I’m a little stunned that it’s October. I was aware of time passing and all, but dang! Month 10 out of 12 for this year, and I haven’t finished anything. I’ve accomplished a decent amount with book 2 of my big-book series, such as finally figuring out my character, her voice, and making significant edits for clarity and reduced complexity, taking out an earthquake, and removing aspects that I just couldn’t justify the logic for. But I haven’t touched Murder Most Fowl and I’m fairly certain I won’t be finished with the first draft of Isto before the holidays hit. Oi. It’s enough to make a squirrel insecure.
But little by little, I’m making headway. And I’ve been keeping up with my accountability partner, so things are good. I’m making a plan to take a bit of time off in November to see if I can hit the 50K NaNoWriMo mark. No, it won’t be a new project, but if I can tack another 50K onto Isto, I might just be able to reach The End. To do this within the given timeframe, I need to have scenes visualized in my head. And to do that, I need to know where I’m going with it. So this week, my goal with my accountability partner is to figure out all the scenes I need in order to get to The End. Wish me luck (because I suck as a planner).
Oh, on a note of some excellent news, there’s a benefit anthology coming out soon (and I’m in it)! Go add FULL DARK to your TBR list, and keep an eye out for when it hits the digital shelves. All the proceeds will be going to the Gary Sinise Foundation, an organization that does many wonderful things for our country’s active military, its veterans, and the countless first responders who sacrifice so much to keep us safe.
How do you speed up your writing? Are you a planner? Have you added FULL DARK to your list yet?
About Insecure Writer’s Support Group
You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.
Congrats on being in the benefit anthology! I wish I knew how to speed up my writing. It goes very, very slowly.
I absolutely love that you’re doing the benefit anthology. Especially for the vets. I have a special place in my heart for them. I’m with you, ten out of twelve months, where has this year gone??
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Elsie
Congrats on the anthology! Sounds great, and I actually recognize a bunch of people in it! 🙂
And good luck with your November writing push. You will get there!
I plan for travel, but wander aimlessly through much of my everyday life. Well, maybe I make it sound worse than it is, but I do tend to slack off on planning most of my days. Or don’t get around to finishing everything I’ve planned.
I don’t think it sounds like you’re doing too badly by comparison to what I’ve done (or haven’t done).
Lee
Tossing It Out
Add Full Dark to TBR list. Congrats on the progress you have made. Feeling a little insecure myself for similar reasons. Happy Writing and IWSG. Juneta @ Writer’s Gambit
Congratulations on Full Dark!
Get those scene visualized and you’ll be ready.
Congrats on the anthology.
I can’t visualize a scene until I know the order that everything happens within it, so I spend most of my time rearranging sentences and paragraphs until the order sounds right. Then I can get on with the real writing.
Excellent that you’ve been keeping up with your accountability partner! And it sounds like you’ve got a good plan going forward with NaNo. Good luck! 🙂
I had to build a new storyboard last weekend to help me visualize what I needed for the beginning of my newest project. And I love using NaNoWriMo as a way to speed up my writing. I really hate to lose…
Congrats on being included in Full Dark! I’m adding it to my TBR list as we speak!
I’m a huge planner. It helps me break my goals down into doable steps. Still working on my WIP, but not doing NaNo this year. I’ll cheer you on though. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
Congrats on the anthology. Sometimes, I feel the same you do, feel I haven’t accomplished anything since forever. But it’s a deceptive feeling. We tend to put ourselves down in our own minds, while looking at others and wondering: how did she manage to accomplish so much? They do the same while looking at us.
I wish I could do NaNo. Something like that might be the only thing that prompts me to make time for my own writing.
Congrats on the anthology.
Awesome news on the anthology (I love Gary Sinese!!!) On my list! Visualizing in advance of active writing time works for me. I work full time and get up at 4:30 to find time at the keyboard. Not too much original brain activity going on at that time of day so it helps to have mapped the scene out in advance. My crutch of choice – Post It Notes. I have them everywhere with snippets of dialogue, prompting for scenes, etc. Helps me jump right in when time presents itself.
Congrats on the anthology!
I can’t believe it’s October already, either. I feel so behind on my writing goals. Good luck with your NaNo prep!
Congratulations Loni on the Benefit Anthology! I have a great accountability partner too because I am not naturally inclined to be organized and she is! I have to work really hard at it. I wish you much luck with your projects 🙂
Congrats on the anthology! And good luck with visualizing the scenes! (This is my favorite part in the whole process. It’s like watching a movie in my head and only I’m able to describe it.) Have fun 🙂
This year definitely has been flying by. I haven’t been good lately at planning where writing is concerned. It seems whole weeks are going by without much progress at all.
Congratulations on the anthology!
Good luck with your NaNo project–I’m not a great planner either, so I’m determined to plan out my plot bunny because I always get in a snarl somehow.
I do that too. I previsualize scenes, summarize them before I start writing, and then while I’m writing, I try to go to bed with the next scene in my head and hope for magic while I’m dreaming.
This year has been a tough one for writing and getting writing done. Or is it just me?
Congrats on the anthology. And an accountability partner is such a good idea. Glad that’s helping.
I’m still trying to figure out how it’s October too. NANO is a great idea. I usually avoid it, but this year, it might be just the right thing. Looking forward to the anthology-so many amazing stories! (I already peeked through the rest of them 😉 )
An anthology whose proceeds go to charity? Brilliant! Count me in as reader.
Congrats on the anthology! I’m totally with you on the “This is October?!” statement.
Congratulations on being included in the anthology. That is great news, I will keep my eye open for it.
I also like the fact that you have an accountability partner. I have one too. She helps me stay focus and responsible for what I write.
Wishing you all the best with NaNo.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
Way to go, Loni! Great post!
DB McNicol, author
I’ve added Full Dark to my TBR list and eagerly await its arrival on Amazon. All the best with NaNoWriMo – I was thinking of adding my WIP but haven’t. (It would be the third time for the same book as keep shelving it – and the end v1-3 exists.)
Congrats on making it in the Full Dark anthology! Adding it to my Goodreads TBR 🙂 In case you can’t tell based on recent blog posts, or lack thereof, I have not been planning my writing very well lately. It has been a good year so far, just very busy with activities and traveling, which leaves little time in between to think about my writing. Good luck with NaNo!
I soooooooooooo know how you feel. I feel like I haven’t achieved half of what I’ve set out to do this year. I definitely need to up my game.
Speed up my writing? Oh dear. I am not one to wax positively on this topic. For half a year though I have produced around 1,200 fairly polished words a week on a consistent basis, which is a huge win in my book. Even slow writing eventually adds ups 😉
This year is flying by. But it does sound like you’re making progress. Good luck!
I definitely hear you on lack of progress – I’ve gotten less done this year than any other year I can think of. >_< But I hope things pick up for you, and that you can reach The End. And grats on being in the anthology! ^_^
Way to go!
Having an accountability partner is a great thing. Luckily, I have a writing partner to0, and she’s helped me get back on track with my writing after a 2 year layoff.
I know. October. It’s unbelievable. Sounds like your making headway with the BIG book. 🙂 MMF can wait…but not too long, right? I love the idea of taking some time off. I need to do that. Best of luck with everything and congratulations on the anthology!
Sounds like a great anthology…congrats! I’ll add it to my list.
It almost seems like being overwhelmed is an intangible part of being a writer. Perhaps we’re as good at writing unreasonable to-do lists as we are at writing books? Maybe even better.
Good luck, my friend. You’ve got this!
Great news on the anthology, and what a wonderful purpose. Congrats to you.