WEEKEND POTPOURRI — SO MUCH TO DO!–JAN. 8

NEED A "TO-DO" LIST!

Good morning, bloggers! When I woke up today, I almost turned over and went back to sleep.

But then I remembered the movies I hadn’t yet watched and the book I haven’t finished reading…plus, the blog posts not written!

BOOK TO FINISH!

DVD TO WATCH...AND REVIEW!

Oh, and the WIP I’m working on for ROW 80 Challenge.

CURRENT WRITING PROJECT

Let’s talk about that first.  I decided for this challenge that I would start with 30 minutes a day.  What I would be doing (at first) was a quick pass-through read and proofing.  On the first day, I spent 30 minutes, as vowed.  But on each subsequent day, I have exceeded my time:  60 minutes, 60 minutes, 60 minutes, and 45 minutes respectively.

I haven’t done today’s writing yet. But two days ago, I finished the read-through/editing and continued with the writing.  I now have 55,270 words, so I should start planning how to move toward the finish line (of the finished draft).

Finishing is sometimes difficult.  First, I don’t want to say good-bye to the characters, so I’m tempted to keep going.  But I’ve learned that doing so could be the kiss of death for those very characters.  Readers could lose interest, start yawning, and even toss the book aside—unfinished!

It’s not a romance novel, even though there are some “romantic moments,” so I’m not shooting for a “happily-ever-after” ending. But, like my other books, I do want us to leave the characters feeling hopeful; perhaps feeling satisfied that they’ve learned something on their journey and that they’ll start making…well, better choices.

Or not.  My character in Interior Designs was kind of a bad-ass in Embrace the Whirlwind.  Most readers hated her, or at the very least, found her vacuous and manipulative.

In this current story, I’m hoping to dig deep into this character—actually, my goal is to have HER dig deep—until she discovers some core truths and starts making some changes.  Or at least that she’ll arrive at a place of coming to terms with who she is.

She has a great BFF, Maeve, with whom she has shared many moments.  She realizes, in her exploration, that one of her mistakes in the final two years of her marriage was closing herself off from her support system.  Keeping her secrets.

Now she is trying to improve and share more of herself.

So I’m off to explore and come to terms with my need to finish this draft and start seriously editing it!

Maybe I’ll have a Mimosa first….