I shouldn't be surprised at how going back to work has wrecked my writing schedule, but I am! Now it's back to squeezing writing into a few precious hours every few days. And I am mostly succeeding. Turned down a big job (freelance) in favour of writing so I am feeling virtuous.
Up to 33,000 words and still aiming to keep this under 70,000 - it's still a middle grade novel, although I could have more scope for blood and guts with a YA. My agent commented that middle graders wouldn't be interested in pirates. And I said I can only write what I feel passionate about. I've tried writing with *sales* in mind and it does not work. Trust me on that. Others can do it. Not me.
I am starting to feel that I'm getting a handle on plotting and scene construction - at last! Thank you EG.
And I'm also getting a handle on outlining. Put in an outline for a book in a fantasy series (by request) and managed to write it without too much anguish. A first for me. Usually outlines make me feel sick for days, and my brain just hits a brick wall.
And I remembered that it was one of the goals I set last year - to improve my plotting.
Goals for 2005? Writing first, routine building, no procrastination.
I read a line in an article that really hit home. "A real writer writes even when they don't want to."
Absolutely.