I have a first draft of the first chapter of one of my ideas for a novel. I have not visited it in a few months, as I have been concentrating on short stories. This is both good and bad.
This is good (in a roundabout way) as I have been busy writing short stories (and doing commissioned artwork). I am completing an average of four short stories a month. (I know this may not be a lot for some but for me it represents consistent writing and a daily routine is forming!) This includes the original spark of an idea, rough plotting, writing, re-writing and editing. What is even better is that all of these stories have been submitted to competitions and not left to sit in the bottom of a drawer, never to be read again.
The writing has been a good learning experience and I am sure that, when I do get back to the novel, I will have a lot of rewriting to do; I can see changes in my writing even over the past few months. Though I won’t get a lot of feedback from the competitions, my confidence has increased and I am playing and experimenting with more ideas than I would have six months ago. Getting shortlisted in the Australian Literature Review competition and being published online was a bonus and really lifted my spirits!
It is bad because, well… I haven’t written any more prose for my novel. I have, on occasion, written down some notes and have discussed characters. So, if I want to make myself feel better, I have done some work on the novel; just not written any story line.
Recently I found a link to an interesting blog article that is great for kicking the procrastinating writer in the bum! (A warning for those who don’t like colourful language but it is the actual point that counts!).” How to push past the bullsh*t and write that damned novel” has made me think that I should pick myself up and do some more work on That novel! He makes it sound so easy.