February felt like one step forward, two steps back for my novel. The novel I’m working on (tentatively titled The Presence of Still Water) is a paranormal mystery that takes place in the life of the main character over the course of six months. Each month is a grand section comprised of smaller “islands” (to steal a term from my Madeline Island mentor Mary Carroll Moore). Last month I had just made it to the second to the last month and was ready to charge ahead and (finally) finish the thing. However, a structural issue that was weakening my plot in the center caught my eye and when I saw the solution, I knew I could not keep going without fixing it. So, back to the first month I went, re-outlining and tweaking some sections at such a microscopic level I hardly felt like I was changing anything. Those of you who write know my frustrations. But you also know that I see the story getting stronger for it. And I know this will make the editing much less excruciating in the future. Here’s to a smoother March!
February 2018:
- New website is up and running!
- Signed up for MailChimp, immediately realized I don’t want to do a newsletter. Would love to find a template to make my emails flashy, but this is clearly not a priority.
- Words written: 7,794
March 2018:
- I will write 10k words or edit and write to the second to the last month in my novel, whichever makes more sense.
- I will finish reading A House in the Country by Jose Donoso.
- I will outline one new short story in my Sunbeam collection.
- I will start to edit one older short story for submission.