Happy Easter everyone! And, if you don’t celebrate Easter, then Happy Sunday! If you have been following my blog, you will notice that, aside from my Weekly Writing Update, I did not post at all last week. There’s a very good reason for that. Work has been insane leading up to the Easter holidays and I had several pressing matters to take care of.

But now, with a week long vacation on the horizon, I have more time than I’ve had in months to actually write. It’s always hard during the holiday season to find time to write. My mind is usually focused on other matters and I cannot dedicate the time necessary to put a dent in my novel. I am so excited for this upcoming week because, come Hell or high water, I am going to finish ACT 1.

I have a few chapters left to go. My plan is as follows: I will finish Chapter 8 tomorrow (Monday) and work on a chapter a day for the rest of the week. If a chapter needs a little more time to marinate, I have the weekend to polish them up. But by Sunday, April 11th, ACT 1 will be done. I had initially planned on having ACT 1 completed sooner than this, but as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

With ACT 2 on the horizon, I have given thought to my big picture plans for my manuscript. I am hoping to have Draft 3 done by late June. Then, I will read through the manuscript, polish it up act by act (Draft 3.5), and send it out to Beta Readers. While I wait for their response, I will write a poem/short story to send out for publication. If all goes well, I should be able to start Draft 4 in September. Draft 4 will likely be shorter than Draft 3, focusing more on beefing up scenes and chapters than the actual plot/story. I am hoping that I can iron out all the story kinks in Draft 3. Most of them anyway.

For those of you who are interested, Camp NaNoWriMo starts this month. Camp NaNoWriMo is different than the traditional NaNoWriMo held in November for many reasons. The main one being that you can choose your word count limit, the kind of project you want to work on, and you can join cabins with other writing buddies. I have participated in the past and have found it very helpful, especially when I am in the revision phase. However, I am not participating this month. My revision process is much slower this time around and I do not want to get caught up in word count. I may join the second session of Camp in July, depending on how far along I am. For those interested in joining (it’s never too late), you can sign up at nanowrimo.org.

Until next time, kill your darlings, slay your dragons, and keep writing.