• What were your goals last week and did you accomplish them?
• Describe what you worked on.
• Set goals for next week.
• Did you learn something during this week?

Here is a list of things that you can do each week as we work on our novels (suggestions welcomed).

• Writing on a novel
• Characterization
• World Building
• Relevant research

=-=-=-=-=

Last Week's Goals

I actually got some work done for my last week goals. Finally. It was not much but at least I was able to get some progress made.

My goals for next week:

• Brainstorming characterization for main character
• Develop mutually exclusive internal conflicts

This week I want to continue focusing on the characterization for my main character. I want develop some internal conflicts this week. So far I have one idea but I want to see how far I can take the conflict.

What did I learn this week?

Not much here yet either. Just glad to have made progress.

Last Week's Goals:

Dreamer's Rose: Continue to let it rest.
Easy one.

The Shaman's Curse: Get the query and synopsis fixed and start sending this out again. Really.
Well, I've worked a little on the query. I don't honestly know yet if I've made it better or worse. It's in F&F if you want to let me know what you think.

The Ignored Prophecy: Start the revision to the first couple of chapters.
Well, technically, I've started. I haven't gotten very far, yet, though.

Blood Will Tell: Finish up the first revision. Work on the synopsis and the query.
Yep. And I've already got notes for the second revision.

This Week's Goals:

Dreamer's Rose:
Continue to let it rest. Hey, at least I know I'll achieve one of my goals.

The Shaman's Curse:
Figure out the query letter and start sending this one back out.

The Ignored Prophecy:
Revision to first five chapters. Not all of them actually need to be revised. Others will be virtually scrapped completely and rewritten. But I think it will tighten up the start a lot and get to the meat of the story sooner.

Blood Will Tell:
Let it rest a little more before starting on the second revisions. I'd like to get the second revision done and have this in the hands of one of my first readers by Thanksgiving.

Seven Stars:
Yes, apparently I don't know when enough is enough. It turns out I can't not have something new to work on, so I started this. It's an extension of a novelette, so I already pretty much have the first 6 chapters or so. I'm reworking those a bit to fit the new structure and brainstorming conflicts and plot. One of the reasons the novelette never went out of my computer was that I wasn't happy with the ending. I knew there was more to the story. It just couldn't be that easy. So, I'm going to tell the rest of the story.

Other:
I also need to work on revisions to my two short stories, Dragons Are Forever and The Seeker, so I can get them out there.

All of my other novel work is on hold until the draft is finished, which should be done before Nov. 30th. I'm thinking 110K to 120K.

OSC talks somewhere about how your first draft is really just a learning experience and won't bear much resemblance to the final copy. After writing my first novel I couldn't imagine how anyone could go to that much work and then throw it out in the trash as a "learning experience". But this Nanowrimo story I'm really starting to get it. The first time through is really just an oportunity to get all my ideas down, and as I do it, I'm learning about the characters and letting the story take me down unexpected paths that might or might not go somewhere in the end.

The character I've developed by the middle of the story bears little resemblance to the one at the beginning, and so that all needs to change too.

Rather than constantly going back and rewriting, I just make myself a note and ride the story to the conclusion as though it was a galloping horse. By the time I'm done, almost everything about it needs to be changed, but I've learned some incredible things I couldn't have learned any other way. So this is not the time to worry about whether I'm showing or telling, or if the dialogue to exposition ratio is perfect. It's not even about getting the characters names perfect.

When it's done, I'll give it a few months to rest and then try it again. I think that would be the perfect time to outline it and make sure the names are right. Then I can cut and add and do all the things to make it shine.

I am not doing to well. I haven't been writing as much as I used to, so I am not meeting my goals.

Goals for next week: Write for at least an hour everyday.

So, for this week again, my goal is to start and finish the Wagner chapter!