I have discarded the Haloscan comments, since Blogger now has comments. So, now I enabled the Blogger comments. Thank you (yes, I know, no one comments on anything I say).

I haven't posted in a while. At least the week isn't over, so I don't have to say I didn't post this week.

What's new with me? Well, I'm in a bit of a slump. Motivationally challenged. I just haven't wanted to do anything, and I think a small bout of depression might have to do with it. Sometimes I think, is it worth it to try? Will I ever have the things I want in life, especially when it comes to writing? I'm thinking the not having a day job thing and the not knowing where I want to go for the day job thing might also be adding to all of this.

Here's what I'd like. I'll try to be realistic. It's obvious that I'm going to have to get a day job, so I'd like to work in something that I don't hate. So, I wouldn't mind doing something with editing. Preferably something in the fiction field since that's where I have most of my experience.

Is that so unrealistic? Well, if I don't want to live in New York, it's totally unrealistic. Urgh. It doesn't help that I don't even know where to start with that.

Okay, I'll stop my complaining. For now.

Done with the BIAW! I didn't reach anywhere near my goal. Only wrote 17,600 words. I'm still happy with the amount. That's probably about a fourth of my rough draft, since my rough drafts tend to be 70,000 words (at least my last one was). Of course, this is because I put the meat in when I revise.

Learned a few more things. I will never do a BIAW again. If I do, my word count will be lower. And, well, a BIAM seems to be a bit more realistic with the way I write. I was also happy that I wrote something new 6 out of the 7 days in the week. I don't think I've had that long of a writing stretch in quite a while. So, hopefully I can keep the momentum going and force myself to write another 1000 words a day, of something new that is. That so doesn't include revising. I think I'll continue to work on this novel, it's been fun. :) Although, I'm scared as I get further into it, I'm going to gain another POV character, and that means I'll have to go back and add scenes. *sigh*

Okay, enough of this for now. I have a schedule to follow (I will, really I will). Happy writing!

I'm in the middle of a BIAW (Book In A Week) Challenge on my Wisconsin Spec Fic writing group, and exhausted already. I've already discovered that I made my goal way too high. 70,000 is just a bit much. So far I've been averaging 5,000 words a day, so I might make it half-way to my goal.

Although, I am no where near disappointed about not writing as much as I expected. This has been a wonderful learning experience so far. It's clued me in to my physical and mental limitations when it comes to writing. I'm thrilled that I was ablt to write out more than what I normally wrote in a month (for my other novel - the project for my writing program), in two days!

It might also have helped me write more if I knew where I was going. The middle is one big blur for this novel. No lectures about outlines. *cringe* That takes all the creativeness out of it for me. And, well, frankly, I wouldn't have had the little turns that have already come up if I would have written an outline.

I know my pattern though - having less time to write brought it to my attention. I have to sit and mull over a few scenes, figure out what my characters are going to do next. Then I write those scenes. After that, I'm at another wall, so then I need to mull over the next few scenes. It's like when I write a short story - it's as if it's one big scene to me since it's so short, so I usually know where I'm going with it. I'm also learning what my best pace is. All this will help me set more realistic weekly writing goals in the future. This self-discovery is great.

Unfortunately, as I was falling asleep last night, my mind latched onto a major plot hole. *grumbles* Always in the rough drafts. It's not a big enough one to drive a mack truck through, but it's big enough for me. I think it can easily be fixed though (when I revise). Then I thought of another possible POV character, which would require to go back and insert scenes. Should I do this now? Would it be considered revising? Probably. I should just file it away for later. I have a feeling this rough draft is going to be super short, especially since I'm really only working with the main plotline right now. There is so much possibilty for sub-plots.

Okay, enough of me. I should be spending this time writing, not working on the blog. Happy writing all!

Well, I feel like I've been a bit productive this week. Although, I don't think I can stress how sick revising makes me. That's what I'm mostly doing this week. So far, I've revised two of my stories. Three stories will be out in the mail today. I still have to revise my novel. Urgh. That I'll plow through this weekend. I have another short story to revise (the one I finished the rough draft of this week). Not to mention revising the first two chapters of what I intend to write for the BIAW next week. I just want a set-up so I know where I'm going. I can't wait until next week. A whole week of fresh words and no fucking revising! Excuse my language.

Don't have much else to say. Oh, I read the second Stephanie Plum novel. It was way funnier than the first. Quick read too. No, no, I cannot read the next one. I have books for school to read. I'm done now. I think. Nap time?

I figured it was time to update. :) I've been trying to recover from my residency since I got back on Monday. This means I've been a very bad writer and haven't been working on the things that are on my list for the week. Starting next week, I need to set up a schedule. That's the only thing that'll keep me going. Still need to contact unemployment too... Good thing I got two weeks vaction paid out to me.

As for the residency, it was great. I was sad to see it end, but tired as all hell and happy to come home. Those damn conflicting feelings. Currently, I'm trying to write a short story, which I have grand ideas for, but I'm scared I'm not going to be able to pull it all together properly when I write it down. That's what revising is for. Although, I don't have much time to get the story in order, since I already have somewhere where I want to submit it.

My big goal in the next 4 months is to revise my novel twice. That may be too high of a goal, but I'd like to reach it. Maybe I should stop writing in this blog and get some e-mails sent and some writing written... Happy reading and writing all!