Another Year, Another Novel

As the end of the year draws closer I’m feeling nostalgic and wanted to share some of my achievements.

I decided to stop procrastinating and making a real go of my writing dream about eighteen months ago. For the first few months I did a little bit of writing, but not on a productive level.

It was September last year when I found out about National Novel Writing Month. I received an email asking me if I had started planning because if not, I needed to get a move on. Well, I hadn’t even heard of NaNoWriMo, and why did I need to plan for it?

Obviously, I looked into it, and discovered that it was a personal writing challenge to write 50,ooo words in 30 days (the whole of November). My initial reaction was: “No way!” At that point I hadn’t written more than a few hundred words a day, there was no possibility I’d reach 1,667 words every day in November.

However, I decided to give it a go. October was spent putting together an outline. November passed in a blur, but I did it. From that moment on, I knew I could be a productive writer. I knew if I spent two hours a day at the laptop I could get this done, rather than trying to slot writing in whenever I found a spare moment.

It was not long after that that I decided to make sure I allocated a solid two hours to write everyday. I joined the 5 am writer’s club. Since then, I haven’t looked back.

So, what have I managed to achieve since last November? I’ve finished that first draft and completed a few rounds of self-edits. It’s been beta read and feedback was generally positive. As you may know, it’s been rejected by Avon Romance. I also pitched it in Pit Mad in June and I got some interest. Now it’s time to query agents.

I’ve drafted a second manuscript which is a stand alone, but follows on from the first novel. That is resting before I start editing after Christmas.

I did NaNo again and I started my time travel romance trilogy. Without my newbie enthusiasm, I found it more stressful this year. I wouldn’t have made it without the support of some great writing groups. I’ve got my 50,000 words and I hope to the get about the same written again before Christmas. Then I can take a break.

I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot over the last year and I am proud of myself. At one point I never thought I had it in me to write one novel, let alone two and a half. Now I know what I can achieve in twelve months I can start to plan ahead.

What can I achieve next year? Well, I should at least be able to get another two manuscripts drafted. In between all that I need to query my first novel and edit the second. One thing I would like to do is start an email list. It’s all anyone talks about as the best marketing tool for an aspiring author. I just don’t seem to have the time to do it. I’ve focused on getting into the routine of regular writing and I’ve let other things slide. If I can’t get an agent and publish traditionally, I will self-publish. Then a decent marketing plan will be essential.

Whatever happens, I couldn’t be happier with my first year as a writer. Yes, I’m very busy. Yes, I’m very tired (all the time), but I’m making things happen that I’ve dreamed about for a long time. That can only be a good thing, right?

Here’s to another year and another novel under my belt. I hope you have made progress with your hopes and dreams and I wish you all the best for the year to come. May it be happy and fruitful.