Beautiful Books ~ 2017 Writing Goals

   If you're one of the few people who frequently reads this blog, you already know this, but I'm SUPER EXCITED about it so I'm gonna say it again. For my birthday, my parents are paying for me to go to the Minneapolis Young Writers Workshop this summer! Which means I'm going to meet Aimee, Katie, Hannah, Caroline, and Olivia!! I am beyond thrilled to meet you* girls, as well as all the authors who will be at the conference(including Shannon freaking Hale oh my gosh).

*"you" because you're really the only ones who read this blog

   The only problem with this is that I have to have a draft ready way sooner than expected. Which is scary. So instead of actually writing, I'm going to blog about my writing goals for 2017 by joining the Beautiful Books linkup!

1. What were your writing achievements last year? 
I actually did a lot of writing last year, including the beginning of a few stories that I'll post about later. And, because I'm sure you want to know everything I did, I'm going to make a list.

• Children of the Nameless draft one (72,739 words) This is the first first draft I've ever finished, so I'm understandably thrilled. I also won Camp NaNo(the first NaNo event I've ever won) while writing this draft. Those 72k words were actually written over a two-year period of time, but I still finished in 2016 and I'm really proud of that.
• Children of the Nameless draft two (17,546 words) Draft two is a thing, guys, and I love it. I have wonderful betas, the plot is coming together, and the writing is infinitely better. And yes, some of that 17k was written in 2017. Sue me.
• Unnamed NaNoWriMo novel (10,695 words) I obviously didn't win NaNo, but it was really nice to focus on something other than CotN for the first time in 2 years. And, when I reread it the other day, it was a lot better than I remember. So perhaps there's hope for the future for this story.
• Rust, Blood, and Stardust (2125 words) This is a lovely sci-fi about three best friends that has aBSOLUTELY NO PLOT but I love it so much.
• We Are The Summer (3456 words) I normally don't write contemporary, but when it's a novella, I actually trust myself to finish. Also it's very fluffy and cute and summery(obviously) and I kinda love it.
• (also there was some fanfic, some of which I'm actually really proud of)

2. What’s on your writerly “to-do list” for 2017? 
Finish draft two by April 15 and then edit the first few chapters for the conference in June. I plan on finishing draft three as well, possibly working on one of my other projects, and writing more fanfiction because gosh dang it, fanfic is really fun.


3. Tell us about your top-priority writing projects for this year!
I kinda already answered that? I have several projects I might work on after CotN, but I won't decide until the time comes.


4. How do you hope to improve as a writer? Where do you see yourself at the end of 2017?
I want to get more consistent at writing. I'm coming to terms with being a slow writer, but my inconsistency is annoying and detrimental. By the end of the year, I want to be writing every day and have draft three(or maybe even draft four) of CotN finished.


5. Describe your general editing process.
This is kind of a complicated question, because the beginning of CotN was so messed up that I'm having to completely rewrite it in draft two. Draft three will probably be tightening up loose plot stuff. After that, I want to print it out so I can make notes on the actual manuscript like a cool person.


6. On a scale of 1-10, how do you think this draft turned out?
Honestly, 6-7. Draft one was such a mess, but it has lots of good parts and lots of potential and I'm SO PUMPED.


7. What aspect of your draft needs the most work?
The beginning of both drafts need some work. Draft one has a lot of plot holes and I'm working on fixing those in this draft.


8. What do you like the most about your draft?
Well the fact that draft one exists is pretty spectacular. And honestly I really like the kissing scenes, even if the romances were rather abrupt. *sighs at myself for not planning better*


9. What are your plans for this novel once you finish editing? More edits? Finding beta readers? Querying? Self-publishing? Hiding it in a dark hole forever?
More edits! Take it to a writer's conference for people to look at! (*screams*) Even more edits! More betas! Repeat cycle until published! 

I couldn't get away with not using a gif in this post

10. What’s your top piece of advice for those just finished writing a first draft?
For the love of all that's holy, take a break. You won't want to, but you need to. Also, it's not as bad as you think. I promise.

   How did your writing go in 2016? What are your plans for 2017? Would you actually be interested in hearing about my many plot bunnies/future projects? Also, it's not midnight for be yet so this totally counts as posting two weeks in a row. #virtualskittlesforme