Finish That Book!

Can you believe the countdown to the New Year is upon us? Less than a month and we will be seeing 2009. Incredible.

Before 2009 knocks, I have some unfinished business that needs closure before 2008 comes to an end and one of those items is completing a rough draft of my revised mss, Rough and Ready. This mss has been through the rounds of editors and agents, and they liked it, but not enough to buy it. At that time, I hadn't complete the mss because I really didn't have the heart to continue. So, I revisited by historical gypsy series and even ventured into Romantic Suspense by trying to plot a series set in Russia. Hmm, I'd hit a road block in my story and just didn't have the desire to work through it.

Then I came across a passage of scripture that not only spoke to me, it punched out my lights!

"be strong and courageous and get to work. Don't be frightened by the size of the task, for the Lord my God is with you; He will not forsake you. He will see to it that everything is finished correctly." 1 Chron 28:20 (NLT)

Let's back up a little here. I had muddled through a couple of bad mss as I was learning the fundementals of writing. Really bad stuff : ) Then one day inspiration hit -- A cowboy story!! Who better to write a story about an injured bullrider with a faith crisis than me, who has lived in Colorado most of my life and have close relationships with ranches????? So, I set aside all my historical work and created an entry for contests. Guess what? Right out the chute, I placed 2nd in the San Francisco RWA contest! Okay, let's go! I've found my calling!!

Hmm, again. Lots of success on the contest circuit, but no bites. Bummer. That's when I jumped ship and drifted from sub-genre to sub-genre -- again. I started looking for AA for Writers : )

Now, I realize the gift I'd been given. I'm going to finish what I started.

First, I made myself sit down and write a orking synopsis. Came to 12 pages single spaced. No small feat for a tried and true SOTP writer!! Story came out way different than I originally intended it, too. And I like it : )

Now that I had a road map, I found writing much easier. But I still had the age-old problem of sitting down and writing! Came up with a bold plan after whining to God about the injustice of it all : )

I'm challenged to write my rough draft by December 31. This means I better sit down and write! And to keep my on my goal track, I placed a widget on my blog where I update my word count each day. It looks like a stretch, but I'm going to succeed and you all will be my witnesses with each posting of word count.

This keeps me on track. This keeps my faithful. This keeps me writing!!!

Visit my blog and watch for yourself!!! www.audraharders.blogspot.com

Happy Writing!!