#projectforgotten

[authorjcdumas]

Planning the Year 2020

In the fourth quarter of the year, I am looking back on the past year and looking forward to the next year.  Not much writing got done this week. I looked forward past the move and planned what I want to accomplish in the next four quarters, and even gave myself a year-long writing challenge.

My current projects include:

Project Forgotten, which has been written and edited once, still in the self-editing process.  My goal for 2020 is to complete the editing processing and beta reader process and finish the year in the professional process of professional editing and cover design.  I want to self publish this book in 2021.

Project Lost is currently being written.  I want to complete the first draft writing during NaNoWriMo this November, then start editing, and end the year in the beat reading phase.

Project AON, currently in the world-building stage. This is the story I wanted to write during NaNoWriMo, but since my characters aren’t flush out and my world-building is not complete, want to work on this the remainder of the year and start writing this book series in January.  My self-challenge is to write the four books in this series in one year.  The series is all outlined, plotted, and beat sheet completed, it's just personalizing the characters and the world.

I have the four quarters divided up and mapped out how I want to complete my goals.  Throughout the year, ill readjust the timeline depending on whether I am ahead or behind.  The challenge portion is to write four books in one year, utterly at one book every three months.  The books between 50 to 75k, using the high estimate of 75k, that's an average of 893 words a day, for the year.  I got this I can do this.  Oh boy!

Current WIP word count 15,068

Current WIP Project lost (writing) & Project AON (world building)

Goals for September 944 out of 2,500 words

[authorjcdumas]

Missing in August

I have not really posted to much, or at all, in August.  It's not that I haven’t been writing, unfortunately not as much as I would like.  We, my husband and I are getting ready to move, from Texas to Nevada.  So, unfortunately, the move is taking up more time and energy than my writing.  Between finding an apartment, packing, arranging the road trip to move both vehicles to our new locations, and saying goodbye to the friends we made here in Texas in the three years I lived.  

As far as writing, I am still working on Project Lost.  I have gotten to a moving part in the story due to the emotional exhaustion have been having trouble.  I am getting through the scenes slowly but surely.   Project Forgotten is still printed and sitting on my desk, waiting for me to read and edit again.  

Once we got to Nevada and unpacked enough to be productive, and with a desk.  I will continue with quarterly goals and monthly writing goals.  Right now I think I will only be able to write more off the cuff.  I have been going back and forth on whether I should or even could do NaNoWriMo in November.  It will depend on whats going on in the new apartment and also where I am in the story I am working on right now, I had planned to finish this before November, and I had a project in mind to start for that event, but I still need to complete this and work on the world-building and character in the next project.

[authorjcdumas]

Out of sight, but never forgotten.  I will be reading and revising again after Camp NaNoWriMo, see you in August!

[authorjcdumas]

An emotional outlining

This past week was more difficult than usual.  The project lost has some challenging content, a child loses their parents in a motor vehicle accident.  I understand and seen first hand that the mourning of an adult is very different than that of a child.  I am trying to depict the accurate account of both the physical and mentor rigors, of mourning or even PTSD in children.  Between remembering the recent family tragedies that  I encountered as I watched children within the same age range handle the manifestation of grief and the researching, this has emotionally drained me.  I am only outlining, but when I go to write this during Camp NaNoWriMo, I already see scenes that will be hard to write.  I was able to finish the scene-by-scene outline for Act I  and started Act II. This project will have me dig deep, but I need to stay honest about the situation and the characters.

Project Forgotten, on the other hand, had been printed, bound, and currently occupies an area on a  shelf below my desk.  Out of sight, but always on my mind.

Once this duology is complete, and both stories are told I can’t wait to continue to world build for the next project, project ABN.

[authorjcdumas]

Draft Two Complete

This week was productive, finish revising the last chapters.  Chapters 21 to 27 edited with a page of note to observe and review with my next read through.  This second draft was submitted to Office Depot for printing and bound together.  The next plan of action for this project is to sit on the shelf for one to two months before I do a short read followed by a long, and then go through my list of items to fix in the draft.  The topics to set or review in my next revision include:

Review Show v. Tell

Are my characters too passive

Combine chapters 

Add two scenes to the timeline

Rounding out the end of the week, I began to outline and organize my thoughts for my next project.  This will be done by the end of June to be ready for Camp NaNo July. 

I am so excited to begin my next project.  I enjoyed writing and wrote all the time as a kid and teenager.  I didn’t think that I would be able to finish a novel and win at my first try at NaNoWriMo.  It makes me believe that writing and indie publishing is a possibility.  I still have a bit to do before this first project is anywhere ready to be published. 

[authorjcdumas]

Almost done editing

This was an exciting week for editing, I finished seven chapters this week. I am almost complete with this set of revisions.  I have seven more chapters until done.   I also started my timeline for the champion project, this will be my July Camp NaNo project.  The champion project already has several mid-plot points, an incited incident, and an ending.  

In the next week, I want to complete four chapters of editing and start and finish Act I story beats.  

[authorjcdumas]

Editing and Goals

It’s May almost June, and I am deep in the trenches of editing.  My current work in progress written during NaNoWriMo 2018, well the first 50k anyways.  After the thirty days of trying to get in the words and truly pushing myself to win my first NaNoWriMo.  December brought about the NaNo hangover.  No matter how much I wanted to keep writing, I lost all motivation.  After the holidays, I decided to finish the first draft.  In January the first draft was complete, at about 60k.  

The draft sat on a shelf for two months before I dove into the world of editing.  So far I did one complete quick read through, within three days, where I noted missing storylines and added new ones.  During the April Camp NaNoWriMo, I added over 10k, bringing the word count to just over 70k.  

Currently, I have been going through chapter by chapter to begin to tweak the grammar and make sure what was added makes sense.  I just completed chapter 14 out of 27.  The goal is to finish this round, take notes to finish the outline to the companion piece, the secondary story I planned to be a novella looking at the story from a different perspective.  That story will be my July Camp NaNo project.  In September, I will do another quick read, and take notes to see what else needs to be changed or tweaked.  

The goal for this Tumblr is to put me out there, and in away publish my goals and progress, hopefully weekly, to make myself more accountable.