Writing Update: February

I really tried to kick it into gear this month with my writing by getting into a routine and planning for my writing times. (I also have been trying to avoid the DVR, Netflix, and Hulu during the day unless I'm folding laundry.) And it has really been successful for me. As you may have noticed, I started updating my blog more. (You're welcome, Mom!) But I also started to focus more on my novel. I have set a goal to finish it by the end of April, and I have set weekly word count goals for myself to help achieve this.

I would say that it helps that I already had nearly 28,000 words written from NaNo this past November, but in all actuality, it doesn't help a ton. Rather than finishing that draft and then reworking it to be what I want, I completely started over and will instead be going down a different path with it. Luckily, there are still parts in that draft I can use. Unluckily, it hurts my heart to cut out some of the scenes I already had written.

But I know it's for the best. On my way back from New Jersey last month, I re-outlined the book and focused it more. I added some characters, lost some characters (sorry, guys!) and adding a new frame story. While I had orignially planned on using excerpts of a letter to signify time change between the stories, I now am focusing on the relationship between my main character and her granddaughter, giving her granddaugher more of a story, too. I am really happy with this change, as I was able to really expand on my opening scene and make it much stronger. (It went from 500 words to almost 5,000 words! Plus interesting plot development.)

I also changed the perspective from first person to third person, which is mostly working out for the better. There are still some parts that would be easier to write in first, I think, but I like that writing in third is forcing me to "show, not tell" more so than when writing in first. The main challenge I have is trying to figure out what to call my characters in the scenes (prounouns, by name, by relationship?)

One major change in my writing process is that I'm writing chronologically, which also seems to be helping. Back in November, I was skipping all over the place, which made it hard for me to really determine what scenes needed to be added and which needed to be flushed out. It is not easy for me to keep going, because sometimes I have a great idea for a scened I want to start mostly because I'm hating the scene I'm currently writing. But in the long run, I think writing this way will make the book stronger overall and more seamless for me when writing.

Current Word Count: 11,184