spring break joys

Today is the second official day of Spring Break. I mean, I guess it technically started after school Friday night, but the weekend is different from the actual week off.

I'm feeling really good about writing and life right now. I wrote a bunch yesterday, and I'm writing a bunch again today. In fact, I just hit the 20,000 word mark in Awaking. (Considering draft one was only 53,000 words, it makes me feel pretty accomplished.) Now, I've never been one to really focus on word count of a book, but according to something I was reading, young adult novels should be between 50,000 and 70,000 words (with a "compelling" reason if over 70,000). I'm trying to bear that in mind as I write.

I'm having fun with this draft. Over the weekend, I reread the first draft. To say it was lame would be kind. The concept was there, but, if I'm honest, if I hadn't written it, I probably wouldn't have suffered through it. True, there were some funny parts, but the overall story was just kind of...a little out there. There was something missing. My second draft (into which I only got 8,000 words) solved some of the problems, but it was still missing something.

With draft three, I think I've made the tweaks and adjustments to the plot that are necessary to sustain it for a whole trilogy (which has always been the plan for this book).

The best thing, of course, is that the characters are coming alive. Writing this draft is reminding me of what it was like when I used to write back in high school. I'd go in with a general plan, but once I started writing, the characters did things I hadn't planned on. I love that. It's like...I point the characters in a direction, and then I just watch as they tell me what happens next.

I'm really enjoying getting to know the characters. Many of them have changed a lot since draft one. Ris, who, in draft one, was mostly a groupie now has a real friendship with the protagonist, Morgan. She's funny and she's got a personality of her own. I don't think she's annoying the way she was in draft one. Lucas is less of a puss. Corbin is more believable. And Morgan is more real.

I guess the point here is that I'm excited. My dream is still to have this draft finished by the end of the week so I can then solicit feedback from my peeps and do any editing necessary. The plan is to have this book published as an ebook (and perhaps print-on-demand, too) by June. And with my progress so far this week, I'm thinking that plan might actually reach fruition.

So, on that note, I'm going to stop blogging and get back to writing.

spring break

Note: This post was written on Saturday, 2 April.

Spring break has finally arrived, and the plan is to write and write and write.

In Awaking, I'm just hitting the inciting incident. Which means the writing should start getting a bit easier. I've introduced most of the main characters, the conflict has been introduced. Now the fun begins, really.

In truth, I'd love to be finished with the draft by the end of break. I don't know if that's realistic for me or not, but this is my year of dreaming big.

I think that getting our desktop computer fixed will really help. I've been working on my laptop, but the laptop is in the living room, along with the giant TV and Netflix streaming. And I find it rather difficult to sit in the living room without turning the TV on. So, being in the office on the desktop will probably help with my focus. I've got a playlist on my iPod all ready to go.

Brian's at home this morning, but he goes in to work at 2 o'clock. I plan to do some writing as soon as he's gone.

looking forward

I'm a teacher (I don't know if I've mentioned that directly--and I'm still not sure I should), and the only thing that's sustaining me this week is the promise of Spring Break next week. Is it because I'll be in some tropical paradise, sipping mojitos and gazing at the majestic ocean as it gently laps at the shore? Nope. I'll still be in cold old Michigan and I have no plans to leave my house. At all.

I'm excited because I plan to devote all that time "off" to writing.

(Note that off is in quotation marks. A teacher is never really off. I am trying to orchestrate things so that I won't have anything to grade past maybe Friday [and as Friday is the end of the marking period, I think I can swing it], but I still have to plan for the coming weeks. Oh, and I'm taking a class for my Master's degree, and I'll have to do work for that over my break.)

I'm jealous when I read about other authors spending hours each day writing. I'd love to do that, but, as I mentioned in my last post, the real world keeps me from it. I suppose I could get up at four o'clock in the morning and spend an hour an a half or two hours writing, but I doubt it would be coherent at that point in the day. Now, I'll be the first to admit that my time management skills leave something to be desired. I know I've spent too many hours watching Stargate SG-1 instead of doing something even resembling productive. (It's just that Daniel Jackson is so pretty...) I would much rather read a good book than grade a test or an essay. And I'd rather check Facebook than do a class assignment.

But that has to change. I know it. And I'm hoping that next week will kick-start everything for me.

I've been meeting my goal of at-least-one-sentence-per-day since I set it last week, but, unfortunately, I'm not getting much more than that. Time, again, is not on my side.

But with next week off and Easter Weekend's writers' conference (at Rachel's place), I think April will be an excellent month for my writing endeavors.

As always, I'll keep you posted.