May Update, and a Word of Encouragement

Don't you love looking back on projects and see how far you've come? I do. Because this month is almost over (where did it go?), I decided to write a more journaling style of post. Not only to document my progress, but share the writing and music journey with you as well. And maybe even encourage you if you're in the same place in writing as I am: lots of editing in front of you.

In the past month, so much has happened with my projects, editing in particular. My Viking book, Out of the Dark, has gone up drastically in word count, from 51K to 54. Something I've learned in the process that really struck me was how much of a difference showing makes. To increase the word count by this much, and to elaborate on important scenes, I've taken "telling" paragraphs and blown them up to full-scale scenes. Of course, there's such thing as going too far, but overall it's worked out really well.

My writing has come to almost a standstill. In my WIP, I'm this close to the climax, but I just want to skip ahead and write it. The events leading up to it are important and cannot be left out, but the temptation to do so is driving me crazy! The longer I take to write the climax, the more I'll want to write it. And the more I want to write it, the more I'll want to skip ahead. Vicious circle. What has kept me going is reading the parts I write each day to my siblings and friends. Their encouragement keeps me going through the tough parts and working toward the finish line.

My main takeaway is perseverance. Don't stop doing what you are, don't put rejects off as if they'll finish themselves. Everything you pick up, from the food on your plate to the movie in your TV, took effort. Someone labored over creating it. There might have been sleepless nights and bitter tears, but whoever designed and created and sold that item kept going. That's the only way it reached you in the first place. You can persevere, too, and it all starts with discipline. Choose a specific time when you'll focus all your attention on one project every day, and you'll start to see results.

Don't stop when you run into a knot. When I do that with my writing, I am so slow at getting back into it. For example, my page speed is roughly eight an hour, but when I stop for a long time, that rate declines drastically. With my WIP, I stopped writing for about a week just because of the difficulties, and when I went back to it yesterday, I took an hour to write two pages.

Don't give up. Keep writing, keep working, keep pressing toward your goal. You will not be dissapointed.