Well this check-in won't be long because I have nothing really to check-in about! It was my friend's wedding yesterday and put simply, it was an amazing day! I loved being her bridesmaid and helping her with the preparations but seeing her married to such an amazing man, well that was wonderful. So I am on a bit of a post wedding come down at the moment and it seems strange that yesterday I spent most of my day at a gorgeous country hotel and tomorrow I will be back at work as normal.Well not quite normal as I seem to have developed a really sore throat so my voice is somewhat husky and has no power, not great for a teacher but I will do what I can!
In terms of writing, no plans have been made. I am just not sure what I want or where I am heading. Lena and myself wrote a post NaNo check-in over at our Fun not fear blog on Friday and Nadja asked a simple question about whether either of us planned on publishing next year and I couldn't help but think I don't have any idea what I am planning for the future.
I wrote my murder mystery for NaNo because things in my personal life were stopping me wanting to write chick-lit, the genre I had always wanted to write and had started writing. I finished my murder mystery and it would need lots of editing but what would I do with it then? Would I self-publish? Send it to agents? Do I even want to take this story forward? If I put something to agents would I want it to be a murder mystery or hold out until I have completed a chick-lit novel as this is the genre I see myself writing in? I don't know where I stand with any of these things. I am not sure my writing is strong enough to publish at all at the moment and to be honest I have never seen myself go the indie route. Never say never but for now I don't think it is going to happen.
So I am still battling with the where I am heading next question. I am not going to make rash decisions, I am going to take my time and see what I think is the best plan. I tell you what I am enjoying since the end of NaNo though, reading! I hadn't read much at all during November as I just didn't have the time and when I got into bed at night I wanted to sleep not read so I am just enjoying that and since finishing NaNo I have read 2 books. On my 'Books I have read' page for this year there are 61 books. I want to see if I can get to 65 books atleast by December 31st. 65 books in a year sounds good. I like a round number but 70 seems to be quite far out of reach. I suppose I could try. Maybe for now my ROW80 goal should be recreational reading each day.
One thing I know is I want to take part in some kind of reading challenge next year and I will start to hunt around for different ones in the coming weeks. Sorry my check-ins have been streams of consciousness ones rather than goal acheivement ones but that is just where I am at the moment.
Fingers crossed I will make some decisions soon and on Wednesday I plan to post my reflections on NaNo in my check-in along with any developments. Hope everyone has had a brilliant start to December and I look forward to reading some check-ins to see how people are getting on.
Em, don't be so hard on yourself. You just finished a sprint--give yourself some time to catch your breath.
ReplyDeleteI would be in your exact spot if I had won NaNo. I have a drawer full of stories, a file full of ideas, character sketches and snippets, so I can ignore the questions you are facing, but trust me, if I had finished any fiction, I would be standing at the exact same cross-roads.
I think reading is the ticket for you; let your mind settle and then think about it.
Have a lovely week!
I'm with Elizabeth, take a deep breath and relax. It is in that quiet moment that you'll find your answer.
ReplyDeleteI know you are aware that I'm shifting genres, but coming to that conclusion required me to take the better part of a week, relax, clean, reconnect with my world and ease down mentally. I toyed with a few ideas. Then epiphany, in the quiet moment. You'll find the right path, I have faith in you :)
Read a few books, enjoy the coming holidays, relax and contemplate and listen for that soft inner voice to urge you one way or another.
Be well and I hope you have a fantastic and calm week, Em :)
No worries. You don't have to know yet. Just make sure what ever you chose makes you happy :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your big win! Which entitles you to some down time my dear. Reading is such a great way to recharge your batteries. Enjoy yourself.
ReplyDeleteDon't apologise for the stream of consciousness - this is why we have blogs, to air our thoughts.
ReplyDeleteWhen I finish the NaNo novel (i really hope Dec) I'm going to try writing little things, fiction Fridays, scenes using random word prompts etc. Having written this, I think I said it before to you, but it might be q good thing let your inner speak to you without too much outer influence. If that makes sense!
Ah, where is the wedding pic? Even with the head off, I want one! LOL
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean by not knowing what to do next. There are so many options and some very a really hard path ... in this business, everything takes so long and each step has to be carefully thought through ...
But you should enjoy the end of the year. I like the reading idea. It feeds our idea demons lol
I think Kait is planning a ROW round for early January, so you might want to consider that when thinking of your next goals ;)
Have a nice week!
So glad you had a good time at the wedding!! I echo the others in taking your time to relax and work it out. Consider what your dream is (which might still be an exhausting thing to do this week). We all have big dreams so don't be shy to go in the direction towards them. If you want to traditionally publish, then consider the factors about genre etc based on that end goal. If you go chick lit route, you can always self pub your murder mystery or the other way around. Everything is changing so rapidly in publishing that it's really opening up opportunities that weren't there before. I have seen SO MANY cross genre writers lately!
ReplyDeleteI too have been thinking about doing a reading challenge!! Yay, twindom is back lol :D I was thinking of doing the 52 books in 52 weeks one, but I haven't really researched too much yet. That would be hard for me as I am a slow reader. With your 65 books, it sounds like you reader much faster than I do :D
Have a wonderful week of getting yourself sorted out. Don't kill your voice completely today with those merry 3 year olds!!
Thank you for your kind comments everyone, is nice you are supportive of my 'breathing space' and not telling me I should be writing every day. Big decisions to make and I am going to take my time over them. In the meantime, I am still reading!!
ReplyDeleteStream of consciousness check-ins are fun to read and they are much better than no check-in at all. cough, cough...oopsie.
ReplyDeleteIts kind of nice to be in a place where you've tried a few genres and aren't sure what next year will hold. It means there are many possibilities. :)
I think check ins should be whatever you need them to be so all your ROW80 friends can support you. I have a women's fiction and ya paranormal thriller in the works, and my brain is having a hard time going back and forth. Thankfully, the main voice is a female in both! ;-)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with finding your way. I know you will. Watch out 2012... here you come!