NaNoWriMo and Beyond

So last year I didn't update at all during NaNo and that's because I was trying desperately to come up with something that I could string together for 50k words. I was able to put down 50k at the very last minute, but there was nothing together about it. It wound up being a bunch of scenes about the same characters that had a tiny little portion of things in common. Thus the label on my drive of, Do Not Open Ever Again.

This year, I don't think that I'll struggle to get to 50k. However, I am struggling to get to my plot. I bored my way through 15,000 words of minor happenings and background(ish) information to finally come up with a plot. So I know things are going to happen and there will be a general story arc if/when this thing is ever completed. I just wish I had come up with said plot line earlier. Then I wouldn't have to try and lead every single string back to one point.

I guess that is what writing is all about though, isn't it? Learning and perfecting the craft. I do figure that what I have finally come up with will make for an interesting story. Hopefully, one day I'll be able to pick it back up and do something with it. But I have plans, big plans.

I'll be taking the month of December off but come January I'm hitting the revisions hard on my MS that I've been toying around on. I will be finished with said revision by my birthday in March. Then, I will finally send it out to the beta readers I have met this past month. And then, with a few more revisions, I WILL submit for representation next year. I have learned a lot about not putting things off recently and I'm tired of waiting for something to happen to me. I'm going to make it happen myself.

Apologies and Updates

First, I'd like to say that I'm sorry it has been so long since I posted. I received some tragic news while I was on my working vacation and I have been slowly trying to piece things back together. Although I have a long way to go to get there I am going to try and use my writing to keep me occupied while I heal.

As for updates... As all of you know it is November. (Yes, I'm extremely observant) As some of you may know November is NaNoWriMo. This being my third year participating I took on a Municipal Liaison position, along with a very good friend of mine. That means a lot of my time has been spent putting together goody bags, organizing write-ins, and general NaNo shenanigans. Sadly, my writing has taken a hit. I'm so far behind in the word count there is a good chance that I will not finish this year. But I'm ok with that.

For the first time ever, I have decided that it is ok to "fail" as long as I have fun doing it. And I am having a blast! I've met so many new and awesome people that I actually spend most of my time at write-ins just chatting away. That's not to say I haven't been writing because I've put together a good 15,000 as of today. And I plan on continuing that.

The biggest problem I'm facing is that I have NO PLOT!! I keep hoping that as I write more something plot like will come along but so far it is all in vain. I have characters, a setting, a couple minor events, and a bit of background information, but where it is all going to go is still a mystery to me. I'm hoping it comes up soon, I can only handle so much boring-ness.