we’ve been invited out for dinner on the 8th. So I’m not sure I’ll be able to commit to doing Bloggiesta properly or not.

On the other hand, I’m going to be installing a new template for MsBookish, and it would be lovely to be able to get that done during Bloggiesta.

So I’ll have to see how many of my deadlines I can finish ahead of time. I may be able to sign up after all!

How about you? Do you have plans to do Bloggiesta in the new year?

Earlier this year, I did something that, for me, was extraordinary.

I finished the first draft of my first novel.

I’d like to say something elegant like, “this novel was 20 years in the making”, but it wasn’t. It was more like “it took me 20 years to get myself seated in that chair, in front of my keyboard, for long enough to finish that first draft.”

As for the writing of the draft, this is how I did it: I committed, publicly, to a writing goal of 20 minutes a day. Twenty minutes, I reasoned, because 20 minutes didn’t scare me much at all.

That little voice of mine that likes to surface and wreak havoc and destruction on my writing habits finds itself rather speechless against “I’ll write for 20 minutes a day”.

After all, what exactly could it say? It’s only 20 minutes, after all.

This goal worked really well for me. Within weeks, I had amped up my goal to 40 minutes a day. I was working that writing muscle. And I got that first draft finished.

But just now, I realized I’d lost sight of the importance of committing to a daily writing goal. My NaNoWriMo novel is still sitting there, waiting for the additional 20,000 words or so that it needs to be completed.

But the importance of that commitment came back to me just now when I stumbled onto author Stephen Pressfield’s blog. I have his book, The War of Art – it’s been a while since I last read it, so I’ll be rooting it out of the stacks when I get a chance later this week. Not all of his writing philosophy suits me, but it’s an inspiring book, and definitely a motivating one.

On his blog, Pressfield writes about What the Muse Wants. This was such a great reminder for me, a reminder that the time constraint thing is just something I’ve made up in my mind. When it comes to writing, the amount of time I have to spend on writing really isn’t the deciding factor.

What it all comes down to is commitment. As Pressfield notes in his post:

One hour. The goddess can live with that. If we can give her sixty minutes of undistracted, unscattered, deep, focused attention, she’ll accept that. Maybe not forever, but for now. For a start.

And I’ll go one further than that. This is what I know for sure. I don’t even need a full hour. That stack of pages, those 120,000 plus words sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me to read and revise, is testament to that.

All I need is 20 minutes a day. Every day, sure. But only 20 minutes.

Now, the question is, in the midst of all these deadlines, can I do it? Or should I put off committing until after the holidays and after this latest rash of deadlines. Put it off until January 12, which is when I have some breathing space?

I’m still trying to decide … am I ready to commit?

It’s only 20 minutes.

I haven’t done a Saturday “this is what’s going on with me” post for ages, so I figured it was about time. And after this week, I actually might be posting something like this regularly on Saturday – because starting next Saturday, I’ll have more time.

The Big List of Book Giveaways

Why will I have more time?

Tomorrow will be my last “Big List of Book Giveaways” post for The Sunday Salon. I will still be posting a giveaways list on Sundays, but after a lot of thought, I’ve decided to change the theme of the list and focus only on giveaways that are open worldwide. I’ve been thinking about this for a while, ever since I read this post at J. Kaye’s book blog, where she mentions that Bookworming in the 21st Century posts Link a Contest Thursday every Thursday, and it’s so easy – if you have a giveaway, you just enter it into her Mr. Linky.

The Big List of Book Giveaways post had gotten to the point where it took up a big chunk of my Saturdays, but I’d been reluctant to give it up because it seems to be so helpful to everyone. Reading through the comments I’ve gotten, I saw that a lot of people liked the fact that I state whether a giveaway is open worldwide or not. So it makes sense to me to narrow down the focus to just international book giveaways – hopefully the list will continue to be helpful for everyone (since everyone can enter), and I get to take back some of my Saturdays!

I’m A Cheerleader for the October Read-a-thon!

I never know what I’m going to be doing on any given day until that day comes (in addition to being a moody reader, I also like to adjust my life around whatever I happen to feel like doing at the moment). So, while the idea of participating in the October Read-a-thon is so tempting, I know myself well enough to know it’s probably not a good idea.

Cheerleading, on the other hand? I can do that! So I’ve signed up to be a cheerleader for the October Read-a-thon, and am in the process of dusting off my Twitter and commenting pom poms. I will try to follow the lead of that great Read-a-thon cheerleader, Beth Fish Reads, whose impressive cheering performance during the April Read-a-thon was really what inspired me to sign up to cheer this time around.

If you’d like to participate in the Read-a-thon, or want to give cheerleading a try, just head on over to Dewey’s Read-a-thon.

100-Mile (160.1 km) Fitness Challenge

I’ve been noticing that I seem to have gotten, um, a bit more rounded, shall we say, over the past six months. With both the Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts approaching, now seems like a good time to start running again.

Synchronicity struck – I was over at Amanda’s The Zen Leaf and she mentioned she was signing up for the 100-Mile Fitness Challenge. Perfect! So I’ve signed up, too, and hope this is the motivation I need to get running again. I’ve been noticing that my thighs feel sore after I go upstairs – I truly feel like I’m climbing the stairs, like they were some big huge mountain. Not to mention that out-of-breath feeling. So it really is time to do something about it.

My treadmill gives me Canadian distances, so for me, the challenge will be, roughly, 160.1 km over the next three months It turns out my treadmill gives me miles, not kilometres!. And I’m probably going to start out by walking first. I’ve got a ton of audiobooks waiting to accompany me, so my challenge posts will actually be bookish!

So, What’s Up With NANTUCKET?

I haven’t written anything about my progress with NANTUCKET because I haven’t made any progress with it since the last time I posted about it. I know – it’s a very sorry state of affairs. I still have three scenes to write, after which I can say, “I did it! It’s finished!”

You’d think it would be easy to get motivated to write those final scenes, but I have a small confession to make. NANTUCKET has always been my “practice” novel. After not having written anything for so long, I needed to show myself that I could do it. Since I wanted to use that first book to get myself back into writing, I decided to use one of my good ideas, and not one of the ideas about which I am really passionate.

And it’s worked, too. I have been able to write regularly, consistently, even when inspiration seemed far off. I have sat at the keyboard and invited my muse, rather than waiting on the sidelines for my muse to show up first (she never does, I’ve noticed).

But I haven’t felt inspired to write the ending, and worse, I haven’t been sitting down, so the muse hasn’t appeared.

I’m going to finish this manuscript though. I have to, because I’m itching to start the prep work for my NaNoWriMo novel (code name WAVERLEY), and I’m using this itch as an incentive to finish NANTUCKET. And I’m looking forward to pulling that first draft out of a drawer six weeks later and seeing how it reads, too.

So this is my long-winded way of saying, yes, I’ll be writing that “I’m Finished!” post soon.

Currently Reading

I am about a quarter of the way into Tana French’s The Likeness, and while I’ve been enjoying it, I got tempted out of the book when I picked up a copy of The Lost Art of Gratitude, the latest Isabel Dalhousie novel by Alexander McCall Smith. I haven’t been able to resist dipping into it, and I’ve quite enjoyed the handful of pages I’ve read so far.

I’ve been trying to put my finger on why I like the Isabel Dalhousie series so much. It’s certainly not for the mystery, because it’s definitely not the mystery that drives each of these books. I think it’s because I like how Isabel Dalhousie’s mind works, how, as a philosopher, she is always going off on these strange thought tangents all the time. She’s just so interesting, intelligent and self-aware.

I also like the fact that she’s an older woman in a stable relationship with a younger man. Many of my friends are in similar relationships, but I’ve noticed that this kind of relationship never shows up much in fiction. McCall Smith does a good job with it, I think.

So that’s what I’ve been up to. What about you? What have you been up to this week?

Today’s the final day of BBAW! This has been my first year participating in the fun, and it’s been such a blast. My Google Reader is filled to the brim, bursting with a lot of really wonderful new blogs I’ve discovered this week, too. Here’s the final prompt for the week, and it’s a good one:

Tell us and this is really important, in 50 words or less what you love best about your blog!  And then in 50 words or less where you want your blog to be by the next BBAW!

Most of you know that brevity isn’t my strong point, but I’m up to this particular challenge. No tricks this time!

What I Love Best About MsBookish:

All the people who visit here, read what I have to say, make comments, email me, encourage me and give me support in various ways. (Word count: 25 words)

Where MsBookish Will Be By The Next BBAW:

Nominated for Best Author’s Blog. (Yes, I do realize I will need to be a published author first, but my motto is Dream Big.) (Word count: 25 words)

See that? Not only did I meet the 50 words or less goal in my answer to EACH question, I’ve come in at 50 words TOTAL. I knew I could do it!

What about you? What do you love about your blog right now, and where do you see your blog in a year?

Today’s word count: 5,760 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 117,895 words

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I’m almost there. No, really, I am.

My guys are hot on the trail of the killer now, and my kind-of-paranormal character is in grave danger. The two circumstances are on the verge of colliding, forming the next to last scene, with the last scene to be given over to explanations and a final winding down of the tale.

I’m this close to being done.

Today’s word count: 3,153 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 112,135 words

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It turns out I was being a little optimistic when I wrote last night that I’d probably be finishing up the first draft of NANTUCKET today.

I actually did mean it yesterday. When I wrote, “watch this space tomorrow”, I was certain there were only a few more scenes left to write, and even better, that they would get written today.

But as I was falling asleep last night, I realized that the ending that I had been contemplating wasn’t really the ending. I realized this with some relief, actually, because I’d been thinking to myself, this isn’t a very good ending. And of course it wasn’t a very good ending – because it wasn’t the actual ending.

So I’ve been writing the real ending tonight. It piggybacks on the scenes that were supposed to be the real ending, and it does work out really well. But it means more scenes to write. I also wasn’t nearly as prolific in terms of my output as I was yesterday (Margot mentioned in a comment that my visit to the library yesterday morning might have sparked the writing, and I think she might have something there).

But it was fun today. When I did finally sit myself down to write, it came fairly easily.

And just maybe, “watch this space tomorrow”. Celebrations might be in order. Or they might not. But it will be soon!

I know I haven’t posted any updates lately about my progress with NANTUCKET. I’ve had that handful of final scenes to write, and procrastinating like crazy about it. Altogether, since I last posted about my writing, I’d only sat down to the computer maybe about three times, each time writing between 1500 to 2000 words. And still not getting anywhere near the end.

But today, I thought to myself: I want to finish this. And suddenly the procrastination fell away, and I sat and I wrote, and I wrote, and I wrote.

I wrote 7,361 words today, bringing NANTUCKET to a total of 108,982 words. And I’m still not finished yet.

But I’m tantalizingly close.

So watch this space tomorrow. I think that “I Finished!” post, with fireworks and everything, is on its way. Just not today.

July 30 word count: 5,030 words

Aug 1 word count: 881 words

Aug 4 word count: 1,593 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 98,210 words

The writing’s been going slowly. To be honest, I’ve been having trouble sitting down to write lately. I had an incredible day on July 30; over the course of two sessions at the computer, I wrote just a little over 5,000 words.

But scenes continue to give birth to new scenes, and since then I haven’t really felt that much closer to finishing.

If I had stuck to my original writing goal – 2,000 words a day – I’d be finished by now. But somehow, being so near to finishing has had the opposite effect on me.

This is so even though I know what I’m going to be working on next, and I’m actually quite excited about it.

It’s been a little eerie, too. I wrote an entire scene in my head a few days ago, and I was so certain I’d actually started putting down the words that when I started up my writing program today, I searched for the beginning of the scene that I was so sure I’d written. Searched in vain, of course, because I hadn’t written any of the scene at all. But the words had been there, and now I wish I’d just kept plugging away during that session and let those words come tumbling out. I wrote the scene today and it didn’t feel like it had nearly the same impact.

I also caught something that makes me wonder how many little mistakes might be lurking in the manuscript. My detective has been showing a morgue photo of one of the victims, an aggressive move to get certain people talking. However, part of the reason for showing a photo to begin with is for people to recognize the victim’s face – and there was the problem. The victim was disfigured beyond recognition. The result? The morgue photo’s not really usable for the identification purposes. I had to do a bit of scrambling to fix this.

Like I said, I did catch this one, but I do wonder how many more little discrepancies have crept in while I wasn’t looking…

I haven’t written lately about how NANTUCKET’s been going – it’s because every day I keep thinking, yes! today’s the day I’ll finish this baby, wrap things up, print it all out and lock it away for six weeks to expand and meld together on its own (I’m assuming the unread manuscript must do something in the drawer over those six weeks).

And every day I inch a little bit closer. Not only that, but I haven’t been writing every day, either. I’m finding it a lot easier to procrastinate now that I am so close to finishing.

How close, you ask? I have ten more scenes to go, I think. On the other hand, that’s not such a good indicator, since I had ten scenes to go when I went back to my computer tonight (I’d done a session earlier, too), and even though I did write a scene, another one popped into its place that I hadn’t foreseen until I’d actually written this scene.

So, I still have ten scenes to go.

Here’s my progress since my last writing update post:

July 24 word count: 4,713 words

July 27 word count: 2,112 words

July 29 (today) word count: 3,780 words

NANTUCKET total word count to date: 90,706

One thing about coming to the end of the novel – every scene I’ve been writing lately has been accomplishing a lot of stuff. Which really makes me wonder about some of the earlier scenes I’ve written … in comparison, they seem rather lazy in terms of what gets accomplished in them.

I’m guessing that’s one of the things I’ll be addressing in the edit phase.

Yesterday’s word count: 927 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 80,101 words

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Didn’t meet my writing goal today. Word count: 0

I also didn’t meet my 2,000 words a day goal yesterday, either. I did, however, write first, meeting my other writing goal – making my writing a priority. Yesterday I was wrestling with the end of a rather big freelance assignment involving a 1400-page book, but I thought about it and decided, yes, I’m going to write first.

And so I did. And then I ended up finishing my deadline and e-mailing it in before I went to bed, when it wasn’t due until today (I had actually emailed the editor earlier yesterday and told her I probably wouldn’t have it in at 10:00 a.m. today as she had requested, but would likely need a couple extra hours).

So today, I just relaxed. It’s been a heavy work week, but I met all my deadlines, plus I wrote every day except today. So today was kind of my gift to myself.

I also had a wonderful surprise. Another huge deadline that was looming over me has been rescheduled to later in August. And that means I will have more free time than expected next week.

Which got me to thinking. I’d really like to get NANTUCKET finished. I’ve got another novel that I wrote three chapters of way back when, that’s just begging for me to start working on it again, now that I’ve found a steady supply of bum glue.

So here’s what I’m thinking about doing – write for three hours a day over the next couple of weeks, and see if I can’t finish the first draft of NANTUCKET. I’ll be tucking that first draft in a drawer for six weeks to cool off before I start editing it, so as soon as I finish it, I’ll be able to start on this other novel.

I know I said I probably have another 40,000 words to go, at the very least, before I see the end of NANTUCKET. But if I put aside three hours a day to write over the next little while, I should be able to pull it off faster than I would writing 2,000 words a day.

I really think I’m going to do this.

Yesterday’s word count: 2,448 words

Today’s word count: 2,079 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 79,174 words

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I know. NANTUCKET’s word count makes it look like I’m nearly done, that maybe in a week you’re going to see a post here entitled “I’m Finished!”. (Or, more likely, “I’M FINISHED!!!!”)

But the truth is, I’m only in the middle of my story. I think I’ve probably got another 40,000-50,000 words to go before this first draft is completed (don’t quote me on this later, though, if I do happen to finish with a much shorter draft; the truth is, I don’t really know how many more words are to come).

It’s not because I’m aiming to have a loose and rambling 150,000 word first novel (apparently, such creatures never see the light of published day). I’m not saying the story isn’t loose and rambling, just that the final draft isn’t going to be anywhere near as long as the first draft.

Right now, I have nearly 80,000 words. But I also have several scenes that I’ve marked “variation of …”, because this is the only way that seems to work for me since I’m more or less writing this by the seat of my pants, and it’s become apparent that I don’t always get it right the first time around.

There’s also the little matter of the major changes I made to one of my main characters back when I was hovering at around 35,000 words.

My novel is basically a police procedural, but with a hint of the paranormal. Then one day I got worried that maybe I needed that hint of the paranormal to be a really BIG hit of paranormal. So, since I was kind of at the beginning of things (most of those 35,000 words had been written during last year’s NaNoWriMo) I dumped all the scenes involving this particular main character and wrote all new ones.

But I ran into a problem. Nan (the hint of paranormal character) has been pretty reluctant to go in this new direction. I’ve spent a lot of time second guessing most of the paranormal scenes she was in; they never sounded quite right, so I ended up writing variations of a number of scenes. (In case you’re wondering why I didn’t just go back and revise, one of the things that keeps me writing is knowing that when I’m done, I’ll get to sit down and finally read my words from beginning to end. It’s one of my rewards. So at this stage, re-reading what I’ve written in order to revise would ruin the whole anticipation thing for me … strange, but true).

Today I found myself going back to my original premise – police procedural with a hint of the paranormal. And as I wrote, I finally felt like I was on the right track.

So how many more words? Well, as many as it takes for me to get all of the story down, I guess. It should be smoother sailing from here on in, now that I’ve worked that big-hit-of-paranormal thing out of my system.

Lesson learned here – listen to the truth of the story I’m telling, and not what’s going on in the world of books and publishing …

Anyway, I fully expect to be editing the whole massive thing down to a manageable and readable 80,000-90,000 words. It needs it.

I’m actually looking forward to the editing. I have this funny feeling it will be like sculpting, chipping away all that’s unnecessary in order to let my story take the shape it’s meant to be.

Today’s word count: 2,286 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 74,647

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Today’s been filled with lots of work; out of two deadlines due tomorrow, I have one completed, the other still to go. I’m tired, though, and have decided to call it a night, trusting that I’ll have no problems finishing up the second deadline tomorrow.

One of the things I’ve been finding helpful when it comes to work is, surprisingly, the fact that I’m making my writing a priority and writing first, before I start working on my deadlines.

I never realized before how much energy I used to put into being bothered by the fact that I wasn’t writing.

And now, I seem to be working more quickly and more efficiently, simply because I’m not always thinking, in the back of my mind, “I hate doing this. I should be writing instead. I mean, I AM A WRITER. I should be writing. Not working on these assignments. Not tackling these work deadlines day after day.” And so on.

I never realized how draining it all was.

And now? I’m actually enjoying my work more – because I’ve gotten the important-to-me stuff done. I think what’s happened here is, in making my writing a priority, I’ve basically made ME a priority.

This is my “insight du jour”, as my good friend heartsdeesire likes to call it. Now my work deadlines are simply what’s before me to do; not only that, I am enjoying doing my work much more than I have been. Because I’ve already done the important stuff first.

I’ve already written.

I really like that.

Today’s word count: 2,545 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 72,361 words

It’s nearly 2:30 in the morning and I am tired! However, I did make my writing a priority, and did finish writing early this afternoon, before tackling any other work.

Then I worked on deadlines. And then, suddenly, I remembered something – tomorrow’s Sunday! And I hadn’t worked on my giveaways post for The Sunday Salon.

Now, five hours later and rather bleary-eyed, I’m off to bed.

Today’s word count: 2,409 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 69,816 words

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Day 4 of my goal to make my writing a priority. Yes, I worked on NANTUCKET before I blogged or worked on my paying deadlines. And yes, it feels good, as I type this post this before I go to bed, knowing my writing is already done for the day. It felt good most of the day, actually.

I think I might have a little bit of a problem here, though. Yesterday, I posted that I am falling a bit behind on my work deadlines.

Well, I was supposed to be working on an assignment today. And no, I didn’t. At all.

I think, though, that this is more a post-holiday ennui thing, and has nothing to do with making my writing a priority. I mean, it’s only an hour that I spend writing. I have all those other hours (well, minus time spent on things I have to do, like email, Twitter, eating, family time, writing blog posts) in which to do my work.

I always have a tough time slipping back into work mode when I get back from holidays. After two lovely weeks with no work and no deadlines, it can be difficult buckling down and getting back to work.

The really lovely thing, of course, is that obviously neither writing or blogging feel like work to me. There was a time when I wasn’t so sure about the writing, at least. Now I know. Despite the fact that I didn’t write during my two weeks of holidays, I’ve had no problem slipping right back into writing.

I’m really pleased about that. I must admit, though, that I did wonder if I’d blown my newly write-every-day habit.

Today’s word count: 2,266 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 67,407 words

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Please excuse the pun. I couldn’t help myself.

Today is Day 3 of my latest writing goal, which is to make my writing a priority. While my daily word count goal of 2,000 words has been a huge personal success, in that it’s gotten me back into writing and I seem to now have a healthy supply of bum glue, some days (nights, really) I found it really stressful working to meet that goal.

Here’s an example of what used to be a typical day for me.

During the day: email, Twitter, work on my current paying deadline, do family stuff with kids and husband, play or watch a video with my youngest, eat, email, Twitter, read other blogs, email, Twitter, write blog post (maybe), work some more on my current paying deadline.

I always wrote in the evenings, after my six-year-old was in bed. The problem was, there was usually more email/Twitter/deadline work/blogging to do once I had some true peace and quiet. By the time I turned on my writing program, chances were good it would be past midnight, sometimes well past midnight, and what I wanted to do wasn’t write, but drop into bed and sleep.

Not to mention, it was tough writing scarier scenes, since my office is on the ground floor, there’s a window to my right and we have yet to find window coverings we like, so I’m basically staring out into the pitch black night where anything might be lurking every time I happen to look up (which, when I’m writing, is actually quite often).

With my new writing goal of making my writing a priority, I’ve made a commitment to writing before I work on my latest deadline or do any blogging. In other words, my writing comes first. I found I couldn’t resist checking email and Twitter first though, so email and Twitter time doesn’t count (rather unfortunate, actually – two days out of the three so far, my email and Twitter time ate up most of the morning and then of course I had to have lunch (and go on a book-buying binge on one of the days) and before I knew it, it was the afternoon and I hadn’t started writing yet.)

But after email and Twitter time, I write my 2,000 words for the day.

My findings so far:

1. It takes me a little longer to meet my daily writing goal, because there are more interruptions around here during the day, especially in the form of my six-year-old whose current passion is telling “knock knock” jokes he doesn’t really fully understand. Over and over. To which you must respond.

2. My writing sounds better to me. I think this is because I’m not typing my words out while in a half-asleep daze, and not really because my writing is actually better, but who knows.

3. When I finish typing that last word, I feel really good. Like I’ve accomplished something. In the past, when I finished typing that last word, it was all I could do to quickly write up my writing goals blog post and then stumble off to bed. I rather like this feeling good business.

4. I am a little behind on my regular work deadlines.

All in all, I like the better-sounding writing and the feeling good, so the extra bit of time it takes me to pound out those 2,000 words is, I think, well-worth it. Being a little behind on my work deadlines isn’t such a great thing, but I still think it’s worth it, and anyway, I’m practically always a little behind on my work deadlines, since I’m very good at procrastination.

So please keep your fingers crossed for me that I can keep this new writing goal going for 30 days, after which I am confident it will become “just what I do”.

When do you do your best writing? In the early morning, before there are any other demands on you? During the day? Late at night?

Today’s word count: 2,502 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 65,141 words

I do like writing without really knowing where the story’s going. I really do. But I’m starting to realize I need to do something to get a handle on my various characters in NANTUCKET, keep track somehow of everything they’re each doing.

I’ve got characters still stuck way back at the beginning of the story. I know what they’re meant to do next, I just haven’t written about it yet. But the rest of the story’s progressing along, so now their “next” is everyone else’s “a long time ago”.

I’m thinking of making rows and columns on a long sheet of paper, putting all my main characters down one row, and using post-its to indicate each scene they’ve had major action in so far. And maybe, if the thought has occurred to me, different colored post-its to indicate where they’re supposed to be going next, and when exactly that is in the whole scheme of things.

I wonder how writers who juggle a bunch of different plot lines keep themselves organized in terms of who’s doing what and when, and whether they actually did get around to getting their characters to do the what at the right when.

Anyone have any ideas for getting better organized?

Today’s word count: 908 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 62,639 words

Well, not really “jumping” back into writing, I guess. “Easing" back into writing is more like it. I fell a 1000+ words short of my 2000 words a day goal.

And I guess I could fix that right now, but I’m also experimenting with shedding my night owl identity, which means even though it’s only 10:30 pm right now, I’m already starting to feel droopy eyed. It’s a good thing I’ve also decided to make my writing goal my number one priority – it’s now the first thing I do every morning (well, after e-mail and a quick Twitter check).

I say “it’s now the first thing I do every morning” so confidently, don’t I? Today’s my first day of making my writing goal my priority, but I figure the more confidently I say it, the more likely I’ll stick with it.

I’m also committing to this for 30 days. It’s how I established my daily writing goal, so I thought it might work with this, too. And as before, I’m blogging about it to keep myself accountable. Hey, if it works, I’m going to use it!

Today’s word count: 857 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 61,731 words

HARPER total word count: 5,435 words

I’m going to slow down a bit for the next little while. I’m really enjoying getting ready for my vacation, and I plan to write a lot while I’m away. But in the meantime I’m going to write something every day, but I’m not focusing on meeting my word count. I just want to stick with this writing every day habit, not let it slip away just because I’m experiencing a change in routine.

So I’m considering my writing goal met as long as I do sit down and write something. Maybe not 2000 words, no, but something.

Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow of your life …

Yesterday’s word count: 0

NANTUCKET total word count:  60,874

HARPER total word count: 5,435 words

I didn’t make my writing goal yesterday; I didn’t even attempt it. At 1:30 am I was still working on my deadline, and the choice was there: keep plugging away and be free and clear for the next three days, or put the assignment away and write. I decided it would be better all around for me and my stress levels to have three days to clean the house for the housesitter (now I understand those of you who clean your house in preparation for your cleaning person) and get ready and packed for our road trip.

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So I’ve been wondering – whether you like to write or just like to read books, do you keep a journal?

Journaling is something I’ve never been able to do consistently. But with my recent success at writing my novel every day (well, nearly everyday), I’ve been thinking about giving journaling a try again.

Sometimes I think it would be lovely to have notebooks all lined up on a shelf in chronological order, documenting my life through the ages. On the other hand, I know this would never work for me. I have a wonderful life, but let’s face it: it’s kind of boring.

Where the real excitement happens is in my mind. I always have lots going on in there. I think that’s why I had such success writing Morning Pages, the exercise in Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. I wrote Morning Pages every day for eight years. The reason why this was so successful for me was because you’re not supposed to read your Morning Pages, ever: it’s just a brain dump.

From there I moved on to what I called my “spiritual” journal. This was a couple of years ago, and I only kept it for about two months, but I have gone back and re-read this journal several times and it always gives me a lift.

So I’ve decided to begin a journal that will be all about whatever happens to be going on in my mind. I’m going to commit to writing in it every morning, because that’s what I did with my Morning Pages and getting things off my mind was a huge help to my day. But unlike Morning Pages, I want to go back and re-read this journal, so it will be more like my spiritual journal.

And what perfect timing – I ordered some Moleskin journals over the weekend. They arrived today!

What about you? Do you keep a journal? Do you record the events of your life in it, your thoughts, or a combination of both? How long have you been keeping a journal. Do you have any tips for me, on how to become a dedicated journal writer?

Today’s word count: 2,278 words

NANTUCKET total word count:  60,874

HARPER total word count: 5,435 words (but I’m almost ready to start back on it)

Today the writing went much more smoothly. I also started a little bit earlier than I normally do, and I think that helped, too.

And today, I’m also getting a much clearer sense that I’m slowly building this novel scene by scene. I even think in terms of scenes, individual sections moving things forward, little by little.

Yesterday, when I was so tired and wrote so little, I stopped in the middle of a scene – but I think that was the first time I’ve done that. I normally stop when I’m finished a scene. Or, if there’s time, and I feel up to it, I begin another scene – but I won’t if I feel like I won’t complete it in that sitting.

How do you build your novel? Do you write scene by scene, chapter by chapter, or paragraph by paragraph? How do you pick the moment to stop writing?

Today’s word count: 639 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 58,596 words

HARPER total word count: 5,435 words

Yes, this is the first time I’ve written so little since I started my On Writing posts. It’s been an exhausting day, but I finished deadline 3 out of 4 (the 5th one got extended until late July – got to love that!), and even got some of the items done on my Bloggiesta list.

I decided to open up my writing program and write SOMETHING. It didn’t matter what. It didn’t matter how many words, I figured, as long as I still sat here and did it. Even a little bit counts, I think.

But I really have to get out of this habit of writing late. Not only do I end up writing most nights when I’m feeling really tired, but my desk faces a wall with a window to one side. We don’t have curtains on this window, and when it’s dark outside, I have to avoid looking out the window or my imagination (and I have a very good one) goes haywire on me. When you add the fact that parts of NANTUCKET can get a bit scary at times, late night writing + me the writer isn’t such a great combination.

I’m not much of a morning person, though; I’ve always been a night owl. I guess the trick for me is to start writing at 10 pm instead of at 1 a.m. like I normally do.

When do you usually find yourself writing? Do you find it’s the best time for you, or is there really a better time? Do you find it has an impact on the writing itself? I think I have this belief that I write much better at night, but I’m willing to bet it probably isn’t true. Beliefs are funny sometimes!

Today’s word count: 2,224

NANTUCKET total word count: 57,957 words

HARPER total word count: 5,435 words

Today I started with another scene from earlier in the book, and then ended my session with a current scene, but again things were slower than normal. I’ve moved now solidly into the middle of the book, and unlike most days, I didn’t have any idea of the scenes I would be writing. I had to grasp at the last scene I wrote, rather than just having the idea for it come to me.

So I finished the scene rather slowly, feeling a little direction-less. I’m hoping a night of sleep will help. I usually wake up in the mornings knowing the scenes that I will write that night. This morning, though, I didn’t think about NANTUCKET at all.

Instead, as I sat in bed drinking my morning coffee, I heard the bells of the knife sharpening truck going by. Do you get those in your neighborhood? These trucks come by only in the summer, it seems – before it gets so hot that people shut their windows to let their air conditioners keep things cool. The bells sound a little like the bells of an ice cream truck. This year, though, the knife sharpening truck was also belting out what sounded like taped messages. Something about their various services. We can sharpen lawn mower blades, too, don’t forget.

Anyway, instead of scenes for NANTUCKET popping into my head, I suddenly saw the first line of a new story, very much inspired by this knife sharpening truck. Since I’ve sworn to never turn my back on any sort of inspiration again, I spent the next little while scribbling down a page full of notes. And after that, it was time to get on with the day. No new scenes, and tonight’s writing felt uphill again.

Right now, I’m feeling like I’d just like to get NANTUCKET done and over with. Writing wasn’t very fun tonight, so that’s two days in a row where I’ve felt less than inspired. I’m only halfway there, though. My plan is to write 120,000 words, with the goal of paring that down to about 90,000 during revisions. So I am rather solidly in the middle.

I’ll have to write my way into more exciting happenings, I think.

Today’s word count: 1,819 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 55,733 words

HARPER total word count: 5,435 words

I didn’t quite make my word count goal today, but it’s very late and I did finish two scenes. I also spent far longer than normal pulling these 1,819 words out of me, so I figured it was fine to stop since my daily one-hour goal was met.

Usually, it takes me about 40 minutes to write my 2000 words. I write very fast, and I don’t take any sort of special care with the words that spill out. I just type them out as I feel them in my mind, so no time is spent searching for the right words or the perfect turn of phrase. The words that tumble out tend to be utilitarian, fulfilling one basic need: getting the story down on paper.

I was glad, actually, to come across this post written by author Jay Lake for the Tor Books blog. I must admit, sometimes I think about how fast I write, and I worry a little about that, worry that it reflects badly on the quality of the words. But Jay Lake is also a fast writer, and he notes that “It’s just that I’m not writing fast, I’m drafting fast.” And that’s what I’m dong too. I’m drafting fast. I’m laying down a lot of words so I’ll have something to work with when I do all the shaping up that needs to be done during the revision stage.

I also caught this post today at Fran Caldwell’s Notebook, about writing speeds. It’s funny how things show up online when you’ve got something on your mind. Fran works differently than I do, in that she also revises as she goes, but just the same, while she’s drafting, it’s fast: “If my writing isn’t moving like a torrent, I become irritable. For me, revision can only come after those exuberant words have been poured out onto the pages en masse.”

I’ve decided the best thing to do when I start thinking about my writing speed is to keep in mind Anne Lamott’s words in Bird by Bird about shitty first drafts:

Now, practically even better news than that of short assignments is the idea of shitty first drafts. All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts.

…

For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts.

As to why today was a lot slower (it took me an hour and seven minutes today to get those 1,819 words out): I decided today that I absolutely had to go back and write some of the missing scenes. There was, in particular, one quite pivotal one involving a major discovery, and it just needed to be written. But like I discussed in this post about writing chronologically, I’m not as comfortable going back and writing scenes out of chronological sequence, and this discomfort slowed me down a bit.

Either way, whether I write fast, and doubt the value of the words because I’m writing so fast, or I write slower, and doubt the value of the words because of the discomfort of pulling each one out, I’m working on that shitty first draft.

I’m okay with that, I think.

Today’s word count: 2,516 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 53,914 words

HARPER total word count: 5,435 words (still no movement)

Had a battle with doubt today.

Lately, I’ve been really waking up to something very clear, and that’s that I am, indeed, going to finish NANTUCKET. And I’m going to finish other books, too. After years and years of always starting but never seeming to be able to actually finish, this knowing that I will finish is a very different feeling. A much nicer feeling, definitely. But still, a little scary.

The daily writing has made a difference to me. I know now that I’ll actually be seeing a first draft soon (at the rate I’m going, and if I can keep this up over my holidays, it will happen by the end of July!). That I’ll be revising. And working on a first draft of another novel. And then another. I’m going to just keep on going, keep on writing.

The daily writing has made the sitting-down-to-write part of things easy. It’s just what I do. I seem to have a large self-filling bottle of bum glue now.

The thing is, will any of my novels I write be any good?

I guess that’s the big question.

Today’s word count: 2,437 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 51,398 words

HARPER total word count: 5,435 words (no movement there)

I must admit, seeing NANTUCKET creep over 50,000 words feels very good! I’m feeling very into the story right now, and setting down the first two chapters of HARPER seems to have satisfied my need there for now.

Today I’ve been thinking about revisions. Mainly, about how I’m so glad I have the revision process still waiting for me.

I think there are a lot of places in NANTUCKET so far where I have people talking to each other just for the sake of talking. In most cases, after they do all their yammering with each other, I’m able to get them to where they need to be, doing what they’re supposed to be doing.

They might not have shown up in the right place at the right time otherwise. So on the one hand, I’m very grateful that all that talking helped me to get them there. And I have found out some pretty interesting things that I didn’t know about before they started their chats with each other.

But on the other hand, I don’t even want to think about how much of that dialogue is so meaningless – with no point, except that my characters obviously love to hear the sound of their own voices.

Even though I’m just laying down this story as it comes to me, too much dialogue seems to my own particular “writing baggage”. I feel much better knowing that I will be able to get rid of that baggage come revision time.

Do you have any “writing baggage”? I haven’t finished a first draft of a novel before, so I’m assuming I’ll be just fine cutting away big chunks of unwanted baggage. Am I dreaming here? Have you found it easy or hard to hack away at your first drafts?

Today’s word count: 1,971 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 48,961

HARPER total word count: 5,435 words

I didn’t think I would write as much as I did today. I know it’s not quite my daily goal, but it’s pretty close. But when I sat down at the computer, I definitely didn’t feel like I had much to write. The words weren’t there. The movement in the next scene, which I normally do have in mind before I sit down, wasn’t there. Nothing much was there, really.

But sitting down to write everyday definitely grows on a person. It took me longer than normal to get the words down, but still, the words did come, eventually. I wonder, when I do the first re-read once it’s all completed, whether I’ll be able to pinpoint these words again, point to them and say, “ah, I wrote this that night I was feeling a little off”?

After my experience re-reading what I had written in November months later, I suspect I won’t be able to tell.

Writing Chronologically

I’m feeling a little disjointed when it comes to NANTUCKET. I’m not even sure if “disjointed” is the word I’m looking for.

I’m writing NANTUCKET using a program called Liquid Story Binder. One of the great things about it is that it has a planner mode that lets you throw in the names of scenes. You then write each scene by attaching a chapter to it. Doing it this way, it’s easy to move scenes around, and the beauty of it is that the chapter attached to the scene moves with it. While I’m not working with an outline, I tend to think of a few scenes that are coming up at the beginning of each session, and add them to the planner as I go, so I always have a couple of scenes waiting for me to write.

NANTUCKET has a lot of characters, and the point of view shifts from scene to scene. With the lapse between last November and last month when I picked up the writing again, things have gotten quite confusing. I have characters lurking around that require development in their own scenes during the earlier part of the book, but I haven’t gotten around to even setting those scenes down yet, much less writing them. At times I find myself concentrating too much on the story that my two main characters are telling, but my story relies on more than just their points of view.

When I started writing NANTUCKET again last month, I did go back and delete whole scenes and rewrite new ones. But I started at the earliest part, and always moved forward chronologically. Now it feels to me like I will have to take another good look at all the scenes I have, and insert scenes into various places as needed.

If I do this, though, I won’t be writing chronologically anymore. I’ve never written a story in any way but chronologically. Just thinking about it, I feel disjointed. A little uncomfortable.

Do you always write a story chronologically? Or do you find it easy to tackle whatever scene happens to come to you, regardless of when it takes place in the timeline of your novel? I guess my main worry is that I’ll lose that sense of flow and coherence that I associate with writing chronologically.

Today’s word count: 2,493 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 46,990 words

HARPER total word count: 5,435 words

Well, I’ve learned my lesson. I’m never going to do that again: turn my back on inspiration.

This morning when I woke up, an entire scene flooded into my mind. It’s a somewhat scary scene, one I’ve been gearing up for, and the words just tumbled into my brain. Whole paragraphs. Dialogue. Everything,

If I’d been smart enough to come to the computer immediately, I would have been able to capture some of it – maybe even most of it. But no. I didn’t do that. I decided to have my morning coffee(s), relax a bit more, think about some blog posts I’ve been wanting to write … then, before I knew it, it was already mid-day and since I have a bunch of deadlines to complete for work before I head out east for my vacation next week, I had to buckle down and get to work.

Do you want to know what I was thinking? Since it came to me once, it would come to me again.

Hah! I sat down to write the scene tonight, and while the words did come, they were nowhere near as good as the ones that came to me this morning. Those words are now lost in the ether somewhere, I guess.

So I’ve learned my lesson: the next time inspiration strikes like that, I’m going to stop whatever it is I’m doing or was planning to do, and sit down and write. Even if it’s not the time I normally have set aside for writing.

If it’s at all possible, I’m going to write it out immediately if not sooner.

Has this ever happened to you? A complete scene comes to you, or a whole chapter? An entire book, even? Or maybe just a few paragraphs, but such lovely paragraphs? What did you do? Did you get it down right there and then? If you didn’t, when you did sit down to write, did it all come back to you?

Today’s word count: 1924 words

NANTUCKET total word count: 44,497 words

HARPER total word count: 5,435 words

I didn’t work on HARPER today. But I’m just 76 words short of my 2,000 word target, so I’m happy enough with that.

I’ve been fighting the urge to go back and revise both of my current writing projects. With NANTUCKET, I keep writing down new things that necessitate changing previously written sections.

Examples: I realize a character whom I had slotted to play a minor role is actually going to play a much larger role. Certain conversations don’t make sense anymore because of new directions that emerge as I’m writing. My two main police characters have changed their personalities somewhat, right down to a new nickname that other cops apply to both of them. None of these changes are reflected in the earlier scenes.

I think this must be one of the pitfalls of just going with the flow and not having a detailed outline. As I type and the story continues to emerge, the entire thing is incredibly fluid and flexible. What I write today has a profound effect on how the past needs to be.

I’m satisfying myself by scribbling down all the things I will need to change, and trusting that when it comes time to revise, I’ll catch all of the changes that need to be made.

With HARPER, I’ve been having an annoying time with the tense of some of the chapters. The story is told in alternating first person and then third person narrative. I started with the first person narrative in past tense, but I find I have to consciously keep it there, or I lapse almost immediately into present tense.

So of course, I decided yesterday that this was a sign that the first person narrative is better told in present tense. And now I’m itching to go back and fix up what I’ve written, and make the tense consistent.

I’m not letting myself do that either.

I’ve heard of authors who write a page a day, and spend the rest of the day polishing that page until it’s perfect. The next day, they write the next page, and revise it until it’s perfect. Other authors just aim to get the entire story down, and then revise the story from beginning to end.

When you’re writing, do you stop and revise as you go? Or do you get the whole story down first, and then go back to revise?

Today’s word count: 4,069 words

NANTUCKET total to date: 42,573

HARPER total to date: 5,435

This will be a short and sweet post because once again, I’m late finishing up. (I’m hardly ever short and sweet, so maybe this isn’t such a bad thing.)

I am nearing the bumpy middle portion of NANTUCKET, and I keep thinking about everything I’ve read about how the middles are always the danger points – where you’re nowhere near the end, and too far from the delight of the beginning, and things start to sag and get a tad boring for the reader if you’re not alert.

I’ll have to think more about this as I drift off to sleep …

Today’s word count: 3031 words

NANTUCKET word count to date: 40,071 words

HARPER word count to date: 3,868 words

There’s something I’ve been working on, little by little: writing “too nicely”. By that I mean, not being able to really tell the truth of the story I’m working on, the truth of who my characters are.

It’s like I have this little brush, and a bucket of white paint, and I’ve been trained to whitewash everything. I want to make everything, and everyone, nice.

It probably wouldn’t be so bad if the stories that are in me to tell are romances. (Well, it probably still isn’t a good thing, but perhaps it wouldn’t be quite as bad.)

But the stories that I want to tell are very different. Mostly the stories that I want to tell are epic thrillers – lots of action, the ultimate fight between good and evil. Not quite that baldly, but it’s there. That type of novel requires a really good bad guy or you know, the thing falls flat on its face.

A while back I watched the pilot episode of a series on DVD, and it bored me to tears. It had a great premise, involving good guys with some really lovely superpowers. And it was beyond boring – because (and I knew this right away) the “bad guy” was really inadequate. Milquetoast. Not much of a challenge, although everyone treated the whole thing as quite the challenge.

I think it was then that I saw this same situation reflected in a lot of my own story scenarios. I come up with a lot of great ideas, but I don’t let my characters be who they are.

My good guys are way too nice. Way, way, way too nice. And my bad guys? Seriously, show them a picture of a kitten and they’re purring right along with the cute little thing.

These stories I’m telling deserve more than whitewashing. They deserve my total honesty as a writer. So that’s another thing I’m working on. Taking the “too nice” out of my writing.

What about you? If you write thrillers or epic fantasies or murder mysteries – if you write anything that requires that you show the clash between good and evil – how do you handle the bad guy? Do you ever find yourself making him/her be nicer than he/she really is?