dang! december already! just where did this year go?

anyway, it looks like my novel isn't done giving me a hard time. i've spent the last couple of months working on a smaller, more focused, list of writing projects: my first novel, my second novel, and - over the last 2 months specifically - my writing challenges.

the second novel is about ready for the rough draft phase. it's in the hands of a friend for a quick look over for problems before i move past my current expansion into the next. i wrote it in less than 6 weeks. pretty damn good considering getting equally as far on my first novel took 13 years.

oh the benefit of knowing what works best for you as a writer!

the challenges were more of a bitch to get through than i expected, especially with the effort to revise 2 chapters a week thrown in there. but i made it, with 5 minutes to spare even. however, i've determined to never take on another crit challenge again. i generally get 1 or 2 crits done a week and tend to crit more than anyone else at dreaming, so i don't need a challenge.

so, with all that out of the way, i figured i could focus primarily on my novel revisions. it has been fairly easy up till now, so i expected things to go smoothly now that i have nothing else demanding time away from it.

wrong!

i started chapter 19 today. chapter 19, it turns out, is in need of a nearly complete overhaul. i've been at it for, oh, 5 or 6 hours now and have yet to get beyond page 5 of my triple spaced, 10 point courier font copy. i ended up having to reprint it and remark it with my notes because i have entire sections that are literally being rewritten from scratch. the original is a guideline of where the scenes eventually need to go, but the scenes themselves are being completely redone.

after pushing myself to do 3 crits yesterday, i was so looking for a break from them. now i'm looking forward to a break from the novel and going back to a crit.

maybe i should just read something.