WIP Wednesday, Week 1

So, I'm starting in the meme begun by my lovely CP and best friend Sarah over at Squidink, to talk about my WIP on Wednesdays. She's currently on Week 7, so go check her out.

The first thing I want to say is I FINISHED A FREAKING MANUSCRIPT THIS WEEK!!!

Yeah, that's right. I finally finished the first draft of my 2011 NaNoWriMo novel, which I'm calling The Contemporary Novel (I'm so creative). And, to share my love of finishing, I wanted to share the stats. And a wordle.

I'm a little worried by how often I use "like" and "just"

• The Contemporary Novel
• Chapters: 17, plus an epilogue
• Words: 53,431
• Characters: 281,281 (How awesome is that?)

• Point of view: First person
• Main characters: About seven, including the narrator

• Total time: Three months (but I barely worked on it two of those months)
• Total freakouts: I'm going with about three. It was fun.

Isn't that exciting! Because I'm excited by it.

Anyway, with that done and crossed off my goal list for February (oh my gosh, it's already the 8th?!) I went back to working on my previous manuscript, STAR RUBY, which I was working on before NaNoWriMo started. I opened the program and prepared to work on my fourth draft.

And. . . I promptly had a panic attack. 

I'd been so focused on drafting, and I mean first drafting here, that it really freaked me out to start again on this one. I suddenly was in the middle of not knowing where to start and really over-thinking everything. I finally came down a bit after a phone call with Sarah when she told me to quite literally stop over-thinking. 

(I love a good friend and writing partner. They somehow always know what it is you need.)

Anyway. So, I re-wrote chapter one. I edited chapter two. I wrote a new chapter three. I'm working on chapter four. That's where I stand. I need to learn how to plot better. 

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Also! Last fall I joined into this challenge where a bunch of writers got together to meet new people and extend their reaches. 

Now, I'm involved in Rachael Harrie's 4th Platform-Building Campaign (the other was the 3rd, FYI). 

Last fall I was able to connect to several other writers that are quickly becoming really good online friends. So, I don't at all mind expanding my base of friends on the Web. 

So, if you're new, hello! Welcome! I respond to all my comments, so if you hit choose subscribe to replies in the dropdown menu, we'll be able to communicate farther!

If you're an old friend, maybe you'll consider joining in? There's challenges and tons of people to meet and is a good wave of support. Seriously! Click here to sign up on Rachael's blog.

Well that's all for me folks. Happy Wednesday!