Work in Progress

I had a goal. I was supposed to be done with my current WIP (work in progress) by the end of 2018. However, I have another, overarching goal of remaining in good mental health that takes priority. My doctor and I decided that it was a good time to wean myself off of my anti-anxiety medication after about 6 months. Neither of us really looked far enough ahead to see that it would mean doing so in the middle of the holiday season.  

I am a huge supporter of destigmatizing mental illness. I am pretty open about my struggles with anxiety. I think most people will have periods of struggle with different aspects of mental health at some point in their lives and so I choose to speak about it frankly.  This post isn’t about that though- I’ll delve into it more later.

So it’s now mid (late?) January and I just now crested the hill of 30,000 words and planted my flag. I survey all in my domain, but there is a significant way to go.  There have been times in my life where this detour off course would derail me completely. I would have thrown up my hands and tossed this story on the heap of carcasses of its brethren that came before- like failed gladiators- and moved on to greener fields.  Not this time. I’m wading up to my chest through the swamp that the creative process can become, heedless of setbacks hurled my way! *For example (I just realized that I have never even mentioned the parents of the groom in this story- I assume unless they are dead or deeply disapprove of the bride they would have come to the wedding. Either way they warrant at least passing mention.)

I’m done with the beginning and I know how it’s going to end, but here I am-  ♪ stuck in the middle with you ♫. This is the most challenging part of a work in progress for me- the middle. I get bogged down in the nitty-gritty of shoving the characters toward the exciting climax.

I was recently asked about my process and there are really two main schools of thought on the subject: you’re either a plotter, (one who plans the novel out ahead of time and knows all the stops along the way) or you are a pantser (one who writes by the seat of his or her pants, merrily finding out what’s around the corner at the same time as their characters).  I find myself more on the pantser side of the fence because once I know too much about what’s going to happen I kind of lose interest and my motivation folds faster than a flag at a scout jamboree.

So I didn’t meet my goal- it’s ok. I can adjust. 🙂 It’s not as though any publishers are banging down my door for it yet. I do work better with deadlines, however, so I am going to use this blog as my motivation and you, ubiquitous reader shall hold me accountable.

New goal: 50,000 words by February 1st 2019.  

That sets me only a month behind of the original goal. What am I going to do after that? Well, I am tempted to just dive nose-first into another novel, but I did promise myself that this story was one I was writing with the intention of submitting for publication- so I will be going ahead with the next step of the process and finding some BETA READERS!