What's Been Going On?
It's been a while. I'm sorry. But this semester has kind of been a mess but it's almost over.
Since I've lasted posted here, I've:
Published Sensuality., my poetry chapbook, and uploaded the recordings onto YouTube
Participated--and won!--NaNoWriMo for the first time!
I haven't read at an Open Mic Night. It's just been such a hectic semester I haven't had the time to prepare.
I didn't make a monthly goal post for October or November. And I've hardly been active on this blog or YouTube either.
Though I didn't post about NaNoWriMo on here, I made two videos about my experience.
A quick summary of both:
This was my first time officially doing NaNoWriMo. I've done Camp NaNoWriMo a few times but never set a goal even close to 50,000. This November, I worked on a standalone fantasy novel that I'm hoping to make more lighthearted than The One and the Other Volume I. It's about a family that goes on the run for treason, but everything doesn't go as planned: someone from their past is tracking them, romance happens, and there's a subplot involving a were-snow-leopard. I made a loose outline where I determined every scene but then just came up with the worldbuilding and fleshed out the characters as I went along.
I won, writing a total of 51,108 words and completing the first draft! After the first two days, I fell immediately behind and never fully caught back up till the end. Week One and Two were lots of fun because I was so excited to be writing something new. I hadn't first drafted a manuscript in ages! Then, Week Three was the hardest. I ran into some tough scenes to write and fell further behind. I was able to catch up a lot over Thanksgiving. On the final day of NaNo, all I did was write and I wrote 5000 words and won!
I intend to put this manuscript aside and return to The One and the Other, but I've already started revising some. What was a list of what I wanted to change turned into a several day reworking of the structure and characters.
I love my monthly goal posts, so I'm reinstating them this month.
1. Finish Re-Outlining My NaNo novel
I'm working out some kinks in the final half. I didn't want to start revising right away, but I don't feel like I can stop until I'm satisfied with the new outline. I want to ride the momentum while it's fresh in my mind.
2. Re-read The One and the Other Volume 1
I need to start the final round of revisions for this project. It's been since May that I touched it. I never expected the break to be this long, but it's given me some much needed space and perspective. I've received feedback from my beta readers, but before I implement any of those changes, I want to re-read it myself since I haven't done that with this version. I'm excited and scared to start the final edits!
3. Post 4 YouTube Videos
I really want to build my YouTube channel, so I'm going to start uploading consistently again.
I don't have any lofty writing goals since I want to focus on YouTube and I need to focus on school for the first half of the month at least. I hope ya'll have a great holiday season. We'll keep in touch. Thanks for reading!