Word for 2015 - Persevere
2014 was a year of change, as I went from being a graduate student receiving monthly feedback from a faculty advisor on my writing, to being a graduate who didn't need to share material until she was ready.
That had advantages and disadvantages. While I completed revisions on one novel that meant it was ready to submit--and is being submitted--I struggled when it came to the more major overhaul my current project, which was my creative thesis, needed. When I set it aside in late November because of end-of-the-semester grading, I was feeling frustrated, spent, and downright discouraged.
I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to it until after finals, and I was fine with that, but I also knew I needed to feel like I was still writing, so I gave myself permission to play with a new project (to be known here as nameless for the nonce or NFN, first mentioned here), and that's what I did. On days I rode the bus, I'd jot ideas. When I had an hour at home, I'd pull out my notebook and do more concrete digging and note-taking. With no pressure, it was fun, and a shape--characters, conflict, plot elements--are slowly emerging.
Somewhere along the way, the noodling turned into an eagerness to get back to the revisions. Yesterday I refreshed my memory with a reading of the last 60ish pages and this morning I sat down and got to work. A few words out, a new scene begun. It's a start. Tomorrow I'll try to do a little more, athough it is a holiday and I may not, but Friday I will begin work in earnest, and I will continue until it is ready.
Days I don't have time to work on it--when I leave home at 7 and don't return until 6--I'll still play with NFN.
Most of all, in 2015, I will persevere. I will continue to submit until I get to yes. I will make this project beta-reader ready and will continue to revise until it is ready for the pros. I will bring NFN to a draft.
I will keep on writing, because that is what writers do, and I will submit, because that is what potential authors do.
It's the only way.
That had advantages and disadvantages. While I completed revisions on one novel that meant it was ready to submit--and is being submitted--I struggled when it came to the more major overhaul my current project, which was my creative thesis, needed. When I set it aside in late November because of end-of-the-semester grading, I was feeling frustrated, spent, and downright discouraged.
I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to it until after finals, and I was fine with that, but I also knew I needed to feel like I was still writing, so I gave myself permission to play with a new project (to be known here as nameless for the nonce or NFN, first mentioned here), and that's what I did. On days I rode the bus, I'd jot ideas. When I had an hour at home, I'd pull out my notebook and do more concrete digging and note-taking. With no pressure, it was fun, and a shape--characters, conflict, plot elements--are slowly emerging.
Somewhere along the way, the noodling turned into an eagerness to get back to the revisions. Yesterday I refreshed my memory with a reading of the last 60ish pages and this morning I sat down and got to work. A few words out, a new scene begun. It's a start. Tomorrow I'll try to do a little more, athough it is a holiday and I may not, but Friday I will begin work in earnest, and I will continue until it is ready.
Days I don't have time to work on it--when I leave home at 7 and don't return until 6--I'll still play with NFN.
Most of all, in 2015, I will persevere. I will continue to submit until I get to yes. I will make this project beta-reader ready and will continue to revise until it is ready for the pros. I will bring NFN to a draft.
I will keep on writing, because that is what writers do, and I will submit, because that is what potential authors do.
It's the only way.