In the ongoing and possibly overrated interest of tracking my writing performance against my annual writing goals, it’s time to talk about February: the good, the bad, and the sometimes oh-so-ugly. You know the drill. I told you about my ‘reporting in’ plan here. Looking back on the post from just two short months ago, I have to smile a bit, the way you do at adorable pets and small children. I want to pat new-year me on the head and say oh, you naive, optimistic writer, you.
The truth is, February was a mixed bag. While mother nature reigned hellfire down upon us here in the Mid Atlantic in the form of frigid temperatures (hellfire can be frigid, right?) and weekly (sometimes daily!) snow accumulations, life went on. We shoveled snow and repaired broken shower tiles. We shoveled some more and researched and bought new appliances to replace the broken ones (yes, that’s plural appliances breaking). We shoveled yet again and dealt with minor but ongoing health issues and related medical visits. And celebrated Valentine’s Day, family birthdays, and a friend’s book launch. It was, you know, Life with a capital L. And every writer knows Life is the enemy of word count.
By now, dear, smart readers, you’re probably thinking my word count against February’s goals was abysmal. You are correct. However, it’s not as bad as it all sounds. I’ve made progress, in fact, significant progress on the plot and structure of book 2 of my historical romance series, now in its novel (as opposed to novella) length. In the process, I have managed to tie it into the overall arcs/unifying themes I’ve established for the series. And book 1, which was giving me no ends of fits as I struggled to finish the first draft as February began, has recovered from a number of potentially fatal flaws. The hero and heroine are still struggling to find their spark, but at least I fixed the issue of ‘sex too soon’ (and it turns out mine wasn’t the only story with that problem, as Michelle shared in her post last week).
Despite February’s seeming setbacks, there was forward progress, sometimes in unexpected ways. A few years ago, I had written a Victorian-set romance, which provided the seed of the idea for the series I’m now writing. Just this past week, as I thought about something that happened in that story and how it might apply to a knot I was untangling in the book 2 plot, it hit me: that ‘seed book’ is, in fact, part of this series. I think it’s book 5, although it could be book 4, depending upon where the first three books lead me.
It will require LOTS of revision and a bit of retrofitting, and in the end might take nearly as much time as starting from scratch, but at least it will cut back on the number of blank pages staring at me. Also, it will take off some of the word-count pressure at the end of the year, making being behind on my goals at the end of February less likely to tank the entire annual plan.
That wasn’t the only positive step toward reconciling writing reality with writing plan this past month. The Girls (in the basement), who could often be mistaken for unruly teenagers, starting spewing forth gobs of information, plot points, and weird little details for the one non-series book I will write this year. Of course, it’s not a book I’d planned to write this year, hence the unruly teenager part.
So, the official scorecard, based on the somewhat arbitrary list I established last month: I touched the story each day (√) and have wildly missed my word count (√-) , yet I am weirdly back on track due to the discovery that an existing manuscript is part of the new series, and the unintentional brainstorming that moved my non-historical story forward by leaps and bounds (√).
And there’s one more thing I accomplished this past month. I have reactivated my Facebook page! If we are not already Facebook friends, please come join me here.
What’s happening in your story world? If you made an annual writing plan, has it been progressing in an organized, orderly fashion? Has it gone wildly off the rails? Have you tossed it out the window (and possibly into the snow) yet?
Eight Ladies Writing 
Family life brought everything to a standstill last week. There were days I didn’t even touch my computer. I’m hoping for better things in March.
Sorry to hear that! I hope this week and this month bring better days. And isn’t there some sort of NaNoWriMo camp in the spring? Maybe we need that to help get us back on track after this ‘winter of our discontent’ and Life problems.
(-: I’m just hoping to get my first draft done before NaNo November. I don’t think this book responds well to pressure. I do need a nudge, because I’m doing internet stuff instead of writing right now. OK, I’ll give myself 11 more minutes, then go tackle a scene.
My plan is for the semester, not the year. I have a deadline of this Friday/Saturday to finish the Don’t Look Down Draft (it truly is that). I have five scenes left to write, so that should be doable. Then, my first pass draft is due March 21/22 (I’m hoping to get some feedback on that, even though it will still be in the early stage). Then I set the final edit deadline as May 1, although Pam is okay getting it May 11. After that, I will need to set new goals to turn the 30,000 or so words into 100,000. So far, on track.
That sounds exhausting! Maybe we should try to set up some word-count sprints to encourage each other. But only if that sort of thing helps you. Sometimes that kind of pressure sends the Girls scrambling for cover and just makes writing harder.
It’s funny (to me) that you and Michille had problems with your h/h hopping into the sack too soon because I had the oppposite problem. No matter how alluring Belial was, Dara kept saying, “No.” She knew he was a demon, so she’d have to be an idiot to have sex with him. I kept writing all these scenes that were supposed to end in the bedroom but didn’t. Until, eventually….
I thought the same thing when I read Michille’s post last week. Maybe it’s a Maryland thing :-).
I think Dara saying no because she knows he’s a demon makes perfect sense, and gives you opportunities to up the sexual tension. It gives a whole new meaning to refusing the (booty) call ;-)!