Writer-Talk Tuesday: 2011 in Review and Goals for 2012
After two years (2009 and 2010) in which I was under deadline to get three books written each year, 2011 turned out to be a much different year for me.
Starting the Year with a Missed Deadline
I started the year pulling a couple of almost-all-nighters to get The Art of Romance finished—the book that was already a couple of weeks overdue when I fell and broke my ankle in November 2010. I sent it in on January 3, then got the first round of feedback from my content editor back a week later—and at her prompting, ended up adding nearly 9,000 words to the manuscript, making The Art of Romance officially my longest published novel.
After finishing Art, I got to work writing sample chapters for the first book in my proposed new historical series, Follow the Heart. It was nice to be writing something new—even though I could spend five hours “writing” and end up with fewer than 500 words because I had to figure out how long it would take someone to get from New York to Liverpool via steamship in 1851—and what the ship was like and where, exactly, it made port, and how far the train station was from the port and how one got from port to train station . . . But I got the sample chapters (prologue and first three chapters) written and sent back to my agent so he could send those out with the proposal.
In February, I received the galleys for both Ransome’s Quest and The Art of Romance to edit, which I did in the last couple of weeks I was in Arkansas, before I got the all-clear on my ankle and got to come home to Nashville.
The Last Contracted Book
Once I was home, I had to turn my attention to my last contracted book, Turnabout’s Fair Play. But I also needed to be working on what I was going to write after that—and since I hadn’t heard anything on the historical proposal I’d sent to my agent in August 2010—except that one editor wanted those sample chapters—I wrote and submitted two different contemporary series proposals, sending both to Barbour, which has published both of my contemporary series so far.
With a looming deadline of May 15, I tried my best in March and April to get a handle on the story, but Flannery and Jamie just didn’t want to work with me. So I actually wrote the bulk of the novel, more than 70,000 words, in the two weeks before deadline—and that included making a post eleventh hour change (because it was after midnight, making it officially May 15 when I did so) to one of the major plot points of the story when I learned that even just using character names from the Lord of the Rings series would mean getting permission due to certain copyright laws. And thank goodness for the editorial process—because there were a few places where I didn’t change something Eomer related to something Gawain related!
After a quick editing process, with the final proofing of the galley at the end of July (when, of course, I was traveling), I found myself free for the first time in three years. Free to write whatever I wanted—
Well, not really. You see, I had three proposals out being looked at by different publishing houses. B&H had expressed interest in the historical series, and my editor at Barbour had asked for the second contemporary proposal, so surely a contract was coming, right? But until I got a contract, I didn’t want to start writing anything new, because I knew if I did, I’d get caught up in that story only to have one of the other proposals sell.
A New Series
In mid-August, I signed my new contract with B&H publishing for the Great Exhibition series. With a deadline of May 1, 2012, it seemed like I had all the time in the world to get it written. So I set a goal of finishing the first draft by October 31, 2011. After all, my local group does a month-long writing marathon in October (our version of NaNo), so surely that would help motivate me to get whatever remained of it finished.
However . . . on September 1, I went back to work part-time (25 hours/week) because the editing I’d been doing the last few years dried up, and the part-time job was the only one for which I even got called for an interview. Sure, I still have my afternoons free (I’m off work at 2:30), yet I couldn’t get myself pulled together enough to get onto a good schedule. So by the end of October, I’d only added a few thousand words to Follow the Heart. So I set a new goal of Christmas . . .
And, as we all can see, that didn’t happen either.
I learned in September, when I saw my Barbour editor at the ACFW conference in St. Louis that they’ve changed their editorial lines and the proposals I’d sent them no longer fit what they were going to be doing. However, my new editor at B&H asked to see one of the contemporary proposals, so that one is still out there.
2012—The Year of Not Just Making but BEATING Deadlines
Follow the Heart is due May 1, 2012—now just under four months away. And I’m still sitting at 25,000 words (with a finished ms. length contracted at 80–90,000 words). I wrote a little bit just before Christmas, but have been using the excuse of having come home from Baton Rouge last week with an upper respiratory infection that just won’t go away for the reason why I haven’t made myself sit down and write in the afternoons when I get home from work. But my goal is to have a workable first draft by the end of January.
This year I will not wait until the last few weeks before a book is due to get it finished! And I will NOT miss the deadlines on this new contract! My local group has decided to do another marathon month in January. So I set a goal of getting Follow the Heart up to 25,000 words by the end of December so that I can push through and get the first draft finished by the end of January (meaning I need to write between 55–65,000 words).
The biggest problem I’m having with writing this book? I’ve forgotten how to write a first draft! I’ve become so accustomed to editing as I go—I had to with those two- to three-month deadlines on my last six books—that it’s hard for me to just write without having to make it perfect.
The second book in the series is due October 15, 2012, so not only do I need to get a handle on the first book and get that first draft finished in time to have a couple of months to work on edits/revisions before I turn it in, I’d like to get a head-start on the second book. And then the third is due April 1, 2013. And while that seems a long way off, I know it isn’t.
Once I get this series well in hand and am comfortable with knowing I’ll make those deadlines, there are two other pieces I’d like to start working on as well . . . Jenn Guidry’s story, as a fourth and final installment in the Brides of Bonneterre series, since so many have asked for her story; and the backstory of the pirate El Salvador from Ransome’s Quest, along with his crew, especially Declan. If I ever get these written, they would probably be nontraditionally published—mainly for my own edification as well as the entertainment of those who enjoyed the characters in the published novels.
I’ll also be back to blogging five days a week. And I have an idea for a possible nonfiction book. Where, oh, where shall I find the time for all these writing projects??? 😉
What are your writing goals for 2012?
Finish a long-neglected work in progress? Get proposals out to that dream agent? Blog more? What will you commit yourself to when it comes to writing in 2012?
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KayeDacus.com 
Kaye, I know you can meet those goals. I have several writing goals for 2012, but the first is to finish the rough draft of my WIP by 1/31/12-so I’m very happy for our January marathon month. I also set a goal to enter Genesis this year. It terrifies me, but I’ve got to make myself do it.
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And with your 8,500-word weekend, you can now see how I was able to do those short turn-around deadlines . . . as well as how draining those were!
I know you can get that manuscript finished. And just think—once you do, you can start something new. 😀
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You can do it! You can do it! And I have to ask…does the non-fiction idea have anything to writing? Because girl, you have so much material in your Writing Index that you could probably write TWO books!
My writing goals are to finish my second book, find a crit partner, polish, and start on book 3. I am starting to query so that I can fill up my new Rejection file. I’ve already got one made in preparation!!!! lol
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Actually, the nonfiction idea has to do with being forty and still-single. Even with a master’s degree and nine published novels, I don’t feel qualified to put out writing-craft books. It’s one thing to have it here on the blog, but in a book . . . scary!
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Oh, and with as much work as I know you’ve put in to learning the craft and polishing your writing, I wouldn’t be surprised if that rejection file doesn’t ever hold very many rejections. 😉
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Sherrinda, in just a few years’ time the rejection file has gone from a manilla folder to a virtual folder, hasn’t it?
In early December I submitted a full manuscript hard copy. Went to the post office with my big box and MAILED it. I felt so connected, so ‘writerly’, as though I was carrying on the tradition of all those who’ve gone before. Hitting the send button is just as scary but I think I miss the ‘good old days’ of a rejection by mail. What would Stephen King have done without all those rejections stuck on the nail in the wall, to push him on?
Kaye, my whole life has flip flopped again and right now, I’m unemployed and I have no excuse but to make a word count or hour goal for each day. Used to be just ‘as much as possible’ (When I got to my writing each early morning or evening). So I’m setting chapter goals by week. I also agree, writing raw material is so different from editing and polishing that it feels like a whole different skill set.
I look forward to the Great Exhibition series!
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I’m sorry to hear about the unemployment situation. But, yes, having a goal set rather than “as much as possible” will help structure your time. That’s what I’ve got to do this afternoon when I get home, now that I’m feeling better, is set up a schedule for myself as well as daily word-count goals so that I can get this manuscript finished this month.
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Thanks Kaye. I have confidence you can knock this one out on time and in grand style.
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Kaye, I thought of you these last few weeks. Our PBS station has been running a series on period mini-series — behind the scenes. It was British and absolutely fascinating, going into the details of research and costume and the extreme care they took to get things right. I kept thinking of your historicals and how your blog has kind of been like a behind-the-scenes of how a period novel is written.
My work life has changed drastically and time is eaten up in commuting. I can read a lot but find writing in transit (often while standing up in a bus) isn’t easy. There’s about an hour and a half between when I get home and when I get to bed. Considering I have to eat and walk the dog and get ready for the next day…well…there’s not a lot of time left for writing. I find myself scared of making any kind of sweeping commitments or goals but also scared not to either. So, what I’m doing this week is weekly goals. That way I can adjust them depending on the workload of each week. Like my goals are higher this week because I’m still off work, but will drop dramatically starting January 9. I’m setting word count goals amd also dabbling in short stories as well.
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Kav, that series sounds fabulous! I hope our PBS station picks it up—or that it’ll stream on Netflix so I can see it.
As far as making commitments to writing when there seems to be no time, sometimes that’s when we can be our most prolific—because when better than when we’re overwhelmed by life/schedules to lose ourselves in worlds of our own making. The most prolific time of my life when I was writing for pleasure (before contracts/deadlines) was when I was working full-time, taking 9 hours (3 courses) each semester finishing my bachelor’s degree, and serving as an officer with ACFW. In two years with that workload, I wrote three complete manuscripts. No, they weren’t perfect, and two will never see the light of day (the third was the original version of Love Remains, which was completely rewritten, save for one heavily edited scene that I managed to save). But the writing was what kept me sane during that time. So don’t overlook the power of what writing can do for you when it seems like your life doesn’t allow for it.
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LOL, I’m tired just reading your writing schedule. What I wonder is what you’re doing with your spare time.
Heather
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Spare time? What’s that? 😉
My biggest problem right now is that I have too much spare time—because I’m not using my afternoons wisely/constructively. For me, it seems like the less “free” time I have, the more I can get done.
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First, thank God for your contracts! I know you’re pleased to be so busy.
I’m happy that you’re considering “nontraditionally” publishing Salvador’s and Jenn’s stories. I for am look forward to them, and I love supporting my favorite authors in nontraditional format. I find that I’m even more excited to purchase their titles, which may be less expensive for me yet reap bigger royalties for them.
2012 is first and foremost about finsihing my NaNo project, now about 60k long. I think I’ve got another 40k to go in the first draft. Then, because things have changed so much along the way, I’ll have to make hard, firm story decisions and start fresh on a second draft. But before doing that, I think I’ll write a synopsis for a new story, the one I’ll probably begin during NaNo this year, if not before. I like the intensity of NaNo writing. Worked well for me, although I don’t want it quite that intense year-round.
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Just get in the zone, Kaye;) I’ve never forgotten that very sound advice from you which has freed me from my perfectionistic OCD editing tendencies. OH WHAT A JOY to just WRITE, WRITE, WRITE for the sheer joy of it! As for 2012, I still struggle with balance on the blog, social networking, etc. I think it will always be my stumbling block. I did kill my Twitter account as there is nothing remotely tweety about me. Praying His best for you, your deadlines, and can’t wait to get my hands on your next book!
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I too want to read Jenn’s story and Salvador’s!
My CP’s and I are doing our own mini-NaNo this month too. My goal is just to write 5 days a week to get myself back in the groove. I’ve been in editing mode so long I don’t want to take any chances on shutting down my inner writer.
By the end of next week my proposal and requested full will be off to Tamela and Rachelle. With Rachelle’s move this week to Books and Such and I see now why finishing that second edit took so long. God had a plan with it. And I can now send it out with confidence (after I make a couple changes in the opening scene–again!), knowing it’s the best I can make it at this point in time.
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