So what’s next?
Nov 26, 2010 
I intended to more or less take a break this week. It was Thanksgiving (even if it’s not a holiday here in Australia, we still have dinner in our house), I sent out my first ever query letters. I was allowing myself some time to luxuriate in being a total basketcase, refreshing my email every five minutes even when it was 3 AM in NYC. I intended to start on my next project on Monday.
Well, as so often is the case with me, my subconscious had other plans. I was just this evening wailing to my CP Amie about how my imagination was running away with the sequel to THE IRON WOOD and not HUNTED, when I don’t plan to work on said sequel unless the first book goes anywhere. Whyyyy, I kept asking, whyyyy do I always want to write the wrong book at the wrong time? I was dreadfully excited about HUNTED halfway through TIW, when I knew I had to focus and finish TIW. Now that I have time to write HUNTED, all I want to do is write the sequel to a book that isn’t even close to being published yet.
So I grabbed the dog and the keys and went for a walk, despite the rain and the general chilliness, and my general lack of interest in exercise. I just kept repeating what I knew about HUNTED in my mind until I started to fill in the blanks (i.e., how it begins). I was only out for maybe ten minutes before the dog, utterly flipping out in the rain, started misbehaving so badly I had to bring him back home. But I guess that ten minutes was all I really needed.
Anyway, to get to the point: I wrote the first 1,700 words of HUNTED tonight, and with that I am officially re-entering WIP mode. Meaning, I will write at least 500 words a day every day with no exceptions* until the novel’s done. It worked beautifully with TIW, and I had so much fun (fun being a relative term here) holding myself accountable through the process.
I tell you guys this, because that is what I did last time, and it worked. While I know you won’t ACTUALLY hate me if I fail to live up to this daily goal, I can trick some part of my mind into believing it, and I love my writerfriends and do not want to disappoint. So we can all just pretend that that’s how it works, for the sake of words on the page.
You will no doubt be hearing a lot about HUNTED over the next several months, but for now it’s enough to say I’ve started writing.
THIS JUST IN! Amie’s just informed me that she’s finished her NaNo novel, THE JENKINS JOURNALS, a few minutes ago. How awesome is THAT? I’m so proud of her for doing it despite being unbelievably busy and tired with her real life job this month. <3 <3
And how cool is it that she’s finishing her novel on the same day I’m starting mine?
That’s it for now. Time for sleep, so I can get up and do my 500 words tomorrow! I’M SO EXCITED!
* I actually do have one exception: 500 words a day rule does not apply if I am in the hospital with a migraine. This has happened once so far since I’ve been in Australia. Luckily it was after I’d finished TIW so didn’t mess up my 500 words a day, but I’d like to make that provision in advance. It’s not likely, but it is possible. And I can’t even speak, much less open my eyes, much less look at a computer screen, much less write with a migraine.
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Sweet!
Good luck with the new book! I’m just in awe of how far you’ve come and how dedicated you’ve been. From the couple of glimpses I’ve had, TIW looks amazing and I can’t wait to see it in all its glory. Sooo, yeah, best of luck with the new one– and thanks for posting in the journal so that we can follow along. <3
Re: Sweet!
Aww, thank you! 😀 To be honest I still feel silly after I post things on my blog, because I’m all “who the hell is reading this thing?” But you make me feel all shiny and happy. <3 <3 Happy (belated) thanksgiving etc.!
Re: Sweet!
Happy thanksgiving yourself (even more belated)! And don’t worry; your internet words do not float in obscurity. Some of us are terrible at keeping in touch (insert sheepish look here), but are secretly rooting hard for you and can’t wait to buy copies and copies of your books.
Speaking of buying books, I want to find some YA fiction for my sister for Xmas. She’s 15, and not super hardcore into fantasy, but she enjoyed Mockingjay and likes reading about cool and intrepid girls she can relate to. I think law school’s made me fall out of touch with the genre. Any suggestions?
Re: Sweet!
PS that’s me 🙁
Re: Sweet!
Hmmm. I would recommend the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. It’s a totally fantastic dystopian world, and if she likes the first book there are three more in the series to hook her.
If she’s interested in slightly darker/edgier fiction then The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan, is pretty good. Post zombie apocalypse, with some romance tossed in for good measure. (To clarify: not actually romance with the zombies. Thankfully.)
I <3 making book recs for people, so I could go on forever--but I don't think you can go wrong with those!
I’m about to take a page of your ‘holding myself accountable’ book! I think it’s a great idea for getting words down…one that I’ve yet to try (out of fear, I think!). But you are living proof it works! I hope you have lots of fun with HUNTED!
I never would’ve thought it would work for me, but one of the best writing tips I’ve ever received is to TRY everything, even if you think it won’t work for you. Chances are it won’t, but you’ll never know until you give it a shot.
Now I can’t imagine writing any other way. There’s nothing better for just getting words onto the page.
The best part about waiting for query replies is that you can start on a fresh, new book =D
What a coincidence! I also write 500 words a day with no exceptions. However, the 500 words went up to 1667 since I`m doing NaNoWriMo.
I’ve been watching your word count goals on Twitter, makes me so excited! Whoo!
For me the 500 words just serves to get me in the chair. Some days I don’t feel like writing (gasp!). But 500 words is nothing, you can bang that out in 15 minutes if you focus. But I’ve found that 500 words is what it takes for me to get into the story again, and so almost every time, I end up writing more like 1500 or 2000 words in a sitting. But if I set my goal that high, it would seem impossible on the days I don’t feel like working.
I know what you mean. Sometimes I can write over my goal, but 500 words is nice because it leaves a lot of room. If I`m having my bad day, I won`t be stressing myself out with impossible goals.
I`m actually thinking about writing an article on this. It will be able discipline and whatnot. It`d make me really happy if you`d help out by telling me some of your tips. =D
Totally, I’d love to! Want to send me an email with what you were thinking about writing? I’d love to share the random things I’ve picked up over the last six months or so, for whatever they’re worth. 😀 Can’t wait to read your article when you write it!
Firstly, yay us!
Secondly, what do you mean, we won’t actually hate you if you don’t make the word count? We will JUDGE YOU. Secretly, we’ll be thinking horrible things about you, and publicly I’ll be walking a little further away from you, in case people think we’re FRIENDS.
(There, that should be enough psychological torture for one day.)
You are so good to me. <3