I Can't Believe I Am Doing This!

Well actually there are two things I can't believe I am doing:

1. I am shelving Three of Ivory.

Yes, I know - shocking that I would set aside a project. I just think I need more time to wrap my head around the story and get to know the characters. I want Three of Ivory to be amazing. There are some things I need to do before I can give it the time and effort it really deserves.

2. I am starting a fantasy/romance project.

Me. Romance. I know! Now to clarify it is not going to be a steamy romance (yuck!). It is going to be a love story. Something along the lines of Jane Austin. This idea has been floating around in my head for a while. Here are some examples of the idea leaking out in my writing:

Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C

Making this decision was hard. But I came up with a really really good reasons why to do it.

As I was writing Three of Ivory I realized that it had much the same tone as Shadowed Stones. This is not what I wanted. The idea, the world, the characters are all different. So I decided I need some distance from the project so I could reset and look at it with fresh eyes. My new project is like a half step between the tone of Shadowed Stones and the tone I want for Three of Ivory. I think it will be a good way to break away from Shadowed Stones and get ready to write Three of Ivory.

Another thing I am trying... I am not telling anyone about the plot to my story. I want to plot it a write the first draft before anyone knows an ounce about it. Part of this is to keep me interested in the project. The other part of it is that this is the first real love story I have written. And I want to see how it goes without any outside influence.

Have you ever had to shelve a project - before you really began?

Validation and a Quandary

So... my goals have kind of fizzled out a little. When I get back to writing, reading and critiquing - I will update my goals and start fresh.

Validation

I know it is kind of a no-no to blog about rejection. However, I am going to do it.

Tuesday I received a rejection letter from Shadow Mountain publishing. And I was excited. (I know what your thinking and my husband agrees with you. I am completely insane.)

I am excited because I got a response. And I feel a little more validated as a writer. The good news is I am totally motivated to submit to the next publisher. Yeah!

Quandary

I started re-outlining Three of Ivory and I really like where it is going. But I have this other idea floating around in my head that is kind of exciting. I don't like to abandon projects (hello! I hung on to Shadowed Stones for 10 years!). But I also think that I need to be more flexible and not lock myself into one project. Mostly because I think that was one of the reasons why Shadowed Stones took me so long.

My plan is to work on both of them at the same time. I haven't done that before so I am not sure how it will work out. But I want to see if I can do it.

What do you think? Should I work on both projects? Or just go with one of them?

Confession

I have a confession. I haven't been writing. And as an extension of that I haven't been blogging.

Why?

That's a good question. I would like to say it is because I haven't been feeling well. Or because I have been really busy. But it's not. I got stuck with Three of Ivory. I am not sure why. One minute the story was on fire in my head and then... nothing.

The story still captivates me. I just feel lost. But the good news is - I think I finally found the problem.

I don't have an outline.

You see I am a plotter. With Shadowed Stones I had a scene by scene outline. Which really worked for me. This time around I wanted to give myself a little freedom so I could go with the flow. Here's the thing though:

Freedom kills my creativity.

Yeah, go figure. That surprised me. But then I thought back to when I was writing Shadowed Stones - and although I stuck pretty close to my outline there was still wiggle room. So I think for me having as detailed of an outline as possible is critical to my drafting ability.

So here is the plan: I am going to sit down and write a very detailed outline of Three of Ivory. And then start my first draft, again. I may still keep the first three and a half chapters that I wrote. I would like to - because I think they are good. But it depends on how the outlining goes. (Also, I think I may have started the story too early.)

Guess what, I just totally had the perfect vision of where to start the story and effectively introduce all three of my main characters. The best part - I can still use the dynamite first line I crafted! And the wheels (though rusty) are starting to turning again.

On another note: I promise to rededicate myself to blogging.

Have you ever been surprised by what kills your creativity?

An Update on My.... SQUIRREL!

So... I have been distracted a little lately so I have not made any progress on my goals.

In all fairness I am all caught up on my critiquing (haven't received anything new in a while) - so technically I am up to date :)

But I haven't gotten much reading done. And as far as writing goes... well zero.

What is distracting me you ask? Well I am redesigning my website (which will also include a make over for my blog! Yeah!). So, that is taking up a lot of time. But I think I am just using that as an excuse to not just sit down and write.

Oh, just thought of another excuse. The external hard drive where I store like ALL my files (manuscripts included) is toast. Don't worry - I was able to back up my data before it crashed completely. But it also means that my files don't come with me to work. So I can't work on my lunch break. Yep, another excuse.

So, I am in the mood for cheering. Tell me one good thing that has happened to you and/or how your goals are going.