At the beginning of the year, I had two writing goals: one, I want to plot my historical romance series, and two, I want to have two completed manuscripts. Thus far, I have only plotted out hlaf of the series and haven’t finished a single manuscript. That is what I want to work on changing. Here’s three things I am changing in the next couple of months to reach this goal. At the time of writing this post, Septmeber 3, we have 121 days left in 2021. I want to make the most of them.
1. Going back to the basics
Recently I had a renewed desire to write fiction. I kept thinking about certain characters, their stories, and how much I wanted to tell them. So, I took out a notebook and blue pen and began writing. There was something magical in putting pen to paper because I ended up writing several pages of a story. While this was a random scene that had come to me, I loved the process of writing them down. They were no logner in my head.
So, the first thing I’m doing is going back to the basics. As much as I love typing and using my phoen and laptop to tell stories, I function best with pen and paper. Specifically, a notebook with college ruled paper and a blue pen. I always use my favorite pens of all time, the PaperMate Profile 1.4B, for any and all writing things. As much as I appreciate gel pens, these pens have changed writing for me.
2. A little goes a long way
After I went back to the basics, I had to understand that I couldn’t go at the writing pace of anyone else but me. Aside from the fact that I love having an outline, and knowing that I need an outline no matter what, I wasn’t the fastest writer. Writing by hand takes time, yes, but for me it was more than that. I needed to put more thought into the words I put on paper. I try my hardest not to edit as I go, and I’ve gotten really good at that, but I have to like the words I use.
Which is all to say that I don’t force myself to write too much every day. I write about 200-500 words a day or at last 5 pages front and back. I love having a goal to meet but I also don’t like when the goal to too confining for me.
3. National Novel Writing Month 2021
My goal this year is to finish an entire manuscript during NaNoWriMo. I think that I’m going to try an adult romance but I don’t know the genre as of yet. While I work through writing another manuscript up until NaNoWriMo, I am getting excited for this writing adventure.
I am hoping that I can write two manuscripts in the time remaining in 2021. While I wish I had started earlier in the year, and I hate that I didn’t, there’s nothing I can do to change that now. I’m excited to keep everyone updated on what I choose to write.
Leave a Reply