Novel Nap

So the first draft is taking a little nap, but all I want to do is go into my hard drive and wake it up and play with it! Print it out and put it in a binder and just stare at it with awe. Laugh at its wordy sentences and overuse of adverbs (it is just a little baby novel, after all, it doesn’t know better yet).

But I know better, and I need to let it sit for at least another week. I know I said I’d leave it alone for three weeks, but I really don’t know if I will make it. Last week I took a huge break and did a lot of nothing. Well, I read a lot, which always counts as good use of time in my world. And I watched a lot of movies (thank you, AMC) where you really can study storytelling and conflict and overcoming obstacles. But, I got down just barely 600 words on a new short story. I did not revise any existing short stories. I did not send any finished short stories out for submission. I did not even blog!

And why was my big grand plan of switching to short story land and maintaining my other writerly duties foiled? Well, I was a bit creatively exhausted, but the real reason was that I didn’t set any goals. This is what motivates me. When I make a promise to myself to do something, I do it. When I just kind of think about doing something, well, who knows what happens.

So, I have goals for this week. Send finished short story for submission (going to post office today!). Complete first draft of new short story. Revise two existing short stories and send to critique buddies. I hope all this will help take my mind off my shiny new novel that I just can’t stop thinking about. Then, when I do come back to it, I’ll be able to see it in a new light.