The turning point.

Not surprisingly, I have been swallowed by the mammoth beast that is the senior year semester.

Good news, though, on the Plan C front:

The past few weeks, I've been working on "retrofitting" parts of the story, and through it all, I'm learning so much about the novel writing process. As a result, hoping that my depictions of academia will ring a little more true than they have thus far.

Some of the more major aspects of the work are being tweaked as I realize just how much this book is "character-driven" versus "plot-driven." What does that mean? It means that, according to my professor, my novel will "stand or fall" based on how genuine - how real - my characters are. I wholeheartedly agree.

I'm telling you, this directed research is a novelist's boot camp. Never before have I felt so sure that I have have little-to no-idea what the heck I'm actually doing. Never before have I so seriously doubted my basic competency as a creative writer to tackle a project like this. Each meeting reveals to me just exactly how much I do NOT know about my craft. This may sound like I'm whining about a negative experience, but out of the nagging self-doubt comes the challenge to do the absolute best I can and to NEVER settle for less than 110% out of myself.

But perhaps, most significantly of all, I'm learning so much about how I have to BELIEVE in what I'm doing. If I don't, who will? I have to love this book enough to be willing to do whatever I can humanly do to make it good. To be willing to make sacrifices where I need to - and to figure out exactly what's truly important in my work. Nothing worth creating out of this is going to come quickly or easily.

It's been a stretching experience - one of extreme highs and lows - but, through it all, I think that it's been teaching me more about diligence and patience than I could have ever imagined it could. But through it all, I know that I'm only further discovering where the passions of my heart lie.

And, as a result, I know that I'll never be the same again.

Huzzah!

So, update:

I took a hiatus from writing Plan C in the month of February. I know, boo. This was mainly because I was still undiagnosed with stress migraines as well as bombarded with the most insane midterms week thus far in my college career. But now, thankfully, the craziness has ended, and I can now get back to work over spring break next week.

Coincidently, I ended up being unable to attend last months critique group due to inclement weather and my poor sense of direction. (re: I got lost.) On the positive side of all of this, I still have five printed copies of my first chapter to submit on Thursday, and I didn't feel compelled to commit academic suicide to finish chapter two before now. Chapter two, however, is forthcoming and should be completed by the start of April!

And, finally - in other, more exciting news - I have learned about JulNoWriMo! (www.julnowrimo.com) Similiar to NaNoWriMo, this competition takes place in July! This is PERFECT because it will be smack dab in the middle of summer break, and I shouldn't have too much other than work to consume my time. Mark my words, I'm going to do this! Also, appropriately enough, this July will be exactly a year since I first began planning the novel. It's like KISMET!

Anyway, more intensive spurts of novel writing should take place within the next week. I've definitely missed working on it and can't wait to work with my characters again!

Till next time,
-R

Things are rolling along!

Well, I'm very pleased to announce that I was able to reach a certain level of productivity over Christmas break! I completed a preliminary draft of my first chapter while I was home, and since classes have been back in session, I've been able to work on part of the chapter two rough draft!

Word Count: 3,675 / 4,623
Page Count: 14 / 18
Current Chapter: 2

As you might have noticed, I've added a second set of digits to the tabulated word and page counts. This second amount includes any additional prose writings that go above and beyond the current, chronological chapter work. (These are excerpts that might be included in later chapters... somewhere.) So far, I have nearly a thousand extra words that I've been playing around with when the inspiration as struck me.

On Thursday night, I will be meeting with my critique group for the first time with a completed chapter. I'm excited to hear the feedback on my work - and a little nervous as well. I'll be sure to update as soon as I can on any further developments - and perhaps possibly put up a few small excerpts!

Until next time,
-R