Some weeks it just doesn’t work out. With a sick three year old, a feisty one year old, some emotional drama with a teenager, and a six week old baby hanging off me like a fluffy koala, I didn’t get anything done last week. Not a word. But last night I slipped away from the craziness of my household and spent two hours with my writing group, slushpile, sitting on a patio, eating supper and talking about writing. We chatted about how to get writing done and how to set goals, and I told them I set weekly goals rather than daily ones, and that there are only a few weeks of the year when I can’t meet the goals I set myself (like last week!) Trying to get something done every day – like 500 words or an hour writing – doesn’t work for me. But telling myself to write 2000 words in a week is much more possible. Sometimes ;-)

What are your writing goals this week? I’m about to sit down to figure out what I want to get done in the next few days, keeping my goals small and realistic. I don’t need to do a lot to feel like I’m getting somewhere…

Me getting back to the book!

Turns out that editing isn’t just correcting the spelling and using the delete key liberally. Learning to write better involves learning to properly edit, which involves digging through the detritus of the manuscript and discovering the story within. Right about now, I’m realizing that my smooth shiny manuscript might need me to do some serious rethinking. And the way my editor has suggested to do this is for me to do a little outlining. It seems late to be outlining an already finished and accepted-to-be-published novel, but it’s actually the perfect time for a writer like me to triple check spots in the structure that need work. This is when I push the manuscript from good enough to (hopefully!) as good as it can be. Excellent, even. Wish me luck!

When you edit, what steps do you take? Perhaps try my editor’s tip and outline the story – even if you think it’s finished. Use the outlining process to notice where the story could be improved.

Starting a new piece of writing is always exciting except if, like me, you give up ninety percent of the things you begin. It used to just be part of my process, but now it’s kinda exhausting to realize that 20,000 words down the line an idea simply isn’t working. I tell myself that quitting and letting go is good for me, etc etc, and that it’s how I get the books finished that sometimes I do, but it’s still a bit depressing to throw myself into something only to abandon it halfway through.

Instead, with my next book, I’ve been writing it and abandoning it in my head. Over and over again. I can’t quite find the right place to start and I waiting until the story becomes clearer to me before I begin. I hope this doesn’t mean that I never finish a book ever again. I hope instead that it means I don’t have to give up and begin over with a new point of view, a new character, a new story, because I’ve been a little more patient in the planning of this novel. I’ve been reading about – shock and horror – outlining. Perhaps, perhaps, it’s time to give outlining a bit of a try…

Today, spend a little time outlining a possible story you want to write one day. Something new, something you like the idea of, something that’s been ticking over in your mind. Write out one way for the story to go, then leave it for a few days or weeks and see if the story will end up working for you. I’m going to try this too! Good luck.