That about sums it up. But now it's time to get to work.
I'm doing something different this time around. A devout "pantser*" I have converted to "plotter."
I am going to write my character sketches, outline my plot, set up conflicts, before I start writing. I even started a chapter-by-chapter outline.
This way, I can see where I'm going before I get too far off the path. Even if the pantser in me comes forward and teases me onto a side road, I can look at my outline and find my way back.
Another thing I need to do is set goals. I am a slow writer, as witness my books being some two years apart. People tend to forget you in two years. A writer has to keep her name out there, building up a following.
So I need to write not only better, but faster. Maybe I'll take a page from the nanowrimo writers and try to churn out so many words a day. In case you are unfamiliar with nanowrimo, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, which happens to be November. Across the country, writers are turning off their cell phones, hiding their iPads or Kindles (or Nooks), telling friends and family they are not available, and writing. Their goal is a 50,000-word competed manuscript by November 31.
I didn't enter, because I know my limitations. But I can also stretch myself. Limitations are meant to be exceeded, right?
*Someone who writes by the seat of her pants, like airplane pilots did before planes came with instruments.
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