Clear map laid out

Hello, hello, hello.

I am especially pleased today as I have a clear plan of how I want to spend the first part of the year and when I want the book completed by. Before I get on to that, I will update you on the progress I have made (as I know that is why you tune in so regularly).

This week has been a good week. I finished the last chapter in which I had absolutely no notes planned for. The only thing I knew before I started the chapter was what had to happen by the end. It was surprisingly challenging, as I had not written a chapter like that in a while. Creatively, I came up with a few good ideas that mean I will have to go back and amend a few simple things earlier on. This is all part of the wonderful editing process I guess.

One thing I was not prepared for was by the end of it, I was actually quite sad. It was the last time (in this novel at least) that I would be writing about some characters and I found I was very reluctant to leave them. You hear about authors crying when writing scenes or leaving characters for the last time and I have never understood it. To be honest, on some level I still don't understand it, but I have to confess that I amazed how hard I fund it to leave the chapter alone. I kept wanting to go back and add a line in here and there.

Anyway, moving on, that chapter is completed, which means I have two more scenes to write (completing another chapter) before writing the final chapter of the book. I will then spend a week fixing a few glaring errors that I have come across when writing (there are three, the first requires a new scene and the other two can be fixed with one or two lines of dialogue).

I estimate that this will take me until the end of January (a comfortable estimation (man, I love my bracket usage in this post)). I will then abide by Stephen King's advice and step away from the book for a long period by taking February off before editing it in March.

April will see me sharing the novel for the first time with a few select friends and then depending on thier opinions, I will look for an Agent in May.

It's nice to have a plan!!