December for me so far can be described as eye opening.
After the initial sting of losing Pitch Wars wore off, I dusted myself off and got back to work.
That lasted about a week. With the helpful feedback from the mentors sitting in my inbox, I now knew what wasn’t working with my story, but HOW to fix it was still a mystery to me.
This led to mass deleting, agonizing over a new outline, and long brainstorming sessions with my dad to try to understand the best way to change my story. But nothing seemed to be working. Nothing seemed to be clicking, and it was so frustrating being stuck at this roadblock.
That’s when I decided it was time to take a break.
I took a three-week break from writing and just focused on consuming stories. I read a few books (Anxious People, The Selection, I Believe in A Thing Called Love ), watched some shows (Outlander, Younger, Dash & Lily), and even re-watched some of my favorite movies like Maid in Manhattan as well as a ton of Hallmark Christmas movies.
To give myself some distance from my writing, I also did some beta reading for my Instagram friends Ashley and Landri. (Follow them if you don’t already!)
I wanted to give myself permission to take a step back and refill my “creative well” as writers often say because, well, I can’t get my creativity from many places these days.
Creativity seemed to come so naturally and free-flowing for me pre-pandemic.
But with COVID-19 still very much a part of our everyday lives preventing us from and meeting new people, going new places, and experiencing life in the ways we usually do, I was feeling uninspired.
Once I figured out why I was in such a slump, it felt very okay. I knew it wouldn’t last forever. I just needed to find new ways to feel inspired, including consuming as much story as possible.
Since December began I’ve been feeling more inspired than ever. I had a major breakthrough and everything is clicking! Finally!
However, there’s a catch. There’s always a catch. This new angle I’m taking with my story requires some major rewrites, which is daunting. I’m focusing on crafting my new outline right now, making sure all the pieces are in order so once I do sit down to write I’ll know exactly where the story is going.
I’m also thinking of getting a professional book editor to look at my story after I finish this new draft. I want a developmental edit so I know if this new direction I’ve chosen to take my story is actually working, and if it solved all of the problems the Pitch Wars mentors and my CPs brought to light.
So, that’s my December plan. I’m going to work hard on this outline, start drafting, and end the year strong.
What are you working on this month?
