Yep, I have one week to deadline on getting my manuscript to my editor for the developmental pass.

This means I have a liquid eff ton of work to do in the next seven days, five of which I will be working. Oh yeah.

I got a lot done this past weekend, enough so I’m sure I’ll get there now, perhaps messily, perhaps sideways and with my wheels on fire, (I’m fond of that phrase, apologies for its reuse!) but I’m going to get there. I just won’t get there having written much in the way of an in depth blog this week!

Just like Comic Con before it, this task sucks all the air out of my other endeavours. There can only be one focus right now, get the writing done, review it, lick it into shape a little, let it go. There will be a lot more reworking after I get the developmental notes back. Or the developmental stack, as the case may be!

But I’m excited. This is a new process for me, trying to do things on a tight (for me) schedule, set well in advance, with a final product in mind by the end of this year. I’m accentuating the positive, enjoying being forced to work harder in shorter controlled bursts, (another phrase I’m fond of!) not having the luxury of procrastination, or of too much reflection. I’ve got to go, put it on the page, and move on. No time to agonise! Which I would, if I gave myself time. I’m curious to see how it turns out. I want it to turn out well: I have a lot of stories to write, and less time than I’d like to write them in, seeing as I waited until I was the wrong side of 45 before I published my first book!

So for now I’m embracing the rapid fire, trust your instincts, let your subconscious do the work style of creation. The careful planner and plotter in me is a litle horrified, but continuity can be fixed, right?? My main worry is the big picture continuity – the threads between the books, the set ups and links to later books, and making sure they are in place as I like them, and pointing the reader in the right anticipated direction. All while having the book function effectively as a stand alone, which it is. That is my biggest concern – will I overplay my hand too early, or not give enough hints of things to come? Will the book feel spontaneous, or rushed? I can’t know yet, it is always impossible to tell when you are in the midst of creating it, but I’m looking forward to finding out. Sometimes you just have to forge ahead and let the doubts trail behind you. I’ll  have time for review, analysis, and reflection later.

But that time isn’t now. Onward!

Good luck to all writers out there who are trying to get projects completed – it isn’t easy, but if you keep pushing, you’ll get there!