Some little inconsequential miracle, a mama writer just gotta share.
The kiddo took the nap without making a fuss.
I know.
I KNOW!
Did I took advantage and work on the current writing project ? Not at all !
Instead, I thought about my 2020 writing goals, which I’ve got around too in November 2019.
Kiddo had a beautiful kiddo word moment today. Where does the sun sleep, or something like that. Oh, I can’t believe I forgot already, it was way prettier when kiddo said it.
Anyway, somehow, it got me thinking about the end of the year 2019. Writing-wise, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve accomplished in the first six months but less happy with how the rest of the writing year went.
In April, I started a new project. I was very super duper excited about it. I worked my pretty-bottom off on that MG novel, and I finally abandoned at 30 000 words in…
Which means I spent roughly eight weeks on it and then, a couple of weeks more trying to fix what couldn’t be fixed because, oh, so many little things.
The big big big problem had to do with the characters, and I pushed through anyway, trying to find a solution because I liked my idea so much, and… bleuah. I stopped, frustrated, disappointed. Not happy.
Around the same time, the first round of rejections came in for a MG novel I’ve revised and queried again, plus another YA novel, a contemporary romance. It got rejected too.
The YA novel, I’m waiting to see if I go through a re-write or shelve it.
The MG novel, I went on to re-write it again. See, I really like the story and I absolutely love the characters. I’ve known them for such a long time, I simply can’t let go.
This time, on top of critique partners and beta-readers, I want to hire a professional editor to take a partial look at it. Maybe the edits will be scrapped, but at least I could say I gave the manuscript every possible chance to get picked up by a publisher (where I live, no literary agent; it’s a small market, so authors have to query directly the publishers).
If it’s rejected again, I’m shelving it. And just writing it down kinda of breaks my heart a little. But at some point, a writer gotta move on and work on new writing projects.
Which brings me to the actual writing goals I set for myself in 2020.
2020 Writing Goals
The big writing rut, writing slump, writing burned out of December 2019, I don’t know how to call it really, swept away a whole lot of my writing motivation. That and the many rejections. Let’s face it, we learn to cope, but rejection still cut through our self-confidence. Mine anyway.
I have very humble Writing Goals.
- Write 1500 words a day, 4 days a week
- Draft a new novel
- Query the polished and revised version of the current novel I’m working on (according to my ex-deadline, I should be writing the second draft of that novel right now)
What I’ll do different this year:
- Revisit those goals every three months or so
- Let go of the guilt-trip
- Let go of the comparison game
One last thing I will start to consider this year: self-publishing.
I’ve been toying with the idea for years. Even though the main goal, the main focus is to be traditionally published, I’m reading more and more about self-publishing, learning the How To’s and the « 10 mistakes to absolutely avoid », stuff like that.
I’m looking at business plans too. Since I’ve worked for a publisher, I’ve seen the incredible amount of work the publishing of just one single book entailed.
We’ll see what’s what. Better get some writing done.
Dear writer friends, I wish happy writing times for 2020.
Thanks for tagging along.
Marie Alice Writes & Reads 