national novel writing month – Ruth Livingstone

5 year writing goal: November update

My quest for an agent for my historical novel, The Reluctant Scribe, continues. I’ve written to eight so far, with six polite rejections and two still pending.
Meanwhile, I’m moving on. From the past and into the future…

5 Year Writing Goal: November update

I’m taking part in Misha and Beth’s Five Year Project and my five-year goal is to write a novel and get it published.

My quest for an agent for my historical novel, The Reluctant Scribe, continues. I’ve written to eight so far, with six polite rejections and two still pending.

In the meantime, I’m moving on with my next novel. It’s completely different in tone and style. This time it’s a fast-paced, sci-fi adventure, written in the first person, present tense, and aimed at the young adult reader. Continue reading “5 year writing goal: November update”

Nano Time Again.

I’m getting there. A little behind target. But I’m getting there.

No time to add anything else. Too busy with NaNoWriMo.

I may be a rebel, but I’m going to be a 50,000 word finisher rebel.

NaNoWriMo 2013 – The End

It’s finished!

My NaNo novel, Chasing Credit, is done.

Actually, hang on – NO – it’s not finished!

Although I’ve officially ‘won’ NaNoWriMo this year again, Chasing Credit is far from complete. I did pretty well, achieving 52,574 words in less than 30 days and hitting the 50,000 mark on the 25th November. But, my personal aim was to achieve 60,000 words and to have written the end of the story, leaving gaps in the middle to fill in later. So, I haven’t hit 60,000 words and I haven’t reached the end, yet.

With two half-finished NaNo novels on my hard drive, I’m determined not to have a third. This is one I must complete.

But, first things first, I am going to return to my other novel, The Reluctant Scribe. The first draft of this is finished. In fact, I finished it on the last day of October in a desperate flurry of writing in order to clear the way for the beginning of NaNo. I am nervous about the redrafting/rewriting stage, having never got this far with a novel before. Recently I’ve bought Alan Watt’s book, The 90-day Rewrite, and I hope he guides me through the process. Will start working on the re-edit on 2nd December but for the next few days I am having a welcome break.

Day 16: NaNoWriMo writing tip 7

I spent most of yesterday writing and re-writing the same scene. It is an important scene and one I wanted to get right. This morning, I went back to the same darn scene and started reworking it again. After a while, I realised I was never going to make my word count target today if I didn’t stop fiddling.

NaNo writing tip number seven

If you find yourself getting stuck on the same old scene – STOP. Move on. Write the next scene. Or skip to another part of the story, even further ahead. You can always come back later. Don’t worry about it. Just keep moving forward.

My 2013 NaNo novel is called Chasing Credit. I’m aiming for 60,000 words by the end of November.

Day 13: Nanowrimo writing tip number six.

I don’t suffer from the notorious second week NaNo slump. But I do I suffer from the 3rd week ‘where the hell am I going with this pile of drivel’ NaNo blues. And it is about to hit me.

NaNo writing tip number six

Just keep going.
This may need repeating.
Just
Keep
Going

And one last time: JUST KEEP GOING

My 2013 NaNo novel is called Chasing Credit. I’m aiming for 60,000 words by the end of November.