I have a new goal these days: have my novel ready to submit by the time the baby comes. Query, cover letter, the works. That way, during those newborn months, when there will be little or no time for writing at all, I can still be making forward progress. A submission may take an hour (or several) to prepare, but most of that is spent in composing the associated documents.
The problem? I set this goal three weeks ago, and since then I haven’t done much. I wrote out a list of problems to be addressed (covering both sides of a sheet of notebook paper), but my attempts to do something about the list have been halfhearted.
About 3:30 a.m. on Sunday I woke from a dream—a vivid dream, one containing the climax of a novel. A new novel, with new characters—and one that is not primarily a love story. I drifted in and out of dreams for the next couple of hours, and my mind, busy at work on it, kept handing me pieces of the puzzle. By the time I woke up for good and went down to the computer, I had a good start on a new novel. I spent an hour or two on Sunday sketching characters and general plot points, roughing out the final scenes in the book, and drafting a list of subjects to research and holes to flesh out the plot.
Now, I have another reason to finish my novel. (Who needs NANO?) I want to start a new one, and my life is chaotic enough without having two major projects underway.
So today, I sat down with a better work ethic. I gritted my teeth and knocked out several points on my list. Another few days like this, and I’ll have the list wiped out, and be ready to begin polishing at last. Luckily, I have several hours of non-naptime babysitting lined up this week. While this doesn’t guarantee success, it does increase my odds exponentially.
New goal: by the time we have picked a president, 8 days from now, I will be on the polish phase of my novel.
Onward and upward, word warriers!
