Welcoming 2019

As 2018 draws to a close, I am all at once enjoying the peace and quiet reflecting on what an incredible year it has been and preparing for the work of 2019 to begin January first.  I purchased Revision and Self-Editing and have a clean printed copy of the manuscript I will be revising in January.  I started jumping around in the book, making notes and coming up with ideas for how best to dive into revising my manuscript.

I have also continued to work on my To Read list for the year.  Between reading actual physical books, reading on my Kindle, and Audible, my goal is to get through at least two but hopefully three or more books each month of 2019.  I’m using goodreads to keep track of it all.  My list is a mix of reading for fun, reading to better my craft, and reading to better understand the genre I’m looking to publish in.  One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard and seen, many times over, is this: to become a better writer, one must read, often and a lot.  That’s certainly not as eloquent as I’ve seen it put, but it’s the way my brain repeats it back to me over and over again. 😁

There are also publishers to research and query letters to practice writing.  The big work though, the place I’m continually pulled back to, is the revisions that need to happen before anything else will make sense to pursue too vehemently.

I’m nervous about the revision process.  It’s an entirely different thing than writing the story.  Writing the story feels “easier” because I know my characters, who they are, who they want to be, where they need to go, and what they want to do.  Writing the first draft was as “simple” as following my characters and letting them play out the story for me.  (These things are far from easy and simple, but I’m using those as relative terms in this explanation.)  The revisions will be an entirely different challenge.  I’ll need to take away from the story, eliminate part of the character’s journey or *gasp* a character entirely.  But, that is what NEEDS to happen to get my story from the first draft to the next.  It’s what WILL happen to get my story closer to the best version of itself.

I am ready and excited for the New Year to begin! I hope you all have a wonderful night with friends and family!

What project are you excited about starting in the new year?

Happy Writing!