Sunday, March 29, 2015

Self Challenge is Over - Is my first novel done?

So it is the end of the challenge I made to myself to write a novel in just 2 months. Did I finish my first novel? Nope. I did learn some things about myself and my writing style.

This time around, I attempted to use the snowflake method. It kind of worked. Thanks to the snowflake method, for the first time I actually had an idea of where I wanted the story to go, from start to finish. When I actually started writing I jumped around. Wrote a little of the beginning, then wrote a little of the end, went back to the beginning, started some of the middle, and just kept writing whatever scenes were playing out in my head. When I gave in to the idea of writing some of the end even though the beginning wasn't done, I realized this helped keep me from simply staring at the computer screen.

I did find myself letting life get in the way a bit more...okay a lot more, than I would have liked. I'd come home from the office and just want to crash. Then I'd give into my crashing idea, and never get to writing.

We also have some home projects weighing on my mind such as finishing the update to our main bathroom. Also on the docket for this year is to work on the garden. For the past several years of owning our home, all we've basically grown are weeds. Our front yard even had a mini-field, or at least that's what I'm calling what the flower bed in the front yard turned into.

The challenge may be over, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on writing my first novel. In fact, I'm going to continue working on it. Currently at the drafting stage, I'm going to try to write an average of 1,000 words daily. Why only an average? I've figured out that sometimes, I can't control how life gets in the way, if I get stuck at the office and get home later than I was planning, it limits the amount of time I have to write.

One day soon I'll be telling you I've finished my first novel, so stay tuned!

Good luck to all of you in whatever endeavors and challenges you set for yourself.

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