Creative Juices Flowing

It has been less than two weeks since I started my new WIP. I am already at 10,000 words. That is insane to me. If I keep up this pace, I could tentatively have the rough draft done in four months. I have never written this much in such little time.

I still like my previous WIP and would like to go back to it again sometime, but I love the way the creative juices are flowing for me. It's hard to explain what happens when I get in the zone. It's like time doesn't exist. I was writing at a little after nine o'clock and now it's ten thirty. I had my headphones on listening to soundtracks and my husband put his hand on my shoulder and scared me.

My goal for the April Writing Challenge was 8000 words. And now I am 2000 words past that. So my new goal for the challenge is to get to 15,000 words. There are 11 days left in the month. That is 500 words a day. My time is going to get a little busier this week, but I am sure I can do it.

Writer's Block

I wanted to work on my current WIP (work in progress), but I just kept hitting the wall. I can feel what I want to write, but I just can't get it out on paper. So, I decided to go another direction.

I have an idea for another novel that has on my mind. I've written down a few ideas for it, but never really started writing it. I decided to go ahead and start it. I've gotten 3000 words already from 3 different writing times.

This one feels like it's going a little smoother than my last one. Of course, we'll see if I end up getting writer's block on this one. Hopefully I can get some good speed built up so I can just knock that wall down.

I've read that for the first draft to just get the story down. Don't worry about getting that perfect draw you in beginning. Don't worry about whether the scene flows right or not. Just get the story out. Then go back and reword things, find the starting point, change scenes around a little. Or even cut out parts that no longer seem necessary to have written.

My new goal for this WIP is 8000 words this month. I'm almost half-way there. Maybe I'll even "blow this thing wide open." That's for you Tristi. :)

Reading to Improve Writing

I've heard or read it somewhere that reading can help your writing. I love it when I find an author or book that just makes me want to be the best writer I can possibly be. You know the kind. The one that you get real invested in the characters. Or you love the back and forth tension of the characters. The plot line just pulls you in.
You just want more. You wish the author would write more books or longer books because you just want more.

And then I think that is how I want other people to feel when they finish reading my novel. I can look at these books and see how they "show, not tell" the story. It helps me to look at what I've written and see how to better phrase what I'm trying to write.

I'm doing Tristi's April writing challenge. So far I have about 300 out of 5000 words done for my goal. I need to get going on in. I have read 3 books this month (and it's only the 7th), so that has been occupying my time. But I finished the series and now I have to wait for more. So, it's time to write again.