Wow! I can't believe we're into the last month of 2016 and Christmas is around the corner. Our tree is up, and lights are sparkling merrily in our windows as well as on the trees outside. This is a time of year when we pull closer together - of course, it was three years ago in November when we lost our superstar, and no one loved Christmas more than him. It feels right to get it underway earlier.
In terms of writing progress, things have been a bit slower in the last month. I added 3,000 words to my WIP, now standing at around 33,000 words. Yeah, not the largest chunk of material, but I'm looking at it as progress that's been made - and it's more than I've managed at other times this year. This is definitely the hardest book I've ever written, but nothing that comes easily is going to be truly rewarding, right? I just need to stop dancing around it, get a grip and get the rest of the story done. There are things that are hard here - hard for my characters, but I know they have it in them to deal with it and I just have to keep them on the right path. I at least have a tentative plan for how things will play out and when I'm done, I think I'm going to really enjoy editing this trilogy and pulling it all together. That's something to look forward to!
In other news, I did finish and submit both short story competition entries I was working on in October, so time to set them aside for now. Just over a month until the IWSG anthology winners are announced - did you enter the contest?
Well, that's about it for now. I'll be back next week for the final IWSG instalment of 2016. What have you been up to in the last month? Any NaNoers out there - how did it go?
18 comments:
Dear Nick - your superstar was such a tower of strength and inspiration to all around ... and he will forever be with you ... memories will come and go and be cherished. This is a special time of year particularly for you all. Wonderful you've got your tree and lights and trees and lights up!! Great to have them for enjoyment for a month ... as we start another year.
Well done on your writing and perseverance in submitting stories and getting your word count up ... all the very best - cheers Hilary
Progress is progress, even if it's small. Sometimes, it's those hard slogs where little seems to get done that are most important in opening things up later on. And good for you for entering competitions!
Decorate early for Andrew every year.
Glad you entered the IWSG contest this year. The official judges have the entries and we'll know the results soon...
It is always sad to lose a loved one around the holidays, but it is good that you decorated and decorated early in remembrance of him and in honor of him. It is hard to imagine today is December 1st. This year went by incredibly fast!
betty
Excellent progress, Nick! And good luck on the short story competitions!
I can't believe it's December already. Although, it does feel like I've been NaNo-ing for a very long time....
I think that's great that you decorate early in Andrew's memory. Sounds like you made good progress over the past month and well done on entering not one but two short story competitions. I entered the IWSG one as well, which was the first time I'd ever done anything like that.
It's lovely you can honour his memory in such a beautiful way.
All words are progress. Fingers crossed on the short story comps :-)
That's great progress. As Annalisa said, all words count. :)
I'm thrilled you entered the IWSG contest. In his comment, Alex mentioned that the judges have the top entries. I read half of the total entries blind. I'm wondering which one was yours. ;) Good luck!
I was feeling bummed out and I sat down and made a list of everything I've achieved this year. Looking at all of that, I felt MUCH better. It's easy to feel like we aren't getting anywhere when we've actually accomplished quite a bit. We can only control what we write and put out there--so much of the rest of it is out of our control. We get frustrated when we focus on that stuff that's out of our control, I think!
How it managed to get to be the last month of the year has me scratching my head! But it is always the best month of the year :) I hope you have a productive and wonderful December!
Sometimes writing is just hard. It's okay. It'll get easier eventually. Congrats on the progress you did make.
I can't believe it's been three years since you lost Andrew. I love that you decorated early for him. His light is still shining there with you.
Good luck with the short stories!
Decorating early is such a sweet way to honor his memory...
And congrats on all the writing you've achieved! Slow or not, I agree, some progress is always better than none. Also, how exciting about those short story submissions. Best of luck with them!
Congrats on your short story completions!
What's your WIP about, Nick?
Glad to hear your getting things done even if you would like to work faster. I'm procrastinating on decorations.
Good job on the progress, if nothing else. That said, I personally didn't do NaNoWriMo this year since I've been focused on Xenophobia (last week forgiven). I've been making such solid progress I just decided not to pursue it (even if I am writing slower than my NaNo'ers).
It's so lovely how you decorate early in Andrew's memory. Losing a loved one around a holiday is so tough. My uncle passed away on St. Patrick's Day in 1988, and I've never really felt right about celebrating that holiday after that.
I'm pretty disappointed in my NaNo wordcount, even though I still won and overachieved. 65K in one month isn't the best I'm capable of, even if that might sound like a haughty humble-brag.
My wip is so bare bones and one dimensional it's embarrassing. I've been doing the 'just write' and I need to put some flesh on my story.
Have a good one, Nick.
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