Birth of a Novel--Monday Comes So Fast

Whatever happened to those wonderfully relaxing weekends? It seems like Monday comes faster than I plan every time.

Today I'll report on last week's goals, make some new ones, and share a bit of music.

Last Week's Goals:
Work on Faerie Wings
Finish the short story Instincts

They were simple goals. A week plenty long enough to work on them. Right? Sure.

I've struggled all year to sit down and just write. I'm not sure what the problem is really. Too many distractions? Guilt? Too many voices talking at once? It's been all of these at different times, but the last two weeks I've made myself sit down and write something. Progress is coming, even if it is slow right now.

As you can see, Faerie Wings has gained roughly 2500 words over the last two weeks. Not stellar, but at least its something. The cool thing? I'm learning things about my MC I didn't plot! And they are awesome in that dark "who knew?" kind of way. For instance, I was writing last Wednesday and discovered that Ryanne has scars on her back from a run in with some of Kevin's friends. And he asked her to let them whip her. And she said yes! How messed up is that? I haven't figured out why and how any of that makes sense or fits in with the story I planned on telling, but there it is. Some back story (no pun intended) that is very telling about Ryanne's messed up self image and need for Kevin to like her. I'm still looking at her funny and she's pouting that I found out how desperate she was before meeting Carter. Current word count: 43,042

I started the short story Instinct but the idea lost it's appeal before I managed to get the rough draft finished. Currently there is 390 words of set up. Maybe I'll come back to it for May's W1S1 goal.

To be honest I'm getting frustrated with the short story bit. What's wrong with my shorts?? I love my stories and think they aren't too bad, but no one wants them. Is it because its not hard sci fi? All my writing has a lighter story feel--even the ones with a slightly creepy vibe to it. Maybe I'm just trying the wrong venues?

While I'm venting, I cleaned house like a mad woman for the first two days of last week. There was no writing of any kind. I was a good housekeeper. I hoped that by putting in the extra effort I could get a few hours of guilt free writing time.

Yeah, NO.

Thursday I tried to sit and write and got a lot of lip from someone I love very much. He had decided to clean out two of the kids' rooms and get ready for the yard sale (which is still a week away mind you!). First of all, my kids are old enough to clean their own mess. Second, I helped for the first three hours! All I kept thinking was, "Don't you have work to do for your employer??"

Do you ever get frustrated with the lack of understanding and support from your family?

This weeks goals:

• Continue to work on Faerie Wings until I get something to work on from my editor. I should be able to finish this draft if I just do it.
• I give myself permission to work on the sequel to SENDEK when I feel like it. Which is a lot and why I think FW is coming so slow.
• Start designing/writing the mystery dinner theater for girl's camp--I've started mapping it out in a notebook

And, a song to inspire: