Happy Friday, everyone! I’m feeling rather wonderful today. It’s been a great week, especially on the writing front.
First off, I received the final results for the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge. Okay, so I didn’t win, but I did receive an Honorable Mention for “Into Paradise.” That means I placed in the top 15 of the 1,000 writers who originally entered! Which boils down to placing in the top 1.5%. Wooot!
More than achieving this seemingly impossible feat, I’m proud of the three stories I wrote for this competition (“Chasing Monsters,” “Over the Edge,” “Into Paradise”). Not only did I work extra hard to make each one entertaining, unique, and meaningful, but I forced myself to step outside my comfort zone and take on topics that were scary, disturbing, and/or heartbreaking. I truly learned so much about myself as a writer. More importantly, I learned that if a story demands to be told, then I need to check my insecurities and fears at the door and tell them. I shouldn’t hold back. I need to take the plunge and just go for it!
Yeeee-ha!
Another great piece of news this week: I finished the first draft of my YA manuscript!
KIDDING!!!
Okay, let me clarify: I basically finished my first draft. I didn’t fully write out the last five-ish chapters. It just didn’t make sense. You see, I took a path in earlier chapters that eventually backed me into a corner, and the only way to fix it would be to start over and find where things went wrong. So, that’s what I decided to do. I jotted down some in-depth notes about how I saw the book ending, saved my document, and closed it. Then I opened a new one for draft two.
I began working on draft 2 yesterday and…ugh. Guys, there’s A LOT of things to fix. A lot, a lot. But, it’s okay. I’m eager to roll up my sleeves and get to work. And now that life has finally calmed down, and the NYC Midnight Challenge hoopla is over, I can dedicate all of my energy to my revisions.
So, in honor of my honed focus, as well as the many, many, many writing days I have in front of me, here is today’s Friday Funny:
How was your week? I’d love to hear!
Jen’s Weekly Roundup
Music Monday – Know Your Enemy – American Idiot
On Writing Secondary Characters
Jen's Pen Den 
Congrats on beginning your second draft! And for doing so well in your short story competition. That is fabulous!
I am re-starting my 2nd draft of my novel on June 9th (I have a craft show next week that I am busy preparing for— so that takes precidence right now).
That graphic is excellent by the way. I will be printing that out and tacking it to my office door!
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Thank you!
In my opinion, second drafts are so much harder than first drafts. This is when things have to actually start making sense 😉 Hopefully yours isn’t as big of a cluster as mine, haha. Good luck with it, as well as your craft show (fun!)
Yeah, I’m totally printing off that sign too. It’s just too perfect!
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