New Year -- Return of Enthusiasm

I have finally recovered my ZEST for writing. And it's right back to romance, those are the stories I get excited about, even if they aren't the stories that come in my dreams.

Reasons for The Return of the Happy:

• Got my critique partner back! She was MIA for half a year, being a mom and a student and a new-job-go-getter and a NINJA. But she's back. YAY.
• Time to just let myself step back and examine my wants and my goals without putting pressure on myself to produce
• New craft books. I know, I am the worlds biggest nerd, but I love craft books. I love learning how other people build their stories, keep track of what, come up with new twists and all that. The one I'm still working on is amazing. Unlike the proliferation of beginner screenwriting books out there, this one is definitely next level and I'm learning a heap. Will give a review when I've finished it and know what I absorbed.
• Success stories of friends who, while also aiming for publication with Harlequin, are finding success with other publishing houses.
• Got to the six months mark Monday on my submitted full manuscript with the London office of HQN, sent an email to check status. It's just an email to check status, but it still feels like some kind of forward momentum.
• I think part of my malaise had to do with the fall. I always get blue when the leaves fall and the air goes cold, but January feels *new* and full of possibilities, and that always reinvigorates me. 
• Starting a second blog with another writing buddy, details to be announced later. For it, I get to draw turtles. I love turtles. That is all. 

Back soon.

Plottin like a fool...

I love plotting. I love brainstorming, asking what if, finding links between the GMC of the H/H. But, the more I do it, the more frustrated I become by my tendency to be vague about some parts of the story. Vague as in, I have an undefined idea(like 'Pull wacky hijinx') which I never really put into many words because I feel that part of the story is golden and doesn't need plumbed in order to continue on with the plot. I guess this is the pantser part of my process.

Except, sometimes these undefined ideas I'm sure will work, just don't work.

With current WIP, there's been something bugging me about the setup and I couldn't figure out what it was. Last night, before bed, I focused on that bit of the storyline and tried to put into words what bothered me about it. I had no answers, just a feeling that something was off. After writing down what bugged me, I went to sleep. During the night, my brain apparently wrestled that bear to the ground, and when I woke up this morning the solution was my first thought after "I'm awake." I promptly wrote it down.

Later, after some errands and Real Life stuff, I went to put my new solution into my plot, and ... my whole plot FELL APART. It's all farked up now. On one hand, I'm glad that I've spent time dragging my feet instead of writing much more of it. To feel like I wasn't just being lazy or unmotivated, I'm telling myself that my subconscious knew I'd have to rework the entire darned plot to make it work, and that it hates discovery drafts--that's why it kept saying things like... YOU SHOULD READ THIS BEFORE WE WRITE MORE...

As much as I love plotting, I hate when my plots fall apart and I have to start over. New Voices entry rewind: starting tonight on plotjitsu V. 2.0.