Imaginary Ramblings

First of all, I want to thank Adam, a lovely friend and fellow I stalk long distance (actually, he’s crazy about ME, but you know, if it makes him feel better...) He mentioned my little bit of fairy-dom here, and I would like to thank him. He has been added to the blog roll!

I have also adjusted my settings so you can leave comments, even if you aren’t a blogger member, so I am sorry to those of you just dying to talk about my posts that were unable to. (smiley!)

I am fresh from composing my 8 pages of un-real estate. It is a great and grand fantasy epic (scoff, cough, ahem) of which the first book is completed. I  am now 225 pages into the 2nd book, with 500 pages planned.  The first tome is 500 pages, and took a year and half to complete. That is way too long, and I know I am capable of doing better. I would be going great for awhile, then get full of myself and get lazy, then downright slothful, going weeks between writing sessions.  That is just not good for anyone.  Not good for me because I feel TERRIBLE about not writing. I mean, I talk about writing, I dream about the story, I spend time fantasizing about what might happen if the book ever got published, but I never DO it. It is a blow to the self esteem. So I feel bad about myself, and that doesn’t exactly motivate me to write. All that time between sessions doesn’t do the book any good, because when you take time off and come back, there is that lag where the ol’ fiction muscle is trying to start flexing, and at first, all it does is shamble around, lifting 3 pound dumbbells, and dropping them on your feet.  Pace, structure, characters, you’ve forgotten all that stuff. And not good for my friends, who are tired of hearing about the book I'm NOT writing.

The only way to write is every day, with a goal. I am no plotter, and though I know where the story is going, I don’t know how it’s going to get there. My goals are never story related. They used to be word related. I held myself to Stephen’s King’s suggestion of 2000, which he said is roughly 10 pages. Of course, for me it was more like 8 pages.  That became too steep a hurdle for me. This time, I have decided to go with 4 pages a day, come hell or high water, and no cheating for chapter breaks. That is what I consider “do-able.” I must get 4 full pages, no huge white space allowed. I figure I’ll be done in another 72 days! Light at the end of the tunnel! This weekend I have decided to double my output, since it’s a long weekend, and we got out of work early on Friday. I’ve procrastinated enough, and it’s time to make some serious progress.

I will keep those of you waiting with baited breath up to date on my progress, and I hope you are making way on yours.