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.

Novel Challenge Update

Honestly, I've been a bad girl. Sort of. In some sense, life has gotten in the way. Needing to put extra hours in at the office to meet deadlines, bringing work home, and making at least some time for family and to unwind.

In other areas, it's me. Most nights I've been falling asleep around 7:00 pm. Which only gives enough time to basically get home from the office, feed my furry children (2 Golden Retrievers), and feed myself and fiancé.

I can say, thanks to this challenge, I'm probably further than I've ever been before even though I haven't yet started typing out the story. I have a complete idea. Thanks to the Snowflake Method (learn about the Snowflake Method) I know what the beginning, middle, and end of my story is. The details of what happens in the scenes playing in my head keeps changing, but the basics aren't really changing.

In the past I've just started typing away at my keyboard and not really planned it out. The furthest I've gotten with this method is about 5 or 6 pages in. Now with the Snowflake Method, I feel like I could sit down and in about a week, maybe two, I could have a rough draft.

I'm also thinking about all the other projects we have going on, still finishing our main bathroom, finishing some work in our bedroom, and I need to straighten up our home office. (Why me and not my fiancé or the both of us? Because it's all my mess, and if my fiancé cleans it I'll never find something I need from there again.) Plus, I haven't even started our taxes yet. I have the documents set aside...somewhere in the home office.

This weekend, I do hope to at least start typing this story out. But I've again had to bring work home with me that will take a while, and want to get our bedroom ready for the next step in the project. We've been on the same step now for a few months.

I'm hoping to be able to tell you I've started typing the story and finished the beginning soon.