My WIP wake-up call

I'm pretty excited--my story's finally coming together. It's been through multiple reincarnations and multiple complete rewrites (exhausting, let me tell you). And it's taken so much longer than I ever expected. I know that, if I actually want this writing thing to pan out and turn into a career at some point, I've got to be more organized and make writing a priority. Writing BREAKFALL has been a serious wake-up call and a fantastic learning experience, opening my eyes to what can be and what has to happen for my dreams to come true.

Writing BREAKFALL so far:

May 2010
Got idea for story, research, a little panster writing
June 2010
Changed setting to Paris, changed POV to 1st person past tense
July 2010
Scattered forward progress on WIP, due to much time spent floating in lake with a frosty adult beverage in hand
August 2010
Nada written. The start of school always takes all of my attention
September 2010
Finally in the school groove, decent plotting and writing on WIP, though the plot's changed about 20 times at this point: mob in, mob out; girl's name changed; mob back in; and much more
October 2010
Finally nailed down plot, scattered writing; football season, every weekend occupied
November 2010
Finished zero draft during NaNoWriMo and won 20-page critique from writer who just got a book deal; sent off first 20 pages (though I did let her know this was just a first draft and wasn't clean); got critique back and it pretty much ripped my WIP apart. Not surprised but it still rocked my writing world.
December 2010
Used critique to evaluate story. Wrote not much at all. Decided to set WIP aside. Too much to think about. 
January-February 2011
No writing done on BREAKFALL
March 2011
Both literally and figuratively tore WIP apart and started pretty much from scratch, breaking WIP into scenes, putting them on notecards, keeping what worked and discarding the rest. Lots of moving and shaking going on.
April 2011
Still back at the drawing board; doing a lot more research, trying to get a better handle on character motivation and come up with a more solid plot
May-October 2011
Minimal progress; not really focused on story. Life interfered, other things took priority and, unfortunately, my writing fell by the wayside. This can't happen if I want to be a full-time writer anytime soon.
November 2011
NaNoWriMo time again. As I was doing it with my students, I knew I needed to write another story. Dug out BREAKFALL and dusted it off. Decided it had decent bones but pretty much everything was wrong with it. Changed the plot. Changed the setting. Changed the characters. Started from scratch and, while I didn't "win" NaNo, did get a good 25k written and a plot I was much happier with.
December 2011
Got some words written (about 10k) but there was something holding back the flow of the story. Played Skyrim, read a ton, and worked on book review blog while trying to puzzle it out.
January 2012
BIG changes--went from 1st person to 3rd person and my main character changed from a guy to a girl, MC's love interest from a girl to a guy. This worked SOOOO much better--the story started flowing and so did the words. I'm hoping to have this draft done by Tuesday. Which would be completely awesome.

Seriously. THESE ODDS SUCK!

When THE HUNGER GAMES trailer first came out, I watched it a ton of times, chills running up and down my arms each and every time. I even marked the release date on my calendar (seriously, I've never done this before, not even for the awesome Harry Potter).


Here it is if you've been living under a rock and missed it:





Now, Evil Iguana Productions has come up with a completely awesome spoof of that trailer (Moira Rogers posted it on her blog and I swear, I scared the pups because I kept bustin' out laughing). See if you don't agree:





Doesn't the fake Katniss look a lot like the "real" Katniss? And I love how they followed the same pattern as the official movie trailer. A great spoof.

Bustin' through

You know those days when you really-really-really want something so bad, you're willing to break through any barrier to get to it?

Yeah. Me, too.

2012: Let's try this again...

Happy New Year!

I don't know about you but for me, 2011 was nothing special. Actually, it was rather disappointing, as far as hopes and dreams and other stuff went. *sigh* 


But that's all water under the bridge now, right? It's 2012! And, if you're an optimist, it's a fresh start -- a brand new year that's clean and ready for new and wonderful things. If you're a pessimist, well, the world's going to end so why worry? Hey, pessimists! Live it up, baybee!


Generally an optimist, I like the idea of a fresh start. It's like when you open up that brand new calendar and there's nothing written on it. No dates to save, no deadlines, no to-do lists...yet. I love both the beginning and the ending of things -- tossing away that old calendar is just as satisfying as filling in the new one (it's the middle that can get a little sludge-y).


This year, I've got some goals I want to accomplish:


1) Improve my health. Yes, yes. I know. This one's on pretty much everyone's list, and it winds up getting dropped by the second week of January. However, my health played a rather large contributing role in last year's disappointments. I HAVE to get healthy. I can't be tired all the time, uncomfortable in my own skin, or with allergies so bad I can barely breathe. This just isn't acceptable, especially if I plan on living healthfully and happily until I'm at least 100. 
Specifically:
*Eat my veggies and fruits--lots more than my carb-heavy 2011 "diet"
*Take my vitamins (thanks, Mom)
*Do Couch to 5k then do a 5k (Plan: Get to the Green on St. Patrick's Day); extended goal: half-marathon
*Keep up with allergy shots


2) Make my dream a priority. I get distracted so easily and then I get mad at myself when I realize those distractions have eaten up my time. Reading, reviewing books on my book blog, Twitter, TV, friends, family, the day job, dogs, life...these aren't all distractions per se, but I need to organize, plan, and prioritize so they don't turn into time sucks. I want to be a published author; I want to be a full-time writer within the next couple of years. Therefore, I need to make writing a major priority.
Specifically:
*Write at least an hour a day and/or write at least 1,000 words a day (More would be great!)
*DVR my TV shows and use them as a reward
*Limit social media time
*Don't let day job leak into after-day-job time
*Just say no and try not to feel guilty about it (Ha! As if that's possible.)


3) Blog here at least twice a week (I'd love to do it three times a week but let's not get overzealous). This is something I really failed at last year. But I have a plan...*rubs hands together* I love it when a plan comes together (name that show!). 
Specifically:
*One day about writing and/or health (to keep me honest and on track)
*One day for fun or for writing/health


Sheesh. I'd better stop before I get completely carried away. I could throw in dating (my mother would be thrilled), social life, travel, and a million other things but I think I'll stick with these--especially the first two biggies.


So, what about you? Plans for 2012?