Becoming More Productive

During NaNoWriMo this year, I wasn’t quite as productive as I was last year. Rather than 300k words, I only ended up writing about 286k words. Which doesn’t seem like a whole lot less (and in fact produced an entire extra book) but it’s enough for me to feel like I let myself become less prolific.

Now, I know this isn’t actually true. I have four novels sitting and waiting for my attention. Most of which I’ll probably need to add words to, but I’m alright with that. I just have to figure out where I can add a little bit of action.

Anyway, because I felt less productive during NaNo, now I feel like I need to be more productive when it comes to my editing.

As any of you that regularly read this blog will probably already know, I consider myself to be a slow editor. I’m not saying it takes me years and years to get anything edited, and I probably only think that because I can get through a first draft so quickly, why doesn’t the rest of it go as quickly?

Despite knowing all of that, though, I can’t help but feel like I can go at least a little bit faster. So I’m going to be working at trying to make that happen. There’s going to be a few steps involved:

1. Actually stick to my goals. One of the big problems I have with productivity (and I know I’ve said this before) is that I seem to have a hard time keeping on track with the goals I lay out for myself. So the first step to being more productive is to lay out goals and actually stick to them.
2. Learn how to edit. I’m not saying that I’ve been doing it wrong since I started, but I’ve never really looked in to how other people edit, so I’m looking at getting some books and reading up on the subject. Hopefully I’ll learn some tips and tricks to getting through the process quicker.
3. Don’t give up! In the past when the editing seems to become really bogged down, and I feel like there’s just too much work to do to make it worth it, I give up on the novel. I’m going to try not to do that anymore. While this may not help, necessarily, with the speed of my editing, it will help with how many viable novels I have.

There you have it. My three step process. I’m also going to be changing up what I’m working on. Try to have different projects in different stages. One editing (Okay, I have two: Pandora and Birth), one planning (Malice) and one writing (I don’t have one of these yet, but I do plan to have something ready to start writing for February). That way I can move on to other projects and not spend all of my time obsessed with one.

Hopefully this will help. If not, at least I know I tried something. And it’s not like I’m ever going to give up writing. This is what I want to do with my life, now I just have to actually see it through.

Do you feel like you need to be more productive with your writing? What do you do to keep yourself on track?

My Covers

As always, I've found myself falling behind on all of my current projects.  (Actually, I'm caught up with my planning, but just barely.  I'm surprised that I've managed to make it this far).  Unfortunately that means that the amount of time I have for blogging has been reduced to nothing.  So rather than droning on and on today (which, you all know, I'm perfectly capable of doing) I thought I would share with you the covers a friend of mine has made for my novels.

She's gotten three done, and says she has an idea for the fourth, and I can't wait to see what she come up with.  She's amazingly talented.

S.E. makes amazing covers (as I'm sure you'll all agree).  I love her work, and I'm extremely grateful that she decided to make these covers for me.  While I work on a novel, I enjoy having these covers plastered everywhere (just in case anyone was wondering what I was currently working, of course).

Are you participating in nano and want her to make a cover for you?  Visit her thread and request one. She is taking orders until the 28th of October.  I would suggest you get in while you can.

Do you like to  make covers for your novels?

Eeek...Nano!

So, it's officially October, which means that nano is just around the corner, and I find myself freaking out just a little bit.  And by a little bit, I mean a lot.  My brain is ready to explode with the amount that I need to do before November first.  I kind of want to cry.

I broke down all of my goals for you last time, so I'm not going to repeat them all, but suffice it to say, it's a lot.  More than I think I can actually finish, but I'm going to give it everything I have.

Anyway, that's not really what I wanted to talk to you about.  As you might be able to guess from the title of this post, I want to talk about NaNoWriMo. (You might want to get used to it...during the nano season I really don't shut up about it...I'm warning you now.)

With nano comes all these new challenges.  First of all, as I'm a crazy robot, I never stick with the challenge nano sets out for us.  That's right, fifty thousand words in a month just isn't crazy enough for me, so I always up my goal.  This year it's going to be four books, so I thought that today I would tell you about those books and where I am with them.

Up first is the YA urban fantasy Stolen Magick

Stolen Magick is set in a school that teaches for humans and Arcanists (though the humans certainly don't know about the Arcanists.)  For those of you wondering, Arcanists are basically witches combined with superheroes.  Each one has a specific ability (these are often the same as others in their 'power category'.  The main character,  Phaedra, starts at Arcan Academy a few months in to the school year, and soon makes friends with a group of humans.  But when a particularly nasty Arcanist by the name of Terri decides to mess with her head and instead accidentally unlocks powers that not even Phaedra knew about, her life becomes just a little more complicated.

Then we have the middle grade Aliens Stole My Socks

This mid grade is based around Tommy Thompson, a ten year old whose father died when he was six and now has a two year old sister and a step father that he hates.  His mother doesn't know what to do with him anymore when he catches an alien stealing socks out of the dryer.  He tries to chase the alien out of the house, but he ends up taking his sister, and Tommy is left to rescue her when none of the adults believe his story.  Along with his precocious friend, Felicia, he manages to make his way on board the mother ship.  The Aliens won't know what hit them.

The third book is an adult dystopian named Betraying Eden

Set in a the future when the air was poisoned during a massive war that wiped out most of earth's population, people now live in large domed cities that clean the air.  Rent is collected every month for the privilege of staying inside the safe zone, and if it isn't paid, residents are 'evicted' with nothing more than a single can of clean air.  Mordecai is the heir to the throne of Eden, though he spends most of his time on Snake's Ridge trying to help the people that can't always afford their rent.  When he gets himself, along with his two friends, Charlie and Jonah, evicted from Eden, Mordecai discovers just how harsh the real world is.

Finally I have the adult urban fantasy Birth

Unfortunately this one isn't as planned out as the others.  I do know that it's set in a world where Phoenix's exist.  Except they're not exactly what legend makes them out to be.  They walk the earth as humans and have the ability to manipulate fire.  Mag, a human, fell in love with a Phoenix, only to have him go through the burning.  Now she's raising him, and their daughter Aliera.  Other than that, I'm not sure exactly where it's going.

Those are my novels for NaNoWriMo this year.  I'm excited for them all, and can't wait to get started on them (especially now that I've written this post...I'd forgotten how much I was looking forward to some of them).  I can't wait for November to get here (though, I really can.  Really, November, you don't have to come quite as quick as October did...I don't mind). It's going to be Epic!

What are you writing for Nano?  Do you have everything ready to go yet?