Simon Says: TAKE A BREAK

Hi Everyone--I'm back, buuuuuut, not for long! :(

Due to being sick last week, I honestly didn't do very much (both with writing and life) and I feel like I've lost a lot of valuable time.

As a result, and with summer being so close to an end, I've decided to follow suit with many of you bloggers in the blogosphere and take a little time out. Not only do I have lots going on (family coming in to visit, birthdays, holidays), I also set a very lofty goal not too long ago, and I want to try to stick with it as much as I can.

I still want to try and finish the first draft of my manuscript by early September, so in order to try and adhere to this, I will be taking some time off from posting.

I will still be visiting all of you as much as I can though! I don't think I'll be able to cut myself off completely, and of course, I'll need to take breaks :)

So today will be my last post until around the middle of September. I will miss all of you and seeing your comments for the next little while, but hopefully it will be here before we know it!

Wish me luck--I hope I'll have good news to report back. :)

What are your goals or plans for the rest of the summer?

My Whereabouts

Hi Everyone! I'm very sorry for my lack of posting, commenting and visiting your blogs this past week.

I've been down and out with a very nasty cold/flu, and haven't been on the computer much. I'll be doing catch up and making my rounds this weekend.

I'll be back to regular posting next week!

See you all soon :)

"Food" for Thought, and New Goals!

Happy Friday Everyone!

I hope I find some time to write this weekend, but there is a huge food festival taking place downtown and I plan to be there! Sigh. I love anything with food and festivals--put them together and I'm in heaven.

So I mentioned goal setting earlier this week, and I think I am finally ready to commit (scary, I know). I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew, especially considering that we're in the last month of summer and every weekend from here on out is pretty much solidly booked with things to do/catch up on.

I want to finish this novel by the end of August/early September, and start querying by the November timeframe--but before the holidays because I read that it's a bad time to reach out to agents.

Do you think it's too much in too little time? It will be sort of like a pseudo NaNoWriMo, (in August) especially seeing as how I need to get from 13k to 80k *shifty eyes*.

I just want to finish--even if it takes me longer to do revisions later and I end up needing more time to polish and don't end up querying this year, I think it will be okay, because at least I'll have something to work with, right? Right!

How about you guys? Do any of you have specific deadlines? Are you reaching the querying stage? And of course, do any of your weekend plans involve food? ;) If not, what you up to?

Thoughts for Thursdays

Today's quote:

"Plot springs from character...I've always sort of believed that these people inside me--these characters--know who they are and what they're about and what happens, and they need me to help get it down on paper because they don't type." Anne Lamott

I know this is nothing new. Almost every single writer will tell you the same thing - at some point or another, the characters start to run the show. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish just who's telling the story and who's controlling what.

You find that you start off with one idea, only to find that you've written something completely different down on the paper, and pointless "arguments" with a certain rebellious teenage boy ensue.

My characters take me for a spin all the time. They are constantly changing things on me, doing things I didn't expect, which in turn, lead to new plots and storylines.

This is probably why for me, I can't really plot out the novel until I start writing and get to know my characters better and their motivation. Even after I do--they surprise me.

And it's true, sometimes don't you wonder if maybe that's what you're supposed to do? Tell their story for them? Otherwise, how would they get it out? ;)

Please share your thoughts on this. Have your characters started to reveal themselves to you as yet? How do they influence your plot?

WiP Update

I haven't been doing a great job with my daily word count, but I have been making progress on the weekends. I got in about 4000 words this past weekend, including Monday/Tuesday.

You know that point you get to when writing a book where it starts to consume you? You know how you just live and breathe it, and it's all you think about?

That's the point I'm at right now. I go to bed thinking about the story, and wake up with it still on my mind. I'm writing scenes in my head while brushing my teeth. (Yeah, is this only me?)

But despite the fact that it's monopolizing my brain, the words are just flying onto the page, and I really hope things stay that way. The story is pretty much developing as I write.

I want to set another goal for when I hope to finish and start querying, but I'm not too sure as yet--hopefully I'll have a better idea within the next couple of weeks.

How about you? How are you all doing with your WiP's?