Would you look at the time?
Q3 2018 is almost over. In fact, 2018 is almost over. We’re just a couple weeks away from the month of Halloween, then it’s NaNoWriMo, then the holidays, and BAM! We’re in 2019.
It’s bananas!
A few updates:
I was published again! My short story “Mugs” (formerly Tavern 381F) was published in Five on the Fifth this month. They’re an awesome literary magazine and I’m blown away to have been chosen to be published there. Check out my story here, but also check out their other publications. There are some real, heavy hitting pieces in there. Truly honored to be published alongside them.
Episode 6 of The Genre Hustle went live this last Monday, too! We’ve been getting great feedback and we are (slowly) working our way through recording season 2. We’re going to make the episodes a little longer, have a few more than season 1, and have more guests!
Oh, and this week’s highlight? George R. R. Martin and Lev Grossman both liked my tweet about episode 6! We’re basically drinking buddies, now. Nod nod.
So, with updates out of the way, I’d like to talk about two things in this blog post. First, I want to share what my writing process has been like lately with Rat, my novel. Second, I want to talk about NaNoWriMo. Here we go.
Rat. Oh boy. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that writing a book is hard? Like, really hard? You get to the end of your first draft and it’s a huge celebration (or it should be), because you’ve written something. But then you have to edit. And then submit to betas. And then re-edit. And fix the massive plot issues and re-write and revise and… oof.
It’s hard.
So what do you do? You hold on to the victories and let them drive you forward. My first one was getting my first draft finished. My next victory was finishing my second draft and getting it beta read.
It’s been a slog since then, though. Re-write after re-write, trying to get the story where it needs to be. FINALLY, I have done so. After 17 billion outlines and nearly half as many rewrites, I have the structure where it needs to be. I even have act one written in its entirety (mostly).
It’s just hard to see this as a victory. I should be feeling happy that my path is finally clear and laid out before me, and a part of me does, but I’ve put so much work into it that I’m feeling overwhelmed. My writing has dropped down to almost nothing these last two weeks. It’s so hard to get into the habit of daily writing and SO EASY to fall off the wagon.
But the only way to go is forward. The only path is the one I’ve spent the last two years building. I’ve got to take a deep breath and get moving again. And I will. Just know it’s normal (not advisable) to feel down, to feel hopeless, lost, or panicked, and to lose motivation. As bad as it is to fall out of good writing habits, it’s way worse to not try and get back into them. I can do it, and so can you. Let’s get to it.
NaNoWriMo. I’m not going to lie, I’m excited for NaNo. I had a blast winning it last year and I look forward to doing the same this year. Last year I did draft 2 of Rat, this year I am going to write draft 1 of Rat 2. That’s right, the sequel. It’s actually going to be called Crow, if you must know. I even sort of have it outlined. All the hard lessons I learned while writing Rat should make Crow easier, but we’ll see.
The Future. So, Rat finished by November 1, a short story or flash fiction for Murder Park After Dark, Vol II by October 25, and Crow in November. Let’s jump on it!