It's decision time...

Okay, so as you all know, I'm pretty obsessed with my latest WIP and I don't want to lose enthusiasm for it. Therefore I've decided that I am going to give myself a deadline for this novel.

Now, this deadline won't be for the final FINAL draft - it'll be for the first draft, with all it's mistakes and in need of serious editing. But I thought that after I've finished the first draft, I'll set another deadline to complete the whole thing by, and then another deadline for all the revisions etc etc...but we'll just stick with the first draft for now.

So, when will this deadline be, I hear you cry? Well, I've decided that it will be...(drum roll please)

Tuesday 19th June 2012!


That's right, I'm giving myself less than a month (in fact a nice, round 25 days) to complete a first draft of my book.

So why this date? Well, I was going to give myself until 1st July, but then I thought, I've always wanted to complete a novel by the time I was 16, by the time I was 18 and then, by the time I was 21. I've never managed to stick to these deadlines and the reason I chose the 19th June is because I graduate on 20th June. What better way to celebrate becoming a fully-fledged adult that forcing myself to work hard, and cry, and drink endless cups of tea into the small hours of the morning? Well, in all honesty, I've had enough practice at this, having been a student for the past three years.

So that's the plan. By midnight on 19th June 2012, I will have completed the first draft of my novel. If I finish it before then (Ha! Unlikely!) then I will start the process of editing it, but I think I'll just settle for a rough manuscript for now. I'm off to add a countdown timer to my blog now, so I won't forget!

What do you guys think? Have you ever given yourself a tight deadline to complete a novel in? Let me know your thoughts!

xx

Suny, sun, sun...and Pimms...and Cidre (not Cider)...

In case you haven't guessed by the title of this post (or, indeed, if you're not in the UK right now), it's gloriously sunny outside. I don't know what pattern English weather follows, but I reckon it must be one on it's own - there's nowhere else where you can have weeks of torrential rain and storms, then wake up the next day and it's suddenly 23 degrees C, as though it's always been summer....

So I've decided that I'm going to take my work outside with me, with a nice tall glass of Pimms with lemonade and spend the afternoon actually WORKING (see my previous post on working, or lack of, in the afternoons here). I'm quite looking forward to it - I haven't yet figured out all the fine plot details for my new book, but I'm not too bothered about that - I'll just see what comes to me. Instead, I'll be developing my characters a little more and maybe even writing some notes down for scenes. Hooray!

And later (when the Pimms runs out), I'm going to crack open a bottle of Stella's 'Cidre' - dunno what it'll taste like, but the advert looked good so I thought I'd try it. Has anyone else tried it yet? If so, how is it? Should I consume it all before the Other Half gets home, or leave it and tell him it was a present for him...?

...and yes, I am a sucker for advertising/mass consumerism....

Ooh, and I see I have two more members on this blog - a big warm welcome and a smiley hello to you all :)! Grab a drink, and come join me in my mad ramblings :)!...and before you ask, no, I haven't started on the alcohol yet...

Hope you're all having a great day, folks!

xx