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Quarter 1 Update


First half of January: Slogged through The Seaming. I couldn't figure out why it felt like pulling teeth to revise, even though I had such a clear picture of where I wanted to go. For a while I thought that maybe November's Nano-induced burnout still lingered. 

Second half of January: Realized that the struggle with The Seaming was because I was writing scenes chronologically, across 3 POVs and 2 timelines. I couldn't keep the urgency and the emotional tension in-tact while jumping from place to place, especially with most writing sessions occurring while the morning's coffee was still making its way through me. Once I switched to writing each individual POV and timeline as its own chunk, the writing began to flow again. 

First half of February: Finished the Seaming and developed query materials. Felt good--so good about this draft. Then as successive rejections rolled in, I made a series of tweaks to my opening pages. Next time, I resolve to wait longer, to let the book rest more before diving straight into querying. 

Second half of February: Rested. Tried to regain my balance outside of writing. Read "Writing Down the Bones" and attended the local writing group's craft book club. 

First half of March: Wrote 5400 words off random prompts and 5700 words on a short. I still need to come back and revise the short, but something's holding me back. Might be time and commitment, might be because for the first time I love a world and a character too much for it to end so soon. I attended Futurescapes again, met some fantastic people, and got some really great feedback on the weak areas of Dandelions. I also learned a ton about query letters from Sarah Guan, and revamped my query package for The Seaming again. My sister and I went hiking in Arizona, which was a vacation I didn't know I needed.

Second half of March: Using the feedback from Futurescapes, I spent a good chunk of this period percolating on what I wanted Dandelions to be. Dystopian sci-fi? Upmarket?  I spent a week in Nashville visiting a dear friend and petting a cat. At the end of the month I found my answer and after some furious journalling, ended with a new synopsis and a plan.  

2023 Goals: 

  1. Begin querying The Seaming -- Complete in Q1. 
  2. Write, polish, and submit 6 short stories -- In progress and behind schedule. I've drafted one short story, but its nowhere near polished, and I don't have the drive to get it there. 
  3. Draft one zero-draft -- Not started. 
  4. Be a better participant in my writing communities -- In progress. During Q1 I read 168,000 words of my friend's writing (not counting critique group pieces or Futurescapes submissions), and hopefully have further developed my Beta skills. 

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